Cy Coben

Cy Coben (April 4, 1919 – May 26, 2006) was an American songwriter, whose hits were recorded by bandleaders, country singers, and other artists such as The Beatles, Tommy Cooper and Leonard Nimoy.

Biography

Coben was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, the youngest son of Harris ("Harry") Cohen and Nettie Brandt Cohen, and was originally named Seymour. His father was a wholesale butcher in New York City. Coben learned to play the trumpet and studied at a local music academy. In 1942 he had his first charting song with "My Little Cousin", which Benny Goodman's orchestra and vocalist Peggy Lee took to #14. Coben spent the next several years in the Navy, serving in the South Pacific as a pharmacist's mate. On his return in 1946, he resumed his song writing career. He wrote "A Good Woman's Love" for his wife Shirley Nagel, whom he married in 1948.

In 1947, Coben wrote a novelty song called "(When You See) Those Flying Saucers" which was released as a single by the Buchanan Brothers; his co-author was Charles Randolph Grean, who was working for RCA/Victor. Grean was to become a long-time collaborator of Coben's. In 1949 Coben first visited Nashville and soon became a part of the music business there. In Nashville, Coben wrote for a variety of artists, but was especially associated with Eddy Arnold; he wrote "There's Been a Change in Me" and "I Wanna Play House With You," two #1 country hits for Arnold in 1951, and went on to write many other songs for him, often with Charles Grean, who was Arnold's manager - "Eddy's Song", a #1 country hit in 1953; "Free Home Demonstration" (#4 country) in 1954, and others. Coben and Grean also wrote songs for other artists, such as their version of "Sweet Violets", which charted for Dinah Shore and Jane Turzy in 1951.