 For the past year my fiance Shane and I have been working on finding the lost compositions of my grandfather, Ernest G. Schweikert, otherwise known to me as “grandpa googie.” He was a composer in the 50s and 60s and wrote with an amazing lyricist named Frank Reardon. They had many songs cut by Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis Jr., Carmen Macrae, The Four Aces, Perry Como, Guy Lombardo and many more. They also had their own Broadway show in 1956 called Rumple. They never got paid for anything and one day my grandfather was so heartbroken and angry that he dumped his piano bench in the garbage and threw away all of his lead sheets. He passed away shortly after. I moved to Nashville a little short of a year ago from New York to work on music as a country pop artist but that genre was not truly a representation of my artistry and showed nothing of my voice. (When I got to Nashville, my roomate Shane and I fell in love and he proposed to me on stage on July 3rd 2005)I was having a very difficult time finding songs that I felt suited me and I called my grandmother who was Ernest’s widow, and told her of my frustrations. She understood because she was in the Bell Aires many years ago. We got on the subject of my grandfathers compositions which was when I learned of his success, trials and triumphs in the business. It was during that conversation that I found out his Broadway show opened and closed twenty-five years before either my brother or I were born. It opened on my brothers birthday and closed on mine. My grandmother kept insisting that my grandfathers songs would be perfect for me but I was skeptical because they are over 50 years old. She made me promise her that I would somehow find his music and I made the promise although I wasn’t expecting to find what I was looking for. She passed away the next day. At that moment it became my life ambition to find his compositions. Through extensive internet searches with my friend Tim Daly, I came up with the name of a man who I though might be Frank Reardons son. I wrote him a letter and almost three weeks had gone by and I hadn't heard from him. I was so dissapointed, assuming that I had the wrong guy, but he called me on Christmas Eve! He said, "Melissa, I have everything! I have boxes of their music in my house. I've been waiting my whole life for someone to come along and do something with these songs!" The first song he sent me was a song called "How Do You Say Goodbye?" When Shane and I heard it we knew I was to live my grandfathers legacy! So far, Shane and I have found over 200 compositions that my grandfather wrote with his CO-writer Frank Reardon and they are all stunning. The most beautiful thing about this story is that the songs are an absolute perfect representation of my artistry and they suit me like a hand to a glove which is the last thing I was expecting and I’m able to live my grandfathers legacy with the one man on the planet that I know my grandfather would have picked for me. The songs are standards! It is an honor for me to be able to share these beautiful compositions with all of you. I'm very proud of my grandfather and Frank. And, to be able to share what you love with someone that you love so much and so intensly is the most beautiful gift that God could ever give to you! We both feel tremendously blessed!
Ernest G. Schweikert, my grandfather, was born and raised in New York. At the age of eight he had already begun to show an interest in music and under the teaching of his aunt, Anna Seredy, a concert pianist, he began his musical education. He later continued his musical studies under the guidence of Mr. Julius Seredy, an accomplished violinist who was on the editorial staff of the Carl Fischer Company.
Upon his death Ernest resumed his career as a pianist. During these years he had written a great deal of music. In 1947 he met a fellow by the name of Frank Reardon, at a cocktail party. Frank had expressed interest in a tune Ernest was playing on the piano, and after a bit of conversation the two fellows realized that they were perfectly suited musically and almost immediately began collaborating. The duo went on to write hundreds of beautiful compositions together and I'm currently giving new life to all of them. At the same time I'm living a dream by perpetuating my grandfather's legacy. I never knew that his past would be my present.
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melissamarquais
Pianist
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