GEORGE R. POULTON
George R. Poulton (1828–1867) was a musician and composer, best known for composing the tune to “Aura Lea” in 1861 – one of the most popular tunes of the 19th century – which became a famous American Civil War song and later became popular with college glee clubs and barbershop quartets. It was also sung at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. In 1956 the song (now in the public domain) was given new lyrics and released as the Elvis Presley song “Love Me Tender”. (More from Wikipedia)
As a further wrinkle, the tune for “Love Me Tender” is an adaptation of a popular Civil War-era song “Aura Lea” (published in 1861), which had music by George R. Poulton and words by W. W. Fosdick. As with most old songs, “Aura Lea” is now in the “Public Domain”, meaning that the intellectual property rights for the writing of this song have expired; thus, Poulton and Fosdick did not have to be credited at all, nor did their heirs receive any compensation when “Love Me Tender” became a big hit.
(April 2015/1)
