Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz (lyrics by Yip Harburg), including "Over the Rainbow",
Arlen was born in Buffalo, New York, United States, the child of a cantor. Hyman first began singing and developing his musical talents. His parents introduced him to classical music and he learned the basics of the piano. As a preteen he found the classical pieces that he studied grand in composition, but he was much more interested in modern music. He sustained his appetite for popular music by playing in various bands around town and even took jobs as a pianist in local movie theatres. He was fifteen when he formed his own band 'The Snappy Trio.' Although the members of the trio were teenagers, they incurred no problems getting work in Buffalo's 'red-light district' cabarets. |
| The Buffalodians |
At sixteen he dropped out of high school to further pursue his musical interests. He was making good money and able to afford many spoils others in his neighborhood went without. At age nineteen, his first foray in songwriting was a collaboration with friend Hyman Cheiffetz. They penned the song, "My Gal, Won't You Please Come Back to Me?" and copyrighted lyrics by Cheiffetz and music by Arluck. He was invited to join a local band, 'The Yankee Six', and not long, the band grew into an eleven-man group called 'The Buffalodians.' They toured the East coast for several years with success. It was during this time he changed his name to Harold Arlen.
In 1929, Arlen composed his first well-known song: "Get Happy" (with lyrics by Ted Koehler). Throughout the early and mid-1930s, Arlen and Koehler wrote shows for the Cotton Club, a popular Harlem night club, as well as for Broadway musicals and Hollywood films. Arlen and Koehler's partnership resulted in a number of hit songs, including the familiar standards "Let's Fall in Love" and "Stormy Weather". Arlen continued to perform as a pianist and vocalist with some success, most notably on records with Leo Reisman's society dance orchestra. In the mid-1930s, Arlen married, and spent increasing time in California, writing for movie musicals.
In 1938, Arlen and Harburg were signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to write the score for the filming of "The Wizard of Oz." The musical score was a success earning an Academy Award for "Over The Rainbow" as the best song of the year. He remained busy in the years after "The Wizard of Oz," scoring movies for Paramount, Warner Brothers, and MGM studios. He has collaborated on such well known standards as, "Blues In The Night,""Stormy Weather,""That Old Black Magic," and " Come Rain or Come Shine." He divided his time between Broadway and Hollywood. Within a three year period, his father and mother died.
sung by Harold Arlen from above 1966 album.
In the 1940s, he teamed up with lyricist Johnny Mercer, and continued to write hit songs like "Blues in the Night", "Out of this World", "That Old Black Magic", "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive", "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home", "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)". Arlen
composed two of the defining songs of Judy Garland's career: "Over the Rainbow" and "The Man That Got Away", the last written for the 1954 version of the film A Star Is Born. After the completion of the film score, the rigors of steady work since 1935 came crashing down on Arlen in the form of a bleeding ulcer, which required a time of hospitalization. All things aside, and despite his poor health, the highly regarded musician continued to compose. He wrote over fifty songs between 1961 and 1976.
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| Arlen & Mercer |
His nephew, Samuel, had been adopted by Arlen before his death and was made primary heir. Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg's song, "Over the Rainbow" was named the number one 'Song of the 20th Century' by the recording industry and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the American Film Institutes number one song of "AFI's Top 100 Films." Additionally, his songs have garnered eight Academy Award nominations.
(Edited from Wikipedia & Katzizkidz)
Here’s a clip circa 1954 of Harold Arlen playing piano and singing his songs on the Colgate Comedy Hour, assisted by Connie Russell, Frank Sinatra, Eddie Cantor (host). Medley of Harold Arlen songs: It's Only A Paper Moon (HA), Somewhere Over The Rainbow (CR), Ac-cen-tuate the Positive (EC), One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (HA piano), Come Rain Or Come Shine (FS), I've Got The World On A String (FS), That Old Black Magic (FS), Get Happy (ensemble), Blues In The Night (CR), Let's Fall In Love (HA), I Love A Parade (EC). Musical direction by Al Goodman. Followed by short exchange between Eddie Fisher and Frank Sinatra. Commercial for Palmolive Soap. Arlen songs co-written with Ted Koehler, Johnny Mercer, and E.Y. (Yip) Harburg.