Joseph Perkins Greene was an American songwriter, best known for "Across the Alley from the Alamo", "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine", and "Don't Let the SunCatch You Cryin'".
Life
Greene became a singer and actor. As a young man Greene was associated with songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. He is said to have discovered Ernie Andrews in 1945 and produced his first sessions. He wrote Andrews' biggest hit, the song "Soothe Me". Greene's lyrics were stylish and often had strong emotional impact. The idea for "Across the Alley from the Alamo" came to Greene in 1946 in the middle of the night. He had been writing songs for Nat King Cole, and visited Cole's manager the next morning, who thought the song had potential. Mel Tormé made a demo, then the Mills Brothers made a hit recording. This was soon followed by a version by Woody Herman and his Orchestra, sung by Woody Herman with The Four Chips, and a version by Stan Kenton and his Orchestra, sung by June Christy. Greene collaborated as composer and lyricist with bandleader and pianist Stan Kenton and arranger Pete Rugolo, making the Kenton band one of the most popular in America in the 1940s and 1950s. He collaborated as a lyricist with Stan Kenton on "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" and "I'm Going Mad for a Pad" in 1946. The band's musical style was a precursor to West Coast jazz. In 1952 Greene was working with pianist and arranger Eddie Beal, who had accompanied Herb Jeffries and Toni Harper, on new music for the Kenton "aggregation". June Christy and Chris Connor, vocalists with Kenton's band, performed hit songs by Greene such as "Across the Alley from the Alamo", "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'". Greene's songs were recorded by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Julie London, Fats Waller, Ray Charles and Dinah Washington. The Muppets recorded one of his songs. His "Read My Lips" was recorded in 1958 by the Russ Garcia orchestra for Liberty Records, possibly the origin of the statement "Read my lips—no new taxes" by George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention. In the 1960s and 1970s Greene worked on feature film scripts and music. Greene also wrote the novelHouse of Pleasure. Greene wrote the soundtrack for the film Psychedelic Sexualis, also called On Her Bed of Roses, about a violent sociopath. It has been described as "a bizarre concoction of proto-psychedelic jams, beat jazz, and experimental percussive abstractions. Joe Greene died of kidney failure on 16 June 1986 in a hospital in Pasadena, California, aged 71. He was survived by his wife, Marthella, three children and four grandchildren.
Selected songs
"And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" Words. Music by Stan Kenton and Charles Lawrence.
