Ruth Lowe Chord Charts & Sheet Music

Ruth Lowe (1914–1981) was a pioneering Canadian songwriter and pianist whose heartfelt compositions left an indelible mark on 20th-century music. Born in Toronto and raised in California, she returned to Canada as a young woman and began working as a pianist. In 1936, she joined Ina Ray Hutton's all-female band, the Melodears, as their regular pianist. ​ In 1938, Lowe married Harold Cohen, a Chicago music publicist, but tragically, he died during an operation in 1939. In her deep grief, Lowe returned to Toronto and composed "I'll Never Smile Again." The song was first heard on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) radio program Music By Faith, in an arrangement by Canadian musician Percy Faith. Approximately a year later, Lowe passed a copy of the tune to a guitarist in the Tommy Dorsey band, Carmen Mastren. Dorsey had it arranged for his young singer, Frank Sinatra, and the Pied Pipers. It became an early, major hit song for Sinatra and was the first number one on Billboard's inaugural chart in 1940. Lowe also penned "Put Your Dreams Away (For Another Day)," which became Sinatra's signature closing theme. She continued to write music throughout her life, including collaborations with her son Tom Sandler. In 1982, a year after her death, "I'll Never Smile Again" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. ​