William Austin Dillon (November 6, 1877 – February 10, 1966) was an American songwriter and Vaudevillian. He is best known as the lyricist for the song "I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)" (1911), written in collaboration with Harry Von Tilzer.[1][2] It can be heard in Show Business (1944) and The Jolson Story (1946). He was born in Cortland, New York and performed at some point in Vaudeville with his brothers John and Harry. He billed his own act as the "man of a thousand songs".[3]

Sheet music cover to 1907's Every Little Bit Added To What You've Got Makes Just a Little Bit More by William and brother Lawrence

He quit vaudeville around 1912 after injuries suffered in a car accident. Dillon died in Ithaca, New York on February 10, 1966. He married in 1918 to Georgia Leola Head, daughter of George and Mary (Steen) Head.[4]

Selected songs

  • "Every Little Bit Added to What You've Got Makes Just a Little Bit More" (1907, written with his brother Lawrence)
  • "I'd Rather Have a Girlie Than an Automobile" (1908)
  • "Keep Your Foot on the Soft Pedal" (1909)
  • "I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)" (1911, with von Tilzer)
  • "All Alone" (1911, with Tilzer)
  • "That Girl of Mine" (1916, with Harry Tobias and Arthur Lange)
  • "I'll Wed the Girl I Left Behind" (1916)
  • "On the Old Back Seat of the Henry Ford" (1916, with Lawrence)
  • "My Grandfather's Girl" (1916)
  • "Take Me to My Alabam" (1916)
  • "Keep Right on to the End of the Road" (1924, with Harry Lauder)
  • "Me and My Uncle Sam" (1941)[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ Clift, Gene (25 March 1962). He Got The Girl, Just As The Song Said, Daytona Beach Morning Journal
  2. ↑ Dabes, Ruth. Man of a Thousand Songs, The Rotarian (May 1953), p. 39
  3. ↑ (3 October 1908). London Letter, The Billboard
  4. ↑ (11 February 1966). Will Dillon dies; Lyricist was 89; Wrote 'I Want a Girl' With Harry Von Tilzer in '11, The New York Times
  5. ↑ Studwell, William Emmett. [They also wrote: evaluative essays on lesser-known popular American songwriters prior to the rock era] (2000)
  6. ↑ Jones, John Bush The Songs That Fought the War: Popular Music And the Home Front, 1939-1945, p. 70 (2006)
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