James Hubert "Eubie" Blake, the son of former slaves, was a pianist-composer. He studied organ and music theory as a child. In his 1920s, Blake became a successful songwriter with his partner, bandleader Noble Sissle, and together they wrote the hit Broadway show Shuffle Along in 1921. Two of the show's tunes, Memories of You and I'm Just Wild about Harry, became standards. At ninety-five years old, Blake told an interviewer that he had written a couple of thousand pieces but only about 350 had ever been published.