Matty Malneck was an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 violinist, violist and songwriter.

Malneck's first professional gigs as a violinist began when he was age 16. He worked with Paul Whiteman

Paul Whiteman

Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...

 from 1926 to 1937, and also recorded in the same period with Frank Signorelli

Frank Signorelli

Frank Signorelli was an US jazz pianist of the 1920s. He was a founder member of the Original Memphis Five in 1917, then joined the Original Dixieland Jazz Band briefly in 1921. In 1927 he played in Adrian Rollini's New York ensemble, and subsequently worked with Eddie Lang, Bix Beiderbecke, Matty...

, Frankie Trumbauer

Frankie Trumbauer

Orie Frank Trumbauer was one of the leading jazz saxophonists of the 1920s and 1930s. He played the C-melody saxophone which, in size, is between an alto and tenor saxophone...

, Bix Beiderbecke

Bix Beiderbecke

Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...

, and Mildred Bailey

Mildred Bailey

Mildred Bailey was a popular and influential American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing"...

. He led his own big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

 in 1938-39 and shot short films with vocalist Liz Tilton

Liz Tilton

Liz Tilton was an American vocalist.The younger sister of Martha Tilton, she sang with Ken Baker in the 1930s and with Buddy Rogers later in her career. Liz Tilton also appeared with Bob Crosby in 1941 and Jan Garber in 1942....

 in the 1940s. He recorded as aleader for London Records

London Records

London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....

 in 1932 and Decca Records

Decca Records

Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 in 1938-39.

Malneck's credits as a songwriter have overshadowed his contributions as a performer. He composed several songs which became pop standards, including "I'll Never Be the Same", "I'm Through With Love", "Goody Goody

Goody Goody

"Goody Goody" is a 1936 popular song composed by Matty Malneck, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer.Benny Goodman and his Orchestra recorded this song. Frankie Lymon performed this song live on television on several occasions, including in 1957 on The Ted Steele Show...

", "Eeny Meeny Miney Mo", and "If You Were Mine" (lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Johnny Mercer

John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...

 and recorded by Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...

in New York City on October 25, 1935 for Brunswick 7554).