Uploaded September 2012 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Ramona
Words by L. Wolfe Gilbert, music by Mabel Wayne
Brunswick Hour Orchestra, directed by William F. Wirges
Vocal Chorus by Frank Munn
Recorded April 1928
Brunswick 3919
As a child, Mabel Wayne (1904-1978) had piano lessons, studied composition, voice and dramatic art at the New York School of Music. But at the age of sixteen she ran away from home to become a dancer and vaudeville pianist. After a failed marriage at the age of 18, she began a career as a song writer. Soon seasoned writers like L. Wolfe Gilbert, Sam Lewis and Joe young were supplying form-fitting lyrics for her melodies.
In 1943, Mabel Wayne recalled the circumstances surrounding the origin of the song "Ramona" the first motion picture theme song. Edwin Carewe [motion picture director] and Dolores Del Rio were in the office of her attorney one day when Mabel bounced in.
"I want you to meet the little girl who wrote 'In a Little Spanish Town'." was the presentation.
Why not write the theme song for 'Ramona'?" Carewe asked.
Phil Kornheiser [music publisher], who also was present, remarked half-kiddingly, "There's a commission for you!"
"Everything was terribly serious to me then," Mabel recalls. "I was strumming at the piano that night when suddenly the three notes which fit the title slipped out as if by magic. I knew immediately that I had something. Twenty minutes later I had written the complete chorus which seemed to trip out from some hidden source. In almost no time three million copies were sold and I got about $100,000."
Other Achievments:
1925 - Wrote first popular song "Don't Wake Me Up, Let Me Dream"
1926 - "In a Little Spanish Town" (with Sam Young and Joe Lewis) her first million-copy seller.
1928 - "Chiquita" (with L. Wolfe Gilbert)
1930 - "It Happened in Monterey" (with Billy Rose), performed by John Boles in KING OF JAZZ
1930 - "Ragamuffin Romeo" (with Harry De Costa), performed by Jeannie Lang, George Chiles in KING OF JAZZ.
1931 - WJZ New York radio program "Mabel Wayne Hour"
1941 - "It Happened in Hawaii" (with Al Dubin) five months before the attack on Pearl Harbor!
1949 - "Dreamer's Holiday" (with Kim Gannon)
1951 - Declared by Billboard Magazine as "First Lady of Song"
1972 - Inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Ramona
Words by L. Wolfe Gilbert, music by Mabel Wayne
Brunswick Hour Orchestra, directed by William F. Wirges
Vocal Chorus by Frank Munn
Recorded April 1928
Brunswick 3919
As a child, Mabel Wayne (1904-1978) had piano lessons, studied composition, voice and dramatic art at the New York School of Music. But at the age of sixteen she ran away from home to become a dancer and vaudeville pianist. After a failed marriage at the age of 18, she began a career as a song writer. Soon seasoned writers like L. Wolfe Gilbert, Sam Lewis and Joe young were supplying form-fitting lyrics for her melodies.
In 1943, Mabel Wayne recalled the circumstances surrounding the origin of the song "Ramona" the first motion picture theme song. Edwin Carewe [motion picture director] and Dolores Del Rio were in the office of her attorney one day when Mabel bounced in.
"I want you to meet the little girl who wrote 'In a Little Spanish Town'." was the presentation.
Why not write the theme song for 'Ramona'?" Carewe asked.
Phil Kornheiser [music publisher], who also was present, remarked half-kiddingly, "There's a commission for you!"
"Everything was terribly serious to me then," Mabel recalls. "I was strumming at the piano that night when suddenly the three notes which fit the title slipped out as if by magic. I knew immediately that I had something. Twenty minutes later I had written the complete chorus which seemed to trip out from some hidden source. In almost no time three million copies were sold and I got about $100,000."
Other Achievments:
1925 - Wrote first popular song "Don't Wake Me Up, Let Me Dream"
1926 - "In a Little Spanish Town" (with Sam Young and Joe Lewis) her first million-copy seller.
1928 - "Chiquita" (with L. Wolfe Gilbert)
1930 - "It Happened in Monterey" (with Billy Rose), performed by John Boles in KING OF JAZZ
1930 - "Ragamuffin Romeo" (with Harry De Costa), performed by Jeannie Lang, George Chiles in KING OF JAZZ.
1931 - WJZ New York radio program "Mabel Wayne Hour"
1941 - "It Happened in Hawaii" (with Al Dubin) five months before the attack on Pearl Harbor!
1949 - "Dreamer's Holiday" (with Kim Gannon)
1951 - Declared by Billboard Magazine as "First Lady of Song"
1972 - Inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame
