Soldiers’ Tower

I’ll Never Smile Again

Lili Marlene

Last week I was priveliged enough to be invited to play my flute in the University of Toronto’s Soldiers’ Tower. Here are samples of the repertoire from the War Years, complimented by the wonderful natural acoustics of this unique, historic site.

For more info, here is a link to Ruth Lowe Sandler, a Canadian musical icon…

Ruth Lowe, Frank Sinatra & Tommy Dorsey

Ruth Lowe, b. 1915, Toronto, Canada. d. 1981
In 1936, Ruth was working in the ‘Song Shop’ in Toronto (Canada) when Ina Ray Hutton brought her All-Girl band (The Melodears) to town. Her piano player had taken ill, and Ina was frantically trying to locate a good-looking blond lady replacement. Ruth Lowe auditioned, and became the regular pianist in Ina Ray’s band. At age 23 (1938), Ruth married Harold Cohen, a Chicago music publicist. It was a very happy marriage that only lasted one year until Harold’s tragic demise during an operation in 1939. In her great grief, Ruth composed a tune she named “I’ll Never Smile Again”. The song was first heard on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s radio program ‘Music By Faith’, in an arrangement by Percy Faith, a fine Canadian musician who would soon go on to fame in the USA and the World. Approximately a year later, Ruth passed a copy of the tune to a saxophone player in the Tommy Dorsey band, hoping to have Dorsey hear the tune. Dorsey thought the tune had much merit, and arranged it for his very young singer, - Frank Sinatra. It was Sinatra’s first great hit, and really launched Sinatra on his phenomenal career. Here’s a photograph showing Ruth Lowe, Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey, together. Later she composed still another Frank Sinatra hit “Put Your Dreams Away”, Frank’s ’signature’ song (which was also played at his funeral).

In 1945, Ruth again married this time to Nathan Sandler and the union produced two sons, Tommy and Stephen. In 1982, the year after she died, she was inducted into the American Music Hall of Fame with an honorary Grammy Award.
The BigBands Database thanks Mr. Tommy Lowe Sandler for the above information on his mother Ruth Lowe Sandler. Mr Sandler has just completed a documentary on his mother’s life which is currently scheduled to be aired on the History Channel March 7, 2001. BigBands Database readers are urged to watch for this TV special.