Alfred Bryan

Because he was never a performer, the name Alfred Bryan may not resonate with many music lovers. However, he was undoubtedly a monumental contributor to Canadian songwriting.

Born in Brantford, Ontario on September 15, 1871, Bryan was to become the most prolific lyricist of his era ever to emerge from Canada. Not much is known about his early years, or how he became involved in songwriting, other than he attended parochial schools in Canada, where he excelled at literature, before moving to New York City in the late 1880s to make his way.

In 1910, 20 years after his arrival in New York, Bryan finally achieved the success he deserved. It was that year that he wrote the lyrics to what is arguably his most well known hit Come Josephine In My Flying Machine, performed by Blanche Ring, and featured in the films The Story of the Castles (1939), Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949) and most recently in Academy Award winning Titanic (1997).
As a lyricist, Bryan would go on to partner with various composers, including Fred Fisher, Alfred Gumble, George Meyer, Pete Wendling, John Klenner, Larry Stock, Al Piantadosi and Joe McCarthy. He is said to have written more than 1,000 songs, 229 of them certified by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).