Al Piantadosi

Piantadosi was born August 18, 1882, in the Italian Quarter of Manhattan, New York. Early in his career (circa 1906), Piantadosi gained recognition as "Ragtime Al," playing piano at Callahan's Dance Hall on Manhattan's at Chatham Square and Doyers Street in Chinatown, where he wrote the briefly popular "My Mariucci Take a Steamboat" with lyricist George Ronklyn (1878–1943), the bouncer at Callahan's known as "Big Jerry."

Piantadosi's compositions include "I'm Awfully Glad I'm Irish" (1910) and "That's How I Need You" (1912). "The Curse of an Aching Heart" (1913) became his most famous tearjerker. He also composed "Mississippi Days" (1916) and "If You Had All the World and Its Gold."

Later life and death

In 1931, with debt of $17,717 and assets of $500, Piantadosi filed for bankruptcy in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Piantadosi eventually moved to California, settling in Encino and worked in semi-retirement, operating Piantadosi Music Publications and Society Records. He died in Encino, California, in 1955.

Al Piantadosi's nephew, Arthur Piantadosi (1916–1994), was a sound engineer, notably for motion pictures in Hollywood.

War protest and subsequent controversy

His composition, "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier" (1915) became a controversial protest song. It sold 650,000 copies in the first three months, which helped establish American World War I pacifism as a quantifiable political reality. The song continued to sell well until the United States entered the World War I in 1917. Then it was pretty much discarded. However, a few pro-war writers modified the lyrics in new melodies, including "I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Coward," by Charles Clinton Case (1843–1918) (composer) and Franklin G. McCauley (lyricist) and "I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Slacker," a march by Theodore Baker (1917, G. Schirmer).

Copyright lawsuit

Harry Haas brought a plagiarism suit against Leo Feist, Incorporated, claiming that the melody was from a song he composed in 1914, "You'll Never Know How Much I Really Cared" – Bill Cahalin (née William R. Cahalin; born around 1883), lyricist. The plaintiffs won. And, although credit was never changed, Cahalin won a large settlement. Adolph Deutsch (born 1868), a raincoat maker, was a one-third partner on the song with Haas and Cahalin.