Rube Bloom was born Reuben Bloom in New York City on April 24, 1902. He was a self-taught pianist and in 1919 found work as an accompanist for vaudeville shows. He played for dance bands and jazz groups throughout the 1920s, as well as arranging songs for numerous publishing companies. From 1924 until 1931 he recorded with performers including the Sioux City Six, the Cotton Pickers, Frankie Trumbauer's Orchestra (which featured Bix Beiderbecke), the Tennessee Tooters, the Hottentots, Joe Venuti's All-Star Rhythm Boys, Ethel Waters, Noble Sissle, Annette Hanshaw, Seger Ellis, and Red Nichols' Redheads.
Bloom was a significant novelty ragtime composer and pianist who recorded 23 piano solos during 1926-28 and four additional ones in 1934 including "Soliloquy", which would also be recorded by Duke Ellington. In 1928, one of his compositions, "Song of the Bayou," won a Victor Records song contest and the following year, he wrote the music and Harry Woods wrote the lyrics for "The Man From the South” (Ted Weems recorded a top ten hit in 1930). In 1930 Bloom recorded six more of his tunes including “The Man From the South," with his own group the Bayou Boys (which included Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Adrian Rollini.).
Through the 1930’s, Bloom collaborated with a variety of songwriters including Harry Ruby and Marvin Smolev on the song "Jumping Jack," (featured in the 1929 film musical The Show of Shows). He wrote with lyricist Ted Koehler on several hits including “Truckin’”, “The Voice of the Southland”, and “Stay on the Right Side, Sister”, (a hit for with Ruth Etting). For the stage show The Cotton Club Parade in 1939, Bloom and Koehler wrote “What Goes Up Must Come Down”, “If I Were Sure of You”, “Got No Time”, and “Don't Worry ‘Bout Me.” Other collaborations with Johnny Mercer produced "Day In-Day Out” and "Fools Rush In." With Mack David, Bloom composed "Take Me," which enjoyed successful recordings by Tommy Dorsey, by Jimmy Dorsey, and by Benny Goodman. For the 1946 movie Wake Up and Dream he teamed again with Ruby to write "I Wish I Could Tell You," "Into the Sun," and "Give Me the Simple Life."
In 1955, Bloom went abroad with a United States government-sponsored tour sponsored by the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) and in his later years, he wrote several books on piano method. Rube Bloom died in New York City on March 30, 1976.
He recorded with performers including the Sioux City Six, the Cotton Pickers, Frankie Trumbauer's Orchestra, Ethel Waters, and Noble Sissle.
