Turner Layton
*Turner Layton was born on this date in 1894. He was a Black songwriter, singer, and pianist.
Born John Turner Layton, Jr., in Washington, D.C., he was the son of John Turner Layton, "a bass singer, music educator, and hymn composer." After receiving a musical education from his father, he attended Howard University Dental School. Later, in the early 1900s, he came to New York City and met his future songwriting partner, lyricist Henry Creamer.
Layton is best known for his many compositions with Creamer, the standard "After You've Gone," written in 1918 and first popularized by Sophie Tucker. Turner and Creamer had another hit with Way Down Yonder in New Orleans in 1922. It was recorded in 1927 by Frank Trumbauer (with Bix Beiderbecke) and was a rock and roll hit for Freddy Cannon in 1959. Turner and Layton contributed music and lyrics to many Broadway shows, including the Ziegfeld Follies of 1917, 1921, and 1922, Three Showers (1920), Some Party (1922), and Creamer's own Strut Miss Lizzie (1922).
Beginning in 1924, Layton found popular success in England with Clarence "Tandy" Johnstone as a member of the group Layton & Johnstone, quickly earning a reputation as a cabaret act. Layton split with Johnstone in 1935 (after Johnstone had been named in Albert Sandler's divorce), with Johnstone returning to New York and continuing to perform with significantly less success. Layton continued to perform in England. An elegant song stylist, he held a regular, successful spot over the years at the Café de Paris, a London club, until his retirement in 1946. He died in London on February 6, 1978.
Two albums of Layton & Johnstone recordings have been issued on CD in the UK—on ASV Living Era (CD AJA 5426) and Flapper (PAST CD 9712). Two compilation albums of recordings by Layton have also been released on CD. His daughter, A'Lelia Shirley, inherited his musical estate. On her death in January 2001, she left the copyright and royalties to her father's music to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London in her will.
