Albert Von Tilzer (Elias Gumbinsky)

1898

In the Wake of the Ship of War

1900

The Absent Minded Beggar Waltzes
[w/Alfred Dixon]

1901

When the Trees Are Filled with Blossoms [2]

1902

In Old Morocco: Waltz
Tell Me That Beautiful Story [1]
Song to the Foaming Stein [w/James O'Dea]

1903

That's What the Daisy Said [w/Wilbur Gumm]

1904

Lay My Wedding Dress Away [1]
Tell Me With Your Eyes [1]
You Mustn't Pick Plums From My Plum
Tree [4]
Teasing (I Was Only Teasing You) [3]
Lonesome [4]
I Want to be Loved [4]
The Dells of Delaware [4]
Murphy [5]
Bunker Hill [5]
August [5]
Watermelon am Good Enough for Mine
[w/G. Barker Richardson]

1905

Spoontime: Intermezzo
A Picnic for Two [1]
If Tears Were Pearls [1]
Get Busy! (You Look So Good To Me) [1]
Good Bye, Sweetheart, Good Bye [1]
The Whole Dam Family [6]
Spoontime [7]
Would You Like to Change from Miss to
    Mrs.? [7]
I've Set My Heart on You [w/Maurice J Stonehill]
Bye Bye Girlie [w/Aaron Hoffman]
In New York Town: Musical [8,9]
   Rosa Rosetta [10]
   I'd Like to See It
   Down to Delaware
   Come Donw, Ma' Evening Star
   Lulu
   Have You Seen My Henry Brown?
      [w/Dave J. Clark]
   (It's) New York Town for Mine [10]
   Lasso Lassie
   Polite [11]
   Chinese Finale
   The Moon Has His Eyes on You [12]
   Beauty Lane [11]

1906

Georgiana [1]
I'm Waiting in Loveland for You [1]
A Little Lunch for Two [1]
Tell Me Love's Story Again [1]
I Wonder if She Waits in Dixieland [1]
Little Girl, It's Up to You [1]
Going, Going, Gone [4]
I'm Getting Ready for My Mother-in-Law [13]
Holding Hands and "You Don't Say Nothing
at All" [13]
Bessie and Her Little Brown Bear [13]
I'm Sorry [13]
Give Me a Ticket for Louisville [14]
Just for Auld Land Syne [w/Edward Madden]

1907

Cotton: A Southern Breakdown
Bob Me Up and Down, Bob [1]
Heart of My Heart [1]
Clancy [11]
Dolly Dear [13]
Don't Be So Angry [13]
Insanity: A Daffy Ditty [13]
Honey Boy [13]

1908

Honeysuckle: Intermezzo
Love Once Again in the Springtime [1]
Sweetheart [1]
The Story the Picture Blocks Told [1]
Bl-nd and P-g Spells Blind Pig [11]
She Is My Bonnie Jean and I'm Her Sandy [11]
Look Out! Here Comes an American [11]
Why Doesn't Santa Claus Go Next Door? [11]
You're Just the Girl for Me [11]
Smarty [13]
Good Evening, Caroline [13]
Take Me Out to the Ball Game [13]
I'm Glad I'm Married [13]
Nothing Ever, Ever, Ever, Hardly Ever
Troubles Me [13]
You Will Have to Sing an Irish Song [13]

1909

Take Me Up With You Dearie [11]
Geography [11]
If I Only Had A Leming Pie [11]
Did He Run [11]
Carrie, or, Carrie Marry Harry [11]
Under the Orange Blossom Tree [11]
Dinah (from Carolina) [11]
When You Think There's No One Looking [11]
How Do You Do Miss Josephine [11]
Could You Learn To Love Me? (Ood-kay
Ooyay Earn-lay Oo-tayove-lay Ee-may) [11]
Nora Malone: Call Me by Phone [11]
Honest, You're the Only One for Me [15]
You're Just the Sort of a Girl for a Boy
Like Me [15]
Would You Like to Learn to Like Me? [15]

1910

I'd Give My Life for You [1]
Oh, You Chicago. Oh, You New York [11]
I Never Knew This Town At All Till My
    Wife Went Away [11]
Meet Me To-Night at Nine [11]
Barry [11]
I'm Just Out of My Teens [11]
When the Bells are Ringing, Mary [11]
In 1861 [11]
When The Tree of Love Begins to Bear its
    Leaves [11]
Oh! That Moonlight Glide [11]
Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey (I Never
    Knew Any Girl Like You) [11]
Flippitty Flop (and Away She Goes) [11]
When We're Married, We Will Live on
    Love [11]
Back to the Bleachers for Mine [w/Harry Breen]
I Want Someone to Flirt with Me [14,16]
M-A-R-Y, Mary, A Double N, Mary
    Ann [14,16]
The Happiest Night of His Life: Musical [11]
   Oh! What a Beautiful Morning
   (We Are) Laughing Widows
   Because it Can't Sit Down
   Oh, You Chicago. Oh, You New York
   The Happiest Night of His Life
   Etiquette
  Isn't it Nice to Know Someone Cares for You
   Nectar for the Gods
   A Joy Ride
   Blind Man's Bluff
   Things Left Unsaid
   The Fiddler Must Be Paid
   Jane
   What a Difference When You're Married
   The Little Church Around the Corner
   Twenty Four Hours of Love

1911

That Hypnotizing Man: A Mesmerizing
    Rag [17]
I'm Going to Steal Some Other Fellow's
    Girl (If I Can't Find One of My Own) [17]
Where You Goin'? (I'm Going To Join That
    Minstrel Band) [17]
Dapper Dan (The Ladies Man From Dixie
    Land) [17]
Mister Music Master Play That Rag Some
    Faster [17]
Good-Bye Old Gal (I'm Going Away on the
    2:10 Train) [17]
You Remind Me Of Someone I Want To
    Forget [17]
Good Night, Mr. Moon [18]
Song That Reaches Irish Hearts (The Wearing
    of the Green) [14]
'Tain't No Harm (to Have a Steady Beau) [14]
That College Rag [19]
I've Been a Long Time Looking for a Girl
    Like You [19]
On the New York, New Haven and Hartford
    [w/Frank J. Conroy]
Hold Me Just a Little Closer [20]
Because I'm in Love with You [20]

1912

Whose Little Girl Are You Now? [17]
That's My Personality [17]
Floating Down the River on the Alabam' [17]
Parisienne [17]
Bump, Bump, Bump in Your Automobile [17]
Who's Afraid of You? [17]
Something Tells Me You Will Break My
    Heart [17]
The Ghost of a Rag [17]
I'm Going Back to Kentucky Sue [17]
Please Don't Take My Lovin' Man Away [17]
Parisienne [17]
I Would Like To Try It (But I'm Just a Bit
    Afraid) [17]
Come and Kiss Your Little Baby [17]
Rap, Rap, Rap on Your Minstrel Bones [17]
I'm the Lonesomest Gal in Town [17]
Here Comes the Bride (The Girl Who Stole My
    Loving Man Away) [17]
Pucker Up Your Lips, Miss Lindy [18]
I'm Going Back to Old Virginia [w/Gene Buck]

1913

I'm Going to Spend My Honeymoon in
    Dixie [17]
Weep No More My Lady : Because I Won't
    Take Your Loving Man Away [17]
Stop Thief! (You Stole My Heart Away) [21]
My Orchard is Short of a Peach Like You [22]
I Want to Go to the Ball Game [22]
    [w/Charles J. Eichel]
You and The Moon and a Ragtime Tune
    [w/William Vaughan Dunham]
When You Are the World to Me [w/Andrew K.
    Allison]

1914

Come Back to Me
It's Too Late Now [w/William Tracey]

1915

If You Only Had My Disposition (My Daddy
    Came From Paree) [23]
When You're Dancing The Old Fashioned
    Waltz [23]
Don't Take My Darling Boy Away! [21]
My Little Girl [21] [w/Sam M. Lewis]
I Wanna Be the Captain (Or I Won't Play) [24]
Darlin' [24]
(Floating Down the Mississippi River) On My
    Way to New Orleans [24]

1916

I Didn't Know that Lovin' Was so Good
The Honolulu Hicki-Boola-Boo [17,23]
I Wasn't Born To Be Lonesome [17,23]
Be a Mason (Take it by Degrees) [23]
I've Made a Study of You [23]
Since Your Mother Goes to Movie Shows [23]
Everybody Loves a Girl Who's Modest [23]
Down Where the Swanee River Flows [23]
    [w/Charles S. Alberte]
Oh! How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki
    Woo (That's Love In Honolu) [23,25]
Eat and Grow Thin [23]
Do What Your Mother Did (I'll Do the Same
    as Your Dad) [21]
It's the Irish in Your Eye, It's the Irish in Your
    Smile [21]
Forever is a Long Time [26]
Oh! You Don't Know What You're Missin' [27]
Keep a Place Down in Your Heart for
    Ireland [25]
Love is Just a Lottery [25]
Put On Your Slippers And Fill Up Your Pipe
    (You're Not Going Bye-Bye To-Night) [2]

1917

I May Be Gone For A Long, Long Time [17]
Au Revoir, But Not Good-Bye (Soldier
Boy) [17]
To Any Girl [17]
Ask Me No Questions [17]

Famous as both a publisher and a songwriter, Albert Von Tilzer and his brothers Harry Von Tilzer and Will Von Tilzer represent another great success story of the ragtime era, even though they more or less wrote about and promoted ragtime, never writing any actual rags. They also prove to be a bit frustrating in terms of research, since much of the information on their early lives was relayed by the brothers themselves, and matching facts before 1900 are hard to corroborate. But a find has been made here that adds some interest to the Von Tilzer story.

Given their birth dates and locations, and matching the demographics of their parents, it appears that the brothers were born to Jacob Gumbinsky (or Gummbinsky) and Sarah Tilzer, Polish immigrants who may have actually lived in Germany before coming to the United States. In later years, Albert often put Indiana as their place of birth, and Harry and Jacob switched between Germany and Poland, which was a little more helpful. Older brother Jules lists Russia, which is even more consistent with Poland. Given that all other factors match, it is likely that Harry was born as Aaron Gumbinsky in Detroit, Michigan, as were his older brothers Louis (9/22/1870 - later Jacob or Jack) and Julius (11/1868 - later Jules). There were also two other siblings, one boy and one girl, but they died in infancy in 1873 and 1874.

Between 1874 and 1877 the family moved from Detroit to Indianapolis, Indiana, where Albert was born as Elias Gumbinsky (3/29/1878), Albert possibly being a middle name. For the 1880 census, their father Jacob is listed as a hair dresser, but later owned a shoe store, then expanded that into a general store. Sarah worked as a milliner in the store as well. He is listed in the Indianapolis directories of the 1880s as selling "furniture, stoves and tinware" at 434 S. Illinois Street. Harry's memories recall a shoe store, and this would be somewhat consistent, as shoes might be found in such a location. Younger brother Harris Harold, the eventual lawyer for the Von Tilzer brothers, was born in September 1880, followed by Wilbur (Will) in November 1882. This find means that there was a big change in their names (except H. Harold who retained Gumm) and lives following Harry's lead. It has also been said that the family changed their name to Gumm at some point, although this is more likely Harry and Albert since their father was still using Gumbinsky in the 1890s.

While living in Indianapolis, Harry, Julius and Albert were exposed to the joys of stage entertainment as a local theatrical company gave performances in the loft above their father's store. Harry had also been playing piano at an early age, largely, as he recalled, with encouragement from his mother. Albert also followed in Harry's footsteps with similar musical talent. Harry was so enraptured with the lure of performance that he lived out the fantasy of many young boys and left home to join the Cole Brothers Circus in 1886 at age 14. With them he worked as a tumbler and singer, playing the calliope and piano as well.

He left the circus before he was 16 to perform with traveling burlesque and vaudeville shows playing piano and writing tunes and incidental music for them. Even though he had shortened the family name to Gumm it did not suit him, and at some point in his teens he changed it to a derivative of his mother's maiden name, adding "Von" to Tilzer to make it fancier. Albert followed that example some time in the 1890s, and once the pair became famous, brothers Jules, Jacob (Jack) and Will also changed their names to Von Tilzer, although Will was published as Gumm through around 1912.

With brother Harry on his way to a music career, Albert followed in his tracks to some extent, deciding to abandon high school at first to help with the family business in the shoe and merchandise store, but eventually taking his music skills out into the world. teasing cover

As with Harry, Albert became a musician and sometime musical director of a traveling Vaudeville troupe. This lasted for a few years, but once Harry's hit song, My Old New Hampshire Home, landed him a position as a partner with Shapiro and Bernstein in 1899, he sought out Albert, who now considered himself similarly as a Von Tilzer, to run the Chicago branch of the company. Albert had been to Chicago often, and in 1898 had a piece published there, one of many that were reactions to the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine and the brief conflict in Cuba. But now he was able to make a home, have a desk job, and perhaps consider composing more of his own pieces. As of the 1900 census Albert was living in Chicago listed as a music composer, even with only two pieces in print, and Harry was similarly listed as a musician and composer in Manhattan.

The situation in Chicago did not work out well, so Albert moved to New York and in with his brother for a time. He went back to selling shoes while waiting for a better opportunity. Harry did take in his Absent Minded Beggar Waltzes on the short-lived Shapiro, Bernstein & Von Tilzer label, which while not a great hit did give Albert some circulation in Manhattan and a moral boost. It helped him get work as a singer as well, and he was featured on the cover of the 1901 song When the Trees are Filled With Blossoms by Eddie Moran and the contrived Albert Rezlit (Tilzer spelled backwards), "Introduced and Sung by Mr. Albert Von Tilzer." He learned the art of composing from his brother and by trying several takes of his own at it until he felt the material was good enough to shop around. Something else Albert got from Harry was the fine tear-jerker lyricist Arthur J. Lamb, who provided him with the words for Tell Me That Beautiful Story early in 1902. Since Harry had just left his previous partners in an amicable move to start his own publishing house, he took Albert's piece as one of the first in what would prove to be an enormous catalog within a few years. The piece did well and showed that Albert had the same propensity for memorable melodies as his now famous brother. But Albert wasn't quite ready to commit yet, and still maintained other work while making efforts at other compositions, of which very few were published in 1902 and 1903.

In 1903 Albert came up with That's What the Daisy Said published by Harry and penned with his brother Will (still Wilbur), who had recently moved to Manhattan as well. Its success plus Harry's mentorship encouraged him to set out on his own with his brother Jack who had recently moved to New York City. Together they founded the York Music Company late in the year. The origin of the name is likely derived from the city it was in (there was already a New York Music Publishing Company), and it seems reasonable that he did not use the Von Tilzer name so as to not be confused with his older brother's self-named firm.

The cause of the break between the brothers is uncertain. However, it was made rather public in mid 1905 when Albert printed advertisements in the New York Clipper and other papers including the announcement, "Having severed my connections with the HARRY VON TILZER MUSIC PUB.CO., I beg to announce to all my friends that I shall be pleased to hear from them, either personally or by mail, at my new place of business." Just the same they would remain on on sometimes tenuous but otherwise friendly terms, and even share lyricists and writers for nearly the next two decades. Jack had also parted ways with his brother in late 1904, working as a business manager around Tin Pan Alley for a while, but ultimately hooking up with Albert. Albert and Jack were both listed as the manager of York Music in 1904 and 1905 in city directories. Jack's role was more on the business end of the firm while Albert created and sought out music for the catalog. In 1903, Albert got married to Caddie Neisbaum. The couple would stay together to his death, but there is no indication that they ever had children.

Once he had his own outlet, Albert, in the same way as Harry, suddenly found his way and started pushing out lots of tunes, some of them hits, in collaboration with some of the finest lyricists in Manhattan and beyond. The first great success was Teasing written with Cecil Mack in 1904. Written for the stage show The School Girl, it lasted much longer than the show did, and helped make more of a name for both contributors. It was reported that he was paid the unheard of price of $2,500 for the English publishing rights in advance of publication. With his popularity on the rise and his company doing well, Albert decided to try writing for the Broadway stage, and area that his older brother had just failed in with at least two different shows. His first contribution was a number of songs for Mrs. 'Mac,' The Mayor which lasted only 8 performances, even more dismal than Harry's attempts. honey boy cover

Still, he had another up his sleeve, and In New York Town managed 24 performances divided between 3 theaters before it was also finally shelved. At this point, Albert went back to focusing on writing hit songs for a while, and wouldn't revisit the stage for another few years.

Will was also working in New York by this time, both as a musician and as an occasional lyricist, getting published in both of his brother's firms, but still under the name Wilbur U. Gumm. His income was largely derived from performance in vaudeville theaters and other places where he would accompany singers, but Will was also learning much about the business of musical publishing from his three older brothers. Harold had moved to New York this time, and equipped with a law degree was getting some work in Manhattan, soon specializing in show business law. Will was working as a manager for Harry's firm starting in 1905, touted in the trades as Von Tilzer rather than Gumm.

Following another trend that brother Harry was on top of, Albert released a dance folio in 1905, a collection of some of his hit tunes without lyrics. These were useful to cabaret and vaudeville pianists as they provided necessary music for their gigs without breaking their budget. Within this folio was one of his rare instrumental numbers, Bunker Hill, originally released in 1904 as a song, which showed Albert to be more capable than Harry in this genre. While 1906 was an otherwise productive year for Von Tilzer, particularly with Lamb, there were no big hits forthcoming. However, he was working with another new partner, vaudeville performer Jack Norworth. In 1907 they penned a tribute to one of the champions of the dying genre of the minstrel show, George "Honey Boy" Evans, titled Honey Boy. It was either the piece itself or Evans' popularity that helped make it a hit, and it encouraged the pair to continue together. Albert also released a decent syncopated instrumental, Cotton, which while it didn't do quite as well as songs of that time, still added to the firm's profits.

The year 1908 would prove to be another turning point for Albert as a composer, and within a decade his work would permanently be embedded in the American songbook. While he had a number of minor hits during the year, it was happenstance that helped to create his best known song, and without any particular intention other than just another day at the writing desk. take me out to the ball game cover

Norworth, always looking for topical ideas (love and relationships always being a topical idea if nothing else was around) was on one of the new subway cars riding downtown when he spotted a poster for a baseball game held at the Polo Grounds on the Hudson river (20 years before Yankee Stadium would rise). While Norworth had never actually been to a baseball game, he did read the papers and talked to other people, so he knew the sport was popular and had enough in the way of references to concoct a lyric on a scrap of paper as he sped under the city. Offering a tweaked copy to Albert, also a baseball virgin, and the latter came up with a waltz melody in the vein of the popular Sidewalks of New York and School Days. They put Take Me Out to the Ball Game in print and ran it up the flagpole. The piece was first popularized by Jack's singer wife of the time, Nora Bayes. Within a year it had swept the city and much of the east coast, and within a couple of years virtually anybody who went to the ball park (which still did not include the composers) knew the tune. It soon became a staple as a sing-along during the seventh inning stretch, and has continued with little interruption in that regard for a century to date. It is a song that most Americans born from the 1920s on don't even remember learning it is so embedded in the fabric of the culture. In the end, it is the sheer simplicity of the game experience, rather than a story as so many other baseball songs had come up with, that propelled this to position second only to National Anthem in terms of public performance. Norworth and Von Tilzer eventually did make it to a baseball game, but not until the 1920s.

The following year saw fewer songs and no real sellers. So in 1910 Albert tried to recapture the baseball standard with a follow-up, but being a story song, Back to the Bleachers for Mine did not fare so well. Just the same, Albert decided to give the stage another go, and at the end of the year had completed The Happiest Night of His Life, put your arms around me honey cover

a sappy comedy about a man on his wedding day and night. As with his previous efforts, it proved to be unpalatable for the public, closing after 24 performances. Albert was done with the stage for the time being, as was Harry for all time. To complicate matters, business was proving difficult for York Music Company, and he was looking for a change.

Albert did manage to open an office in Chicago in 1910 which was represented by his older brother Jules. A couple of pieces came out simply as published under his own name in 1910 and 1911. Then good fortune came his way again. Albert had been writing with a female friend, Junie McCree, who had worked with him on The Happiest Night of His Life and some minor hits going back as far as 1905. In 1910 they hit upon Put Your Arms Around Me Honey which soon became a stage sensation when ragged beyond its otherwise standard arrangement. In spite of this, either the strain of the stage musical failure or perhaps some other factor proved to be the end of their five year on and off collaboration. Albert is listed in the 1910 enumeration with Caddie living in a hotel listed as a publisher rather than as a songwriter. Will was living with his lawyer brother Harold. Both Albert and Wilbur are listed as publishers, rather than songwriters. The following year, Wilbur would be the last brother to legally change his name, choosing Will Von Tilzer over Wilbur U. Gumm. Harris Harold Gumm would not follow brothers Jack, Harry, Will or Albert in this change.

In 1911 Albert came up with one relative hit, That College Rag, but was starting to wear from the business end of things. He brought Will in to York Music to work with Jack on running the company, as well as other musicians with supplying it with product. Albert's output in the period, though reduced, was still fairly significant. It saw the start of his collaboration with newly minted lyricist Lew Brown. Their initial output included pieces like That Hypnotizing Man, That's My Personality and Dapper Dan (The Ladies Man From Dixie Land), but they soon caught on with the consumer with I'm the Lonesomest Gal in Town and Parisienne. One hit and a sad sequel from 1912 consisted of Please Don't Take My Lovin' Man Away and Here Comes The Bride (The Girl Who Stole My Loving Man Away). Near the end of the year, Albert abandoned York Music, putting it in the hands of his brothers Jack and Jules. Then the writing seems to have almost stopped in 1913 through 1915, which may be attributed to a number of unknown factors in Albert's life. It was announced when he left York Music that he would endeavor to be a "producer of vaudeville acts," but there is no evidence of any success in this field. Albert and his brother Harry were charter members of ASCAP, formed in 1914.

Possibly looking for a change of some kind, down where the swanee river flows cover

Albert merged York Music in 1914 with the recently formed Broadway Music Corporation, started by Will Von Tilzer who had left the shadow of their brother Harry in 1913. Some of the output at that time consisted of reprints of York Music stock, but new pieces soon started flowing forth from Albert and other composers who were recruited for the new label. Albert had little trouble finding lyrics, as both wannabe lyricists and composers constantly flooded Tin Pan Alley publishers with new material either by mail or in person. Adding melody to some of these submissions, Albert was able to augment his output and help bring some new names into the spotlight as well. One of these songs was soon brought to hit status by singer Al Jolson, who kept Down Where the Swanee River Flow in his repertoire for many years until some of the 1920s songs that caught his fancy replaced it.

Then came what could have been an interruption, but for songwriters was a boon. World War I, while it took many of the men away to fight in Europe, seemed to have been kind to publishers as they had a lot to write about, a lot to publish, and a lot of consumers to justify the effort. Albert was no slouch in this regard, and Broadway Music published a good number of his war pieces, including I May Be Gone For A Long, Long Time, the post-war sequel I May Stay Away a Little Longer, and When the Sun Goes Down in Flanders. The most famous of these was Au Revoir, But Not Good-Bye (Soldier Boy), although none of them matched the popularity of George M. Cohan's Over There or Irving Berlin's many songs written for the boys in Europe. On his draft record Albert is now shown working with ArtMusic, run largely by Will and Jules.

Albert and his colleagues did not need to worry about what to write about after the was since the next war would be waged by supporters of the Volstead Act and the onset of national prohibition. One of a pair of blues he composed with Edward Laska was The Alcoholic Blues in 1919, but another surprisingly positive comic song was I Never Knew I Had a Wonderful Wife (Until the Town Went Dry). With yet another frequent partner, Neville Fleeson, Albert wrote Dear Old Daddy-Long-Legs which saw brisk sales for a few years. But it was with Brown that another mega-hit emerged, Oh By Jingo! (Oh By Gee, You're the Only Girl For Me), which quickly became a favorite in Vaudeville. Albert appeared in the 1920 census as a composer, now in his own home with Caddie.

Burned three times, Albert nonetheless believed he could still make it big on Broadway with a musical. Urged on by the growing number of theaters and the successes of Ziegfeld and Berlin, he and Fleeson first worked on What's the Odds in 1919, which did not make it very far. Albert next penned Honey Girl with Fleeson and Edward Clark in 1920. This one finally hit the mark and gave him a success his brother Harry was not able to capture, running initially for 32 performances at the Cohan theater, followed by another 110 a few blocks away. That same year saw yet another standard that would require twenty years to fully catch on, but still was well regarded when it came out, Included at some point in Honey Girl but sold separately from the pieces included in the score, I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time was a charming waltz song that blossomed into a 4/4 swing hit in the 1940s. From 1920 on, however, Albert's melodies tended less towards current song styles and more to the sentimental or ragtime styles of previous decades, and no more big hits were coming.

Jules Von Tilzer also made it into the news as Albert was testing the Broadway waters again. He was allegedly stabbed by his wife, Estelle, as he lay sleeping one night in late February 1920. Estelle's story was a bit different. She had reacted to a telephone call from a mysterious woman who alerted her that Jules had been fooling around with another woman for some three years. When confronted with that news, the 225 pound Jules denied the allegation and reportedly jumped out of bed. The 90 pound Estelle grabbed a knife in self-defense. Neither of them seemed to be able to recall how the knife entered his body. It was not favorable publicity for the other Von Tilzers, Harry in particular, who was also mentioned in the articles on the incident as being the brother of Jules.

In December, 1921, Albert opened his own publishing business with Fleeson. It is not known if there was any disagreement with Will that might have spurred this action, or if it was simply a branching of the Von Tilzer publishing empire. An announcement in The Music Trade Review of December 3, 1921, read: "Albert Von Tilzer, one of the best known of present-day popular composers, and Neville Fleeson, his writing partner, who for many years were on the staff of the Broadway Music Corp., have severed their connections with that company. Albert Von Tilzer has entered the ranks of the publishers under his own name, with offices at 1591 Broadway." The Albert Von Tilzer Publishing Company was short-lived, however. In an announcement published in September 1922, Albert noted that he had "been liquidating his business with a view to engaging practically exclusively in the writing of vaudeville sketches and acts. Such songs as Mr. Von Tilzer may write in the future will be offered to publishers on a free-lance basis." Albert and Neville ended up selling the assets to their distributor, Jacob Mittenthal, Incorporated. Encouraged by his recent success on Broadway, he wrote The Gingham Girl in late 1922 with Fleeson, and it ran nearly a year at 322 performances. Wary of jumping the gun lest it close early, the songs were not published until early 1923. That same year would see Adrienne make it to the stage, this one with future partner and lyric writing veteran A. Seymour Brown. It lasted around eight months at 235 performances.

Harry Von Tilzer's firm went into receivership for a while in 1922, but he would emerge over the next few years in fairly good shape. Broadway Music similarly suffered a bankruptcy in late 1922, but was discharged from it in early 1923 offering a 25% settlement with creditors based on the promised of a successful reorganization. In this way, Will kept Broadway Music going at a brisk pace into the mid-1920s and the reorganized company kept its promise, coming out of the predicament even stronger. In 1927 he launched an unusual campaign for a particular song, and in an article in The Music Trade Review of October 22, 1927, some of his past advertising innovations were also featured: