Art Gillham

Art Gillham, (January 1, 1895, St. Louis, Missouri – June 6, 1961, Atlanta, Georgia), was an American songwriter, who was among the first crooners as a pioneer radio artist and a recording artist for Columbia Records.

With Billy Smythe and Scott Middleton he wrote "Hesitation Blues", which he also recorded as one of the first electrical recordings for Columbia Records(Rust). The song is heard in the following movies The Public Enemy, Of Human Bondage and Fireman Save My Child (IMDB). Gillham and Smythe wrote approximately 100 songs together, including "Mean Blues," "Just Forget," "The Deacon Told Me I Was Good," "Just Waiting for You," "Crying Again," "Things That Remind Me of You" (sheet music) and the first successful electrical recording, "You May Be Lonesome" (Rust). With J. Russell Robinson he wrote "In My Sweetheart's Arms".

Radio pioneer

As a song plugger for Ted Browne Music, Art Gillham traveled around the United States. (multiple contemporary newspapers) When radio began he would stop at radio stations in his travels to promote the music by Browne and other music publishers. In 1923 Gillham was dared to sing over the radio, and the response encouraged him to continue. He sang in a soft crooning voice, and in February, 1924, while appearing on WSB (AM) in Atlanta, he was dubbed "The Whispering Pianist" by the station's general manager, Lambdin Kay. (Atlanta Journal, February 24, 1924)