1921 “My Mammy” Sheet Music – Walter Donaldson – Pre-Jolson Cover – Jazz Age Tin Pan Alley

My Mammy — Early Tin Pan Alley Edition with Luminous Moonlit Plantation Scene

Original 1921 sheet music for My Mammy (The Sun Shines East – The Sun Shines West), music by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Joe Young and Sam Lewis. Published by Irving Berlin, Inc., New York. My Mammy gained national prominence during the Tin Pan Alley era, when New York was the center of American popular music publishing. The song later became strongly associated with Al Jolson’s 1927 film The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length film with synchronized dialogue and music — a milestone in cinematic history.

Cover art features a luminous moonlit Southern landscape — a plantation-style home framed by tall oaks, reflective water, and decorative floral side panels in deep blue and golden yellow-orange tones. Initials “RS” appear on the front and may possibly reference illustrator Robert S. Brown, who worked for New York publishers in the early 1920s, though attribution cannot be confirmed. 

Inside cover includes stanzas from Tired of Me and Rock-A-Bye Lullaby Mammy. The back advertises Irving Berlin’s Tell Me Little Gypsy, a major hit of the Ziegfeld Follies. The condition is fair as the fragile paper pages and detached with edge chipping. Cover illustration retains strong color. Best suited for historical documentation or framing rather than performance use. Protective sleeve included.

Listen to the Peerless Quartet 1921 recording of My Mammy here.