Al J. Neiburg

Lyricist Al J. Neiburg had his hand in a number of standards composed during the earlier half of the '30s. He is perhaps best known for 1930's "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)," which was done in collaboration with Doc Dougherty and Ellis Reynolds, and became a jazz and pop standard in the hands of Louis Armstrong; another Neiburg co-write, 1933's "It's the Talk of the Town" (with Marty Symes and Jerry Livingston), proved equally popular over time. Other notable Neiburg co-compositions included 1933's "Under a Blanket of Blue" (with Symes and Livingston), initially a hit for Glen Gray that remained popular with jazz artists in particular, and the Livingston collaboration "A Little Bit Later On," which was a staple of Ella Fitzgerald's early repertoire. Among the numerous pop artists who recorded Neiburg songs (mostly the aforementioned) were Perry Como, Dean Martin, Doris Day, Harry James, Kay Starr, Peggy Lee, the Dorsey Brothers, and Les Paul; on the jazzier side, artists included Django Reinhardt, Coleman Hawkins, Art Tatum, Lester Young, Erroll Garner, Lionel Hampton, and Fletcher Henderson, among many others. Neiburg later went on to run his own publishing firm for a time. ~ Steve Huey