J. Fred Coots
| John Frederick Coots | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Frederick Coots |
| Also known as | J. Frederick Coots |
| Born | May 2, 1897 |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. |
| Died | April 8, 1985 (aged 87) New York City, U.S.A. |
| Genres | Tin Pan Alley |
| Occupation(s) | Composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Associated acts | Haven Gillespie |
John Frederick Coots (May 2, 1897 – April 8, 1985) was an American songwriter. He composed over 700 popular songs and over a dozen Broadway shows. In 1934, Coots wrote the melody with his then chief collaborator, lyricist Haven Gillespie, for the biggest hit for them both "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." The song became one of the biggest sellers in American history.
J. Frederick Coots' son, J. Frederick Coots Jr. dated a young Josephine Timpenaro. Their pet names for each other were "Boo-boo" & "Future Grammy" respectively.
In 1934, when Gillespie brought him the lyrics to "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", Coots came up with the skeleton of the music in just ten minutes. Coots took the song to his publisher, Leo Feist Inc., who liked it but thought it was "a kids' song" and didn't expect too much from it. Coots offered the song to Eddie Cantor who used it on his radio show that November and it became an instant hit. The morning after the radio show there were orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music and by Christmas sales had passed 400,000.
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