Sid Robin served in WWII entertaining troops as a cast member of Irving Berlin’s This Is the Army. He also wrote lyrics for several well-known songs. An early collaboration with Bob & Joe Shelton in 1937 resulted in “Just Because.” In 1938 he wrote the lyrics for trumpeter Charlie Shavers’ “Undecided” which was a hit when it was first performed in 1939, enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in 1951 when the Ames Brothers recorded it, and remains a staple of the jazz repertoire. His collaboration with Jimmy Henderson and Bertha Scott resulted in the popular “I Miss You So” in 1939. In 1941 he wrote the lyrics for Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton’s famous “Flyin’ Home” and for Alec Wilder’s “That’s the Way It Goes” which was popularized by Peggy lee.

Robin is also credited as a songwriter for many films from the 1930s through the 1950s such as Private Buckaroo (1942), starring the Andrews Sisters, Gene Autry’s Trail to San Antone (1947), and a series of college musicals in the ‘40s aimed at the teenage set. He also collaborated with Foy Willing on music for films such as Under Colorado Skies (1947), starring Monte Hale, and several Roy Rogers’ films, including The Golden Stallion (1949), Twilight in the Sierras and Bells of Coronado(1950). Willing was the leader of the vocal group Riders of the Purple Sage which frequently appeared in western films.

Robin wrote the lyric for Jerry Fielding’s theme song for Groucho Marx’s 1950s TV show You Bet Your Life, and Ray Charles recorded “No One to Cry To” which he wrote with Willing. Two songs that he wrote with Louis Jordan appeared in the recent 1992 Broadway revue Five Guys Named Moe. He is also credited as a collaborator with Jelly Roll Morton and Sonny Burke on “King Porter Stomp” which appeared in the 1990 movie Miller’s Crossing.

- Sandra Burlingame