His first major success as a lyricist was "The Best Man", written with Fred Wise, and a hit for Nat "King" Cole in 1946. In 1949, Alfred wrote the words for "The Hucklebuck", a tune originally written as an instrumental credited to Andy Gibson, which was first recorded by Paul Williams and his Hucklebuckers. The vocal version became a hit for Roy Milton, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and Frank Sinatra in 1949, and was later also successful for Chubby Checker (1960) and in Britain for Coast to Coast (1981).[1]
Alfred also wrote the lyrics for "Kee-Mo Ky-Mo", written with Bob Hilliard in 1949, and continued to write successfully through the 1950s and 1960s, often writing novelty lyrics.[2] One of his most successful lyrics was "Rock and Roll Waltz", composed by Shorty Allen and an international hit for Kay Starr in 1955. Alfred's other successes included "Wisdom of a Fool" (written with Abner Silver, 1956), "That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On" (written with Del Serino, 1961), and "Let's Lock the Door (and Throw Away the Key)", written with Wes Farrell and a hit for Jay and the Americans in 1964.[1]
He set up the Jonroy music publishing company in 1988,[3] and died in 2008.[4]
