Seymour "Cy" Coben (4 April 1919[1] – 26 May 2006) was an American songwriter, whose hits were recorded by bandleaders, country singers, and other artists such as
The Beatles,
Tommy Cooper and
Leonard Nimoy.[2][3]
Biography
Early life
Coben was born in
Jersey City,
New Jersey, United States, the youngest son of Harris ("Harry") Cohen and Nettie Brandt Cohen, and was originally named Seymour. His father was a wholesale meat supplier in New York City. Coben learned to play the trumpet and studied at a local music academy. In 1942 he had his first charting song with "My Little Cousin", which
Benny Goodman's orchestra and vocalist
Peggy Lee took to No. 14. Coben spent the next several years in the Navy, serving in the South Pacific as a pharmacist's mate. On his return in 1946, he resumed his song writing career. He wrote "A Good Woman's Love" for his wife Shirley Nagel, whom he married in 1948.
Post-war career
In 1947, Coben wrote a
novelty song called "(When You See) Those Flying Saucers" which was released as a single by the
Buchanan Brothers; his co-author was
Charles Randolph Grean, who was working for RCA/Victor. Grean was to become a long-time collaborator of Coben's. In 1949, Coben first visited Nashville and soon became a part of the music business there. In Nashville, Coben wrote for a variety of artists, but was especially associated with
Eddy Arnold; he wrote "
There's Been a Change in Me" and "
I Wanna Play House With You," two No. 1 country hits for Arnold in 1951, and went on to write many other songs for him, often with Charles Grean, who was Arnold's manager - "
Eddy's Song", a No. 1 country hit in 1953; "Free Home Demonstration" (No. 4 country) in 1954, and others. Coben and Grean also wrote songs for other artists, such as their version of "
Sweet Violets", which charted for
Dinah Shore and
Jane Turzy in 1951.
Coben wrote "
Nobody's Child" with Mel Foree;
Hank Snow recorded it in 1949.
Lonnie Donegan later brought it to the United Kingdom, and the Beatles recorded it during their early days playing in
Hamburg,
Germany.
Coben wrote many novelty songs; one of his biggest novelty hits was "The Old
Piano Roll Blues" (1950).[4] He also wrote for
Homer and Jethro - "The Billboard Song" became a much-recorded favorite, and "Don't Jump Off the Roof, Dad" was later a hit for British comedian
Tommy Cooper. Coben wrote "How to Catch a Man" for country comedian
Minnie Pearl and it became one of her standards. In 1977 country-rock band The
New Riders of the Purple Sage recorded Coben's "Red Hot Women and Ice Cold Beer," in which Coben drew on his World War II experience in the U.S. Navy to describe what sailors wanted.[5] His old collaborator Charles Grean was
Leonard Nimoy's record producer, and Coben wrote several songs for him, such as "Alien" and "The Difference Between Us".
Reception in Europe
Coben's humor and sentiment translated well to the European market.
Bill Ramsey took Coben's "Souvenirs" to No. 1 in Germany in 1959, and Belgian star
Will Tura recorded a number of Coben tunes ("Show Me the Man"/"Waar is de man"; "The Great El Tigre"/"El Bandido"). "Goethe War Gut" charted in Germany for
Rudi Carrell in 1978.
"There's Been a Change in Me" (Coben) - No. 1 Country/Western hit for Eddy Arnold, 1951
"I Wanna Play House with You" (Coben) - No. 1 Country/Western hit for Eddy Arnold, 1951
"Meanderin'" (Coben/George Botsford/Charles R. Grean) - No. 28 pop hit for
Vaughn Monroe in 1951
"Something Old, Something New" (Coben/Grean) - B side of "I Wanna Play House with You", reached No. 4 for Arnold
"
Sweet Violets" - arranged by Coben and Grean; No. 3 pop hit for
Dinah Shore, 1951; another 1951 version by
Jane Turzy reached No. 11 on the Billboard jukebox chart, and Doris Drew took it to No. 22
"Lonely Little Robin" (Coben) - No. 14 jukebox hit for The Pinetoppers in 1951; also No. 25 radio hit for
Mindy Carson
"Never Been Kissed" (Coben/Grean) - No. 19 pop hit for
Freddy Martin in 1951
"
Easy on the Eyes" (Coben/Arnold) - No. 1 Country/Western hit for Eddy Arnold, 1952
"My Treasure" (Coben/Bill Templeton) - No. 31 pop hit for
The Hilltoppers in 1956
"Souvenirs" (Coben) - No. 1 hit in Germany for
Bill Ramsey in 1959
"Souvenirs, Souvenirs" (Coben) The
Johnny Hallyday version of Coben's "Souvenirs", as adapted in French by Fernand Bonifay, was Hallyday's very first smash hit in France (#13), issued on June 13, 1960.
"Don't Jump Off the Roof, Dad" - charted in the UK for
Tommy Cooper in 1961
"That Greasy Kid Stuff" - reached No. 74 for Janie Grant in 1962
"I'm a Walkin' Advertisement (For the Blues)" - No. 32 Country hit for
Norma Jean in 1964
"The Great El Tigre (The Tiger)" (Coben) - No. 32 Country hit for
Stu Phillips in 1966
"The Game of Triangles" (Coben) - No. 5 Country hit for Norma Jean,
Liz Anderson, and
Bobby Bare in 1966
^Cohen said that the good life consisted of "Red hot women and ice cold beer/ And enough of both to last the year/ What's paradise like, is my idea [sic: his New Jersey accent]/ Red hot women and ice cold beer."