“DARDANELLA”

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 July 1936, Page 13

“DARDANELLA”

COMPOSER KILLED Two men were arrested in Hamilton, Ohio, on June 9, one on .a murder charge, in connection with the death earlier in the day of Johnny Black, author of the million dollar song hit of 1919, “Dardanella.”

Black died with a skull fracture incurred in a fight with a customer of his “Dardanella Club” roadhouse over a shilling change, says the “New York Times.”

The man held on a murder charge registered as Edward C. Moorman, of Mount Healthy, Ohio, a Cincinnati suburb. His companion; booked as Julius Murray, also of Mount Healthy, was held as a material witness. Coroner E. Cook quoted both men as admitting their presence at the club. Dr. Cook said Moorman admitted he “hit Black once.” Police traced the two suspects through license numbers on their automobile, and said that they also were seeking their two women companions. As they reached the sidewalk, one of the patrons hit Black in the eye. He was knocked down, his head striking the pavement. The party then sped away, leaving Black unconscious. It was asserted in some quarters that Black had realised 50,000 dollars (£10,000) or more in royalties from “Dardanella,” but Fred Fisher, New York composer, who said he wrote the lyric and finished off the composition, declared Black received only 12,000 dollars (£2400) from the song. . . , “Johnny brought the original melody to me,” Fisher said. “I finished it up and published it. It coined more than a million dollars, but Johnny sold all his rights to it before it became a hit.” . However, much Black received, he died a poor man, his friends said. None of the numerous other songs he wrote attained the popularity ot “Dardanella.”