Will Huff (1875-1942)
William Lockwood Huff
(January 16, 1875 – November 5, 1942)
Will Huff was many things, to include photographer, interior decorator, composer, and musician (cornet and alto horn).
One of these many things was also that he was born in Massieville, Ohio, which is a VERY small town next to State Route 23, just outside of Chillicothe, Ohio. After a while living in other locations, Huff spent his remaining years, and subsequently passed away, in Chillicothe, Ohio.
In fact, on his return to Chillicothe, Will Huff became the Director for several local bands, to include:
1. The Adelphi Community Band
(Adelphi, Ohio)
http://adelphiband.weebly.com/
2. The Mead Pulp and Paper Company Band
Chillicothe, Ohio
3. I.O.O.F. Band
Chillicothe, Ohio
This makes WIll Huff almost as much of a "local boy" to Circleville as Ted Lewis, who was actually born in Circleville.
Will Huffs' incredible story, however, seems to really only start with these pieces of information.
WIll Huff was a composer of marches for bands. Some attribute the number of his compositions from as few as 66 to possibly as many as possibly over 90.
While his works were certainly not as popular as those from others, to include Sousa, many of them were well known in his time, and are still played today.
However, unbeknownst initially to them both, Henry Fillmore (Cincinnati, Ohio) on a whim, had also started using "Will Huff" as one of his many pseudonyms.
When the two finally met, Fillmore convinced Huff to publish with the Fillmore Publishing Company. After being commissioned to write a number of pieces for the Fillmore Company, WIll Huff wrote several but was unable to totally fulfill this commitment. FIllmore then stepped in to finish the task, but NEVER revealed to anyone exactly which marches Huff composed, and which ones Fillmore composed but attached the Huff name to.
There are a lot of compositions for which it is pretty well accepted were written by Huff, either for the Fillmore company, or for the company used by Huff before meeting Fillmore.
There are also several compositions that some people BELIEVE were written by Fillmore FOR Will Huff in order to complete the contract, but for which NO ONE can say with certainty.
Regardless, because of this deep connection of Will Huff to the Circleviile/Chillicothe area, links have been placed below to Youtube videos for some of the songs attributed to the name Will Huff that were either written by him for another publishing company before joining the Fillmore company, or were published by the Fillmore Company under the name of Will Huff AFTER he had joined their staff of composers.
In those cases where a video of the performance of the song could not be readily located, a link has been placed to a web site that contains the written parts for that song.
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William Lockwood Huff
(January 16, 1875 – November 5, 1942)
Will Huff was many things, to include photographer, interior decorator, composer, and musician (cornet and alto horn).
One of these many things was also that he was born in Massieville, Ohio, which is a VERY small town next to State Route 23, just outside of Chillicothe, Ohio. After a while living in other locations, Huff spent his remaining years, and subsequently passed away, in Chillicothe, Ohio.
In fact, on his return to Chillicothe, Will Huff became the Director for several local bands, to include:
1. The Adelphi Community Band
(Adelphi, Ohio)
http://adelphiband.weebly.com/
2. The Mead Pulp and Paper Company Band
Chillicothe, Ohio
3. I.O.O.F. Band
Chillicothe, Ohio
This makes WIll Huff almost as much of a "local boy" to Circleville as Ted Lewis, who was actually born in Circleville.
Will Huffs' incredible story, however, seems to really only start with these pieces of information.
WIll Huff was a composer of marches for bands. Some attribute the number of his compositions from as few as 66 to possibly as many as possibly over 90.
While his works were certainly not as popular as those from others, to include Sousa, many of them were well known in his time, and are still played today.
However, unbeknownst initially to them both, Henry Fillmore (Cincinnati, Ohio) on a whim, had also started using "Will Huff" as one of his many pseudonyms.
When the two finally met, Fillmore convinced Huff to publish with the Fillmore Publishing Company. After being commissioned to write a number of pieces for the Fillmore Company, WIll Huff wrote several but was unable to totally fulfill this commitment. FIllmore then stepped in to finish the task, but NEVER revealed to anyone exactly which marches Huff composed, and which ones Fillmore composed but attached the Huff name to.
There are a lot of compositions for which it is pretty well accepted were written by Huff, either for the Fillmore company, or for the company used by Huff before meeting Fillmore.
There are also several compositions that some people BELIEVE were written by Fillmore FOR Will Huff in order to complete the contract, but for which NO ONE can say with certainty.
Regardless, because of this deep connection of Will Huff to the Circleviile/Chillicothe area, links have been placed below to Youtube videos for some of the songs attributed to the name Will Huff that were either written by him for another publishing company before joining the Fillmore company, or were published by the Fillmore Company under the name of Will Huff AFTER he had joined their staff of composers.
In those cases where a video of the performance of the song could not be readily located, a link has been placed to a web site that contains the written parts for that song.
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