The year is 1936. Take Ina Ray Hutton, the “Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm” who leads The Melodears, a trendy all-female swing band... add the coincidence of Ina Ray’s pianist falling ill, needing to be replaced for their Toronto gig... throw in young Ruth Lowe, desperate for money to assist her family; she auditions, gets the job and goes on to triumph with the band as they travel extensively throughout the U.S... and then, thicken the plot when Ruth marries music publicist Harold Cohen and sets up house in Chicago.
But here comes the coda: Harold dies on the operating table in the midst of a debilitating kidney operation, leaving Ruth devastated with heartache, a grief-stricken widow at age 24.
And that’s just the opening gambit. Consumed by anguish, young Ruth returns to Toronto and pours her heartache into a lamenting anthem. Amazingly, the words and music she crafts mesh into an internationally famous song – “I’ll Never Smile Again” – destined to lead her to fame, riches and enjoying the company of the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", one Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr., and his new lead vocalist, 24-year-old Francis Albert Sinatra. When Sinatra records the song with Dorsey, it soars into record-breaking heavens, Ruth’s ballad literally launching the singer’s career into orbit. “I’ll Never Smile Again”, at another time perhaps too mournful for easy consumption, speaks to people during wartime, evoking memories of far flung battlefields and comrades cut down in conflict. The song charts to Number One on Billboard for what seems like forever. As Nancy Sinatra writes in the book's Foreword, "There’s a reason why 'I’ll Never Smile Again' has endured: it was a perfect song, interpreted by the perfect singer, at the perfect time.”
This ballad has “legs” as they say in the biz. “I’ll Never Smile Again” becomes a “standard” and goes on to be recorded by the most popular orchestras and singers of all time, including Percy Faith, Glenn Miller, Keely Smith, Dave Brubeck, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Tony Martin, The Ink Spots, Jo Stafford, Django Reinhardt, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughan, Oscar Peterson, The Platters, Vera Lynn, Errol Garner, Vera Lynn, George Shearing... all told, more than 150 performers who spill their hearts into never smiling. The song is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Ruth will soon be installed as a member of the Great American Songbook Foundation Hall of Fame.
So who was this Ruth Lowe? Definitely more than a one-hit wonder – among the many tunes she wrote was Sinatra’s theme song, “Put Your Dreams Away For Another Day” (composed with Paul Mann and Stephan Weiss and played at the termination of the singer's funeral). While Ruth's years before fame were difficult, she married her second husband, stock promoter Nat Sandler in 1943, and her second act was even more beguiling: she eschewed the limelight, choosing to stay in Toronto as a businessman's wife doing good works and raising her kids, even vetoing an MGM biopic where Judy Garland would have become Hollywood’s Ruth Lowe.
Amazingly, this superstar – the sad Canadian girl who managed to electrify Frank Sinatra’s career – has escaped the scrutiny and adornment that her life deserves. And so, author Peter Jennings, working with Ruth’s son Tom Sandler, has amassed a notable hoard of research, including his interviews with such musical luminaries as Elton John's lyricist Bernie Taupin, Sir Tim Rice (lyricist for Andrew Lloyd Webber), and Alan Bergman (who, with his wife Marilyn, has won numerous awards writing songs for Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra and others); singers David Clayton-Thomas (Mr. "Blood Sweat & Tears" who has recently recorded "I'll Never Smile Again") and the late Frank Sinatra Jr.; music historian Chuck Granata; Sinatra biographer James Kaplan; and many others. Jennings has also gained access to people, stories and secrets that no one else can penetrate, such as from Ruth’s 95-year-old sister Muriel and Nat Sandler’s business associate, famed billionaire businessman and philanthropist Seymour Schulich.
"Mom was a 'musician’s musician'," says Tom Sandler. "She's been credited with being one of the architects of the American ballad. But with all her great accomplishments, with all the love she shared and all the happiness she brought to others... she deserved better, you know. She deserved more. She had such tragedies in her life. It just wasn't fair."
“Until I Smile At You” is a gripping story, one that will fascinate your curiosity while bringing a glow to your heart.
But here comes the coda: Harold dies on the operating table in the midst of a debilitating kidney operation, leaving Ruth devastated with heartache, a grief-stricken widow at age 24.
And that’s just the opening gambit. Consumed by anguish, young Ruth returns to Toronto and pours her heartache into a lamenting anthem. Amazingly, the words and music she crafts mesh into an internationally famous song – “I’ll Never Smile Again” – destined to lead her to fame, riches and enjoying the company of the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", one Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr., and his new lead vocalist, 24-year-old Francis Albert Sinatra. When Sinatra records the song with Dorsey, it soars into record-breaking heavens, Ruth’s ballad literally launching the singer’s career into orbit. “I’ll Never Smile Again”, at another time perhaps too mournful for easy consumption, speaks to people during wartime, evoking memories of far flung battlefields and comrades cut down in conflict. The song charts to Number One on Billboard for what seems like forever. As Nancy Sinatra writes in the book's Foreword, "There’s a reason why 'I’ll Never Smile Again' has endured: it was a perfect song, interpreted by the perfect singer, at the perfect time.”
This ballad has “legs” as they say in the biz. “I’ll Never Smile Again” becomes a “standard” and goes on to be recorded by the most popular orchestras and singers of all time, including Percy Faith, Glenn Miller, Keely Smith, Dave Brubeck, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Tony Martin, The Ink Spots, Jo Stafford, Django Reinhardt, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughan, Oscar Peterson, The Platters, Vera Lynn, Errol Garner, Vera Lynn, George Shearing... all told, more than 150 performers who spill their hearts into never smiling. The song is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Ruth will soon be installed as a member of the Great American Songbook Foundation Hall of Fame.
So who was this Ruth Lowe? Definitely more than a one-hit wonder – among the many tunes she wrote was Sinatra’s theme song, “Put Your Dreams Away For Another Day” (composed with Paul Mann and Stephan Weiss and played at the termination of the singer's funeral). While Ruth's years before fame were difficult, she married her second husband, stock promoter Nat Sandler in 1943, and her second act was even more beguiling: she eschewed the limelight, choosing to stay in Toronto as a businessman's wife doing good works and raising her kids, even vetoing an MGM biopic where Judy Garland would have become Hollywood’s Ruth Lowe.
Amazingly, this superstar – the sad Canadian girl who managed to electrify Frank Sinatra’s career – has escaped the scrutiny and adornment that her life deserves. And so, author Peter Jennings, working with Ruth’s son Tom Sandler, has amassed a notable hoard of research, including his interviews with such musical luminaries as Elton John's lyricist Bernie Taupin, Sir Tim Rice (lyricist for Andrew Lloyd Webber), and Alan Bergman (who, with his wife Marilyn, has won numerous awards writing songs for Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra and others); singers David Clayton-Thomas (Mr. "Blood Sweat & Tears" who has recently recorded "I'll Never Smile Again") and the late Frank Sinatra Jr.; music historian Chuck Granata; Sinatra biographer James Kaplan; and many others. Jennings has also gained access to people, stories and secrets that no one else can penetrate, such as from Ruth’s 95-year-old sister Muriel and Nat Sandler’s business associate, famed billionaire businessman and philanthropist Seymour Schulich.
"Mom was a 'musician’s musician'," says Tom Sandler. "She's been credited with being one of the architects of the American ballad. But with all her great accomplishments, with all the love she shared and all the happiness she brought to others... she deserved better, you know. She deserved more. She had such tragedies in her life. It just wasn't fair."
“Until I Smile At You” is a gripping story, one that will fascinate your curiosity while bringing a glow to your heart.