Mitchell Parish

American lyricist (born July 10, 1900 in Shaki, Russian Empire [now Šakiai, Lithuania] – died March 31, 1993 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA).

Born into a Jewish family, Parish emigrated to the United States in February 1901, when he was not even a year old. His family stayed first with relatives in Shreveport, Louisiana, but then moved to New York City where Parish grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Later, he attended first Columbia University, then graduated with a B.A. from New York University where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

A celebrated lyricist, Parish wrote the words for more than 1,000 songs. In 1919, he joined Mills Music, Inc. as a staff lyricist and song plugger. His first hit was “Carolina Rolling Stone”, recorded in early 1922 by Charles Hart for Victor, Al Bernard for Brunswick, and Van And Schenck for Columbia, among others.

Parish’s best known works include the lyrics to songs such as “Star Dust”, “Sweet Lorraine”, “Deep Purple”, “Stars Fell on Alabama”, “Sophisticated Lady”, “Volare” (English lyrics), “Moonlight Serenade”, “Sleigh Ride” and “One Morning in May”.