Tom Glazer
| Tom Glazer | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Thomas Zachariah Glazer |
| Born |
September 2, 1914 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | February 21, 2003 (aged 88) Rochester, New York, United States |
| Occupation(s) | singer-songwriter |
| Labels | Young People's Records (1940s), Kapp Records (1960s) |
| Associated acts | Dottie Evans |
Thomas Zachariah "Tom" Glazer (September 2, 1914 – February 21, 2003) was an American folk singer and songwriter known primarily as a composer of ballads, including: "Because All Men Are Brothers", recorded by The Weavers and Peter, Paul and Mary, "Talking Inflation Blues", recorded by Bob Dylan, and "A Dollar Ain't A Dollar Anymore". He wrote the lyrics to the songs "Melody of Love" (1954), and "Skokian" (1954).
Thomas Zachariah Glazer was born in Philadelphia on 2 September 1914 to Russian émigré parents from Minsk. His father, a carpenter in a shipyard, died during the 1918 flu pandemic, and Glazer was brought up by a series of relatives before being placed in the Hebrew Orphan Home in Philadelphia with his two brothers; his younger brother Sidney Glazier became a producer, most notably of Mel Brooks' The Producers. Their father's record collection influenced Glazer musically, and at school he learned to play the tuba, guitar and bass. At 17, he hitchhiked to New York, where he took night courses to complete his education while working at Macy's during the day. He subsequently attended City College of New York for three years.
Glazer moved to Washington, D.C. and began work at the Library of Congress. There he met Alan Lomax who worked for cataloguing American folk songs, and who was a great influence. Glazer began performing as an amateur and was invited by Eleanor Roosevelt to perform at the White House for soldiers working there as guards. He made a successful professional début at The Town Hall, New York City, in January 1943 during a blizzard, and in 1945 had a radio show Tom Glazer's Ballad Box. His songs of the period, such as "A Dollar Ain't a Dollar Anymore", "Our Fight is Yours", "When the Country is Broke", and "Talking Inflation Blues" took strong social stands. Glazer's songs were recorded by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, Perry Como and Frank Sinatra. He was part of the strong folk music scene in New York in the 1940s, and with Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Josh White helped prepare for the commercially successful folk revival of the 1960s. "He wasn't fancy," Seeger reported after his death "He was just straightforward. He had a good sense of humor."
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