Sissle met Blake in 1915 as an aspiring lyricist and singer when they were both hired for an engagement with Joe Porter’s Serenaders at Riverview amusement park in Baltimore. They quickly formed a songwriting partnership—one that would last for 60 years. Their first song was “It’s All Your Fault,” introduced by the popular club singer Sophie Tucker. Later in 1915 Sissle joined Bob Young’s sextet, which had a winter booking at the Royal Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida; it was the first dance ensemble to play there full-time. In 1916 Sissle—again with Blake—found work with James Reese Europe’s high-society dance orchestras. Together the two musicians wrote songs and performed as a piano-vocal duo at weddings, debutante parties, and soirées for Europe’s most exclusive clients.

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