Ben Homer (born Benjamin Hozer, 27 June 1917, Meriden, Connecticut – 12 February 1975, Los Angeles, California) was an American songwriter, composer and arranger.

Biography

He joined the Meriden Symphony Orchestra when he was eleven years old, and wrote a class song at Jefferson Junior High School in 1932. He became a member of the American Federation of Musicians when he was fifteen. He later attended the New England Conservatory of Music on a scholarship, and returned there as a teacher in the 1940s.

Ben Homer

He began his professional career by moving to New York City in 1938 and changing his name to Homer. He began composing for bandleader Les Brown in 1940, writing some material with lyricist Bud Green.

Ben Homer

His most popular works are "Sentimental Journey" (1944), "Bizet Has His Day" (1945) (a jazz arrangement of Georges Bizet's "Farandole" from L’Arlésienne-Suite), "Shoot the Sherbet to Me Herbert" (1939), and "Joltin' Joe Di Maggio" (1941).

Ben Homer

References

1917 births

1975 deaths

American male composers

Songwriters from New York (state) People from Meriden, Connecticut 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters