Songwriters Hall of Fame

Len Spencer was born Leonard Garfield Spencer on February 12, 1867 in Washington DC. His mother was a renowned suffragist and political activist while his father was a famous educator who developed the ‘Spencerian’ method of penmanship. Spencer became America’s first nationally-known recording star in the 1890’s.

Beginning in 1891, Spencer released a string of solo recordings including the #1 hits ‘Little ‘Liza Loves You’ (1891), ‘Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom Der E’ (1892), ‘The Old Folks at Home’ (1892), ‘Near It’ (1892), ‘Mamie, Come and Kiss Your Honey Boy’ (1893), ‘Little Alabama Coon’ (1895), ‘Dat New Bully’ (1895), ‘A Hot Time on the Levee’ (duet with Vess Osman, 1896), ‘A Hot Time in the Old Town’ (1897), ‘Oh, Mr. Johnson, Turn Me Loose’ (1897), ‘My Gal Is a Highborn Lady’ (1897), ‘I Don’t Like No Cheap Man’ (1898), ‘Hello! Ma Baby’ (1899), ‘Ma Tiger Lily’ (1900) and ‘Arkansaw Traveler’ (1902).

In 1905 the team of Spencer and Ada Jones released their first hit song, ‘Me and Mrs. Murphy’ which would hit #8 on the charts of that year. With the recording one of the era’s most popular recording teams was born. Together they had top ten hits with ‘Ev’ry Little Bit Helps’, ‘Reuben and Cynthia’, ‘Pals’, ‘Jimmie and Maggie at the Hippodrome’, ‘Courtship of Barney and Eileen’, ‘The Golden Wedding’, ‘Fritz and Louisa’, ‘The Original Cohens’, ‘Bashful Henry and His Lovin’ Lucy’, ‘Peaches and Cream’, ‘Let Me See You Smile’, ‘Jimmie and Maggie at the Ball Game’, ‘Down on the Farm’, ‘Meet Me Down at the Corner’, ‘Herman and Minnie’, ‘You’ve Got to Love Me A lot’, ‘Jimmie and Maggie at the Merry Widow’ and ‘Return of the Arkenasas Traveler.’

Len Spencer died on December 15, 1914 in New York City.