Songwriters to 1954
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page originally published on 5 February 2010; latest revision: 29 March 2023
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Irving Berlin, Alice Faye, Tyrone Power, and Don Ameche, on the set of the film Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938), directed by Henry King
Introduction to the Site: Songbook and the Songwriters
Galleries:
- galleries: performing artist and songwriter (primarily)
Featured Songwriters to 1954
Major Composers
- Irving Berlin
- slide show and gallery
- Irving Berlin: selected standards, 1925-1953 — including 10 standards
- 1925 – Remember
- 1925 – Always: early recordings, 1926-1927
- 1926 – Blue Skies
- 1929 – Puttin’ On the Ritz
- 1932 – How Deep is the Ocean? (How High is the Sky?)
- 1935 – Cheek to Cheek
- 1935 – Let’s Face the Music and Dance
- 1936 – I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
- 1938 – Change Partners
- 1940 – White Christmas, White Christmas: selected vocal harmony group recordings, 1948-1965
- 1953 – Sayonara (published in 1957)
special feature pages, large and small
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- Berlin: selected early songs, 1907-1914 + sheet music gallery
- Berlin: selected songs of 1909 and 1910
- Berlin: Songs about the South 1911-1924
- Berlin: Selections from Stop! Look! Listen! (1915)
- Berlin: selected songs of 1916-1919
- Berlin: Songs about Florida and Hawaii 1915-1925
- Berlin: Some songs about dancing
- Irving Berlin Sings Berlin
- Irving Berlin — selected “I’m” songs, 1912-1956
- I Wanna Dance With the Girl In My Arms (1966, lyric only)
- other songs:
- galleries:
- Berlin, Irving: slide show and gallery
- Irving Berlin: sheet music galleries
- Irving Berlin: selected early songs, 1907-1914 + sheet music gallery
- Berlin, Irving: 1907-1925 and 1909-1910 selected sheet music cover galleries
- Irving Berlin: selected songs of 1909 and 1910
- I Want to Be In Dixie (1912): selected sheet music covers
- When That Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam’ (1912): selected sheet music covers
- Duke Ellington
- slide show and gallery
- selected songs, 1927-1953
- biography and timeline
- short films and film clips, 1929-35
selected standards:
- 1930 – Mood Indigo
- 1930 – Rockin’ in Rhythm
- 1932 – It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)
- 1933 – Sophisticated Lady
- 1935 – In a Sentimental Mood
- 1936 – Caravan
- 1938 – Prelude to a Kiss
- 1938 – I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart
- 1941 – Take the “A” Train
- 1943 – Come Sunday
- 1943 – Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me
- Cole Porter
- Cole Porter, part 1: standards and selected hits 1928-34
- 1929 – What Is This Thing Called Love? – Wake Up and Dream
- 1929 – You Do Something to Me – Fifty Million Frenchmen
- 1930 – Love for Sale – The New Yorkers
- 1932 – Night and Day – Gay Divorce
- 1934 – Cole Porter: selections from Anything Goes (1934)
- I Get a Kick Out of You
- Anything Goes
- You’re the Top
- All Through the Night – separate page
- Cole Porter, part 2: selected standards 1935-1939 + photo gallery
- 1935 – Begin the Beguine – Jubilee / film Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
- 1935 – Just One of Those Things – Jubilee / film Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
- 1936 – I’ve Got You Under My Skin – film Born to Dance
- 1936 – Easy to Love – film Born to Dance
- 1938 – My Heart Belongs to Daddy – Leave It to Me!
- Cole Porter, part 3: selected standards 1940-1949
- 1944 – I Love You – Mexican Hayride
- 1948 – So In Love – Kiss Me Kate
- Cole Porter gallery
- Cole Porter, part 1: standards and selected hits 1928-34
- Harold Arlen
- featured song pages:
- 1931 – Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (m. Harold Arlen, w. Ted Koehler)
- 1933 – It’s Only a Paper Moon (m. Harold Arlen, w. E. Y. Harburg and Billy Rose)
- 1933 – Stormy Weather (m. Harold Arlen, w. Ted Koehler)
- 1933 – Let’s Fall in Love (Arlen, Koehler)
- 1934 – As Long as I Live (Arlen, Koehler)
- 1934 – Ill Wind (Arlen, Koehler)
- 1934 – Shoein’ the Mare (m. Harold Arlen, w. Ira Gershwin and E.Y. Harburg)
- 1935 – Last Night When We Were Young (m. Harold Arlen, w. E.Y. Harburg
- 1939 – Over the Rainbow (m. Harold Arlen, w. E.Y. Harburg) – Judy Garland recordings and live performances
- Over the Rainbow – selected other recordings
- 1941 – Blues in the Night (m. Harold Arlen, w. Johnny Mercer)
- 1943 – My Shining Hour (Arlen, Mercer)
- 1943 – One for My Baby (And One More for the Road) (Arlen, Mercer)
- 1945 – Out of This World (Arlen, Mercer)
- 1946 – Come Rain or Come Shine (Arlen, Mercer)
- 1954 – A Star is Born — Includes the following songs by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin:
- Gotta Have Me Go with You
- The Man That Got Away
- Here’s What I’m Here For
- It’s a New World
- Someone At Last
- Lose That Long Face
- 1954 – I Never Has Seen Snow (m. Harold Arlen, w. Truman Capote, Harold Arlen)
Major Composers, Teams
- George and Ira Gershwin
- biography, George Gershwin
- George and Ira Gershwin: selected songs 1919-1927
- George and Ira Gershwin: selected standards 1928-1935
- George and Ira Gershwin standards introduced in Girl Crazy, 1930
- But Not for Me
- Embraceable You
- I Got Rhythm
- Porgy and Bess: Summertime, It Ain’t Necessarily So, and I Loves You Porgy
- George and Ira Gershwin: selected film songs, six standards composed 1936-1937
- Shall We Dance (1937) — They Can’t Take That Away from Me, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
- A Damsel in Distress (1937) — A Foggy Day (in London Town), Nice Work If You Can Get It; see also Sing of Spring
- The Goldwyn Follies (1938) — Love Is Here to Stay, Love Walked In
- Interview: Paul Whiteman talks about George Gershwin and the creation of Rhapsody in Blue
- Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (1925-1942)
- photo gallery
- Selected songs from 1925-1934
- 1929 – With a Song in My Heart — Spring is Here
- 1932 – Lover, Isn’t It Romantic — Love Me Tonight
- 1934 – Blue Moon — Manhattan Melodrama
- Selected standards from 1935-1942
- 1935 – Jumbo
- 1937 – Babes in Arms
- 1938 – This Can’t Be Love — The Boys from Syracuse
- 1938 – Spring Is Here — I Married an Angel
- 1939 – I Didn’t Know What Time It Was — Too Many Girls
- 1940 – It Never Entered My Mind — Higher and Higher
- 1942 – Wait Till You See Her — By Jupiter
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Other featured songwriters:
Early Jazz Masters
Walter Donaldson
Ray Henderson
McHugh and Fields
- Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields: two early hits and selected standards, 1928-1935
- Porgy (McHugh, Fields) – 1928
Hoagy Carmichael
- Hoagy Carmichael: selected standards, 1929-1942
- 1929 – Stardust (w. Mitchell Parish)
- 1930 – Georgia On My Mind (w. Stuart Gorrell)
- 1933 – Lazybones (w. Johnny Mercer)
- 1933 – One Morning in May (w. Mitchell Parish)
- 1938 – The Nearness of You (w. Ned Washington)
- 1938 – Heart and Soul (w. Frank Loesser)
- 1941 – Skylark (w. Johnny Mercer)
- 1942 – Baltimore Oriole (w. Paul Francis Webster)
- other songs:
- 1925 – Washboard Blues (Hoagy Carmichael, Fred B. Callahan, Irving Mills)
Cab Calloway
- Cab Calloway, part 1: selected early originals and covers, 1930 to 1939
- Cab Calloway, part 2: selected additional recordings, 1934-1940
Harry Warren
Standards with music by Harry Warren include the following:
- 1928 – Nagasaki
- 1934 – I Only Have Eyes for You – Dames
- 1937 – September in the Rain – Melody for Two
- 1941 – Chattanooga Choo Choo, At Last (instrumental) – Sun Valley Serenade
- 1942 – There Will Never Be Another You – Iceland
- 1942 – Serenade in Blue, At Last – Orchestra Wives
- 1945 – The More I See You, I Wish I Knew – Diamond Horseshoe
Victor Young
- Victor Young: selected standards, 1931-1952
- 1931 – Beautiful Love (music co-written)
- 1932 – I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You
- 1944 – Stella By Starlight (lyric added, 1946)
- 1945 – Love Letters
- 1947 – Golden Earrings
- 1949 – My Foolish Heart
- 1951 – A Weaver of Dreams
- 1952 – When I Fall In Love
Frank Loesser
- 1938 – Heart and Soul (m. Hoagy Carmichael, w. Frank Loesser)
- 1943 – Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year
- 1948 – Baby, It’s Cold Outside
- 1950 – I’ve Never Been in Love Before
Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke
- Van Heusen, Jimmy and Johnny Burke, selected standards
- 1939 – Imagination
- 1943 – Suddenly It’s Spring
- 1944 – It Could Happen to You
- 1947 – But Beautiful
- 1953 – Here’s That Rainy Day
Louis Jordan
Alec Wilder
- Alec Wilder (index)
- Alec Wilder: selected standards — with music, or words and music, by Alec Wilder
- 1941 – It’s So Peaceful in the Country (w. m. Alec Wilder)
- 1942 – I’ll Be Around (w. m. Alec Wilder)
- 1943 – While We’re Young (m. Alec Wilder, Morty Palitz; w. William Engvick)
- 1976 – Blackberry Winter (Alec Wilder, Loonis McGlohon)
- Alec Wilder: six early 1940s songs
- Alec Wilder slide show and gallery
Jule Styne
- Jule Styne, part 1: selected standards written with lyricist Sammy Cahn, 1942-1954 + gallery
- Jule Styne, part 2: selected songs from Broadway musicals, 1947-1964
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Special Occasions
Johnny Marks
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Lyricist
- Johnny Mercer, part 1: selected hits and standards, 1930 to 1935
- Johnny Mercer, part 2: selected standards 1936 to 1939
- Johnny Mercer, part 3: selected standards 1940 to 1949
- 1950-1959
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External Links
Composers
- Harold Arlen
- Irving Berlin
- Shelton Brooks
- Hoagy Carmichael
- Walter Donaldson
- Wikipedia
- Walter Donaldson – The Official Website (walterdonaldson.net)
- Songwriters Hall of Fame
- Duke Ellington
- George Gershwin
- Ray Henderson
- Jerry Herman
- Jerome Kern
- Burton Lane
- Frank Loesser
- Johnny Marks
- Jimmy McHugh
- Cole Porter
- Richard Rodgers
- Jule Styne
- Jimmy Van Heusen
- Harry Warren
- Wikipedia
- Songwriters Hall of Fame
- SecondHandSongs.com
- Who Is Harry Warren? (blog article)
- Alec Wilder
- Wikipedia
- Alec Wilder — Preservation of the Music and Life’s Work (alecwildermusicandlife.com)
- Wilderworld – podcast series website
- Songwriters Hall of Fame
- Vincent Youmans
- Victor Young
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Victor Herbert: operettas, other stage works, vocal songs
- Victor Herbert, The Music of
- Victor Herbert (Wikipedia)
- Stage Works (V. Herbert)
- Vocal Songs, title and year (V. Herbert)
- Victor Herbert, America’s King of the Operetta (@ parlorsongs.com)
George M. Cohan biographies
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Lyricists
- Lew Brown
- Irving Caesar
- B. G. “Buddy” DeSylva
- Dorothy Fields
- Ira Gershwin
- Oscar Hammerstein II
- Lorenz Hart
- Otto Harbach
- E. Y. “Yip” Harburg
- The Yip Harburg Foundation (YipHarburg.com)
- Wikipedia
- Songwriters Hall of Fame
- PBS.org
- Yip Harburg: Father of the Socially-Conscious Lyric (@AmericanSongwriter.com)
- Who Put the Rainbow in the Wizard of Oz, by Harold Meyerson, Ernie Harburg (1995)
- Gus Kahn
- Johnny Mercer
- Andy Razaf
- Ned Washington
Lyrics
- Todd’s lyrics and links (@thepeaches.com) – Todd Peach
- A-Z Lyrics (azlyrics.com)
- Cab Calloway, Works of (heptune.com)
- Cole Porter
- Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter, The — Edited by Robert Kimball, Foreword by John Updike (1992)
- Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin, The — Edited by Robert Kimball and Linda Emmet (2001)
- Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer, The — by Johnny Mercer, Robert Kimball, Barry Day et al (2009)
- Dean Martin lyrics
- from Easter Parade (1948) – I. Berlin (only JG songs)
- Gershwin songs (Todd Peach)
- heptune jazz and blues lyrics
- International Lyrics Playground
- Ira Gershwin
- Irving Berlin Songography
- Johnny Mercer (Todd Peach)
- Lorenz Hart (Todd Peach)
- Lyrics by Lorenz Hart (lorenzhart.org/canzoni.htm)
- Lyric Wikia
- Oldie Lyrics
- Oldies Lyrics Scrapbook
- Oscar Hammerstein II
- Russell Songbook, The (songs played by Russell Eiffert)
Harold Arlen circa 1927
Songbook 