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We’ll be loving you, always

Today marks the 124nd anniversary of the birth of the great Irving Berlin. One of history’s great tunesmiths, Berlin wrote more than hundreds of songs, 19 musicals and the scores of 18 movies over the course of his lengthy career.

“[Berlin is] the greatest songwriter that has ever lived.”—George Gershwin

“Irving Berlin has no place in American music—he is American music.”—Jerome Kern

Here are some of our favorite Irving Berlin songs:

“What’ll I Do?”—The Nat “King” Cole Trio

“Say It Isn’t So”—Annette Hanshaw

“Marie”—Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra

“Puttin’ on the Ritz”—Leo Reisman and His Orchestra

11 May 12 | Tags: Annette Hanshaw, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Leo Reisman, Nat King Cole, Tommy Dorsey
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Sweet nothings, tenderly crooned

Though the greatest pleasure we take from the wonderful music we share with you on Cladrite Radio stems from the memorable melodies and toe-tapping rhythms, we also revel in the romantic imagery and well-turned phrases found in the lyrics of the day.

The lyrics Samuel M. Lewis wrote to accompany Abel Baer’s lovely melody in their 1934 song “Am I to Blame?” recently gave us reason to smile. They’re pleasing on the page, but when sung, they really come to life.

Am I to Blame?
Am I to blame for worshipping you
After so many goodbyes?
If I’m to blame for worshipping you,
Why was I born with two eyes?

Am I to blame for clinging to you,
Begging to share all your charms?
If I’m to blame for clinging to you,
Why was I born with two arms?

Sighing, sighing brings regret;
Every day is like the day before.
Trying, trying to forget
Only makes me want you more.

So am I to blame for loving you, dear?
I’m only playing my part.
If I’m to blame for loving you, dear,
Why was I born with a heart?

Lyrics by Sam M. Lewis/music by Abel Baer

“Am I to Blame?” was recorded by artists such as Ruth Etting, Greta Keller, and Victor Young and His Orchestra, but we’re offering Hal Kemp and His Orchestra‘s take on the song. Bob Allen handles the vocals.

Hal Kemp and His Orchestra, feat. Bob Allen—”Am I to Blame?”

09 May 12 | Tags: Abel Baer, Bob Allen, Greta Keller, Hal Kemp, Ruth Etting, Samuel M. Lewis, Victor Young
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A dream that can be heard

Lyricist Lorenz Hart would be a spry 117 years old today, if he’d managed to stick around. He died far too young, at the tender age of 48 in 1943, and the loss was truly ours, for he had already penned words to accompany an astonishing array of classic melodies written by his partner in standards, Richard Rodgers—”Blue Moon,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Manhattan,” “Where or When,” “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,” “Falling in Love with Love,” “My Funny Valentine,” “I Could Write a Book,” “This Can’t Be Love,” “With a Song in My Heart,” “It Never Entered My Mind”—and who knows what additional musical magic he might have created, had he been given the chance?

One of our favorites, “Isn’t It Romantic?”, was written for the delightful 1932 musical, Love Me Tonight (1932), which was directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starred Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette MacDonald. Enjoy the following clip, which presents the song as it first appears in the picture.

02 May 12 | Tags: Isn't It Romantic, Jeannette Macdonald, Lorenz Hart, Love Me Tonight, Maurice Chevalier, Richard Rodgers
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Times Square Tintypes: Irving Berlin

In this chapter from his 1932 book, Times Square Tintypes, Broadway columnist Sidney Skolsky profiles perhaps the greatest of American songwriters, Irving Berlin.

THE BIRTH OF THE BLUES

HE has a name that will live forever and he bought it for a song. IRIVING BERLIN.

Came to this country at the age of four, the youngest of eight children. In Russia his father was a cantor. Here a kosher butcher.

He has yet to find a hat to fit him.

He eats a lot for one of his size.

Plays the piano by ear. And only in F sharp. Has a specially constructed piano with a sliding keyboard. When the music calls for another key he merely moves the lever.

He is not a one finger player. Uses all his fingers badly.

Has a scar on his forehead. It was received on a Washington’s Birthday in Cherry Street, trying to start a bonfire.

Thinks he is a good stud poker player. His friends say he’s lucky.

His pet aversions are riveters and second verses.

Ran away from home at the age of fourteen. His first stop was Callahan’s saloon. Here he sang “The Mansion of Aching Hearts” until enough coins were tossed at him to pay for a night’s lodging. Later became a singing waiter at Nigger Mike’s place, 12 Pell Street. The barker on the trip to Chinatown bus now points out the place.

He wrote “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” credited with starting the jazz vogue, at the age of twenty-three.

Crowds frighten him. So do certain individuals.

His idea of a great achievement is writing a song that reaches the million copy mark.

Maintains a home in West Forty-sixth Street. But lives elsewhere. The first of every month generally finds him moving.

His square moniker is Israel Baline. For a time, he went under the name of Cooney. Became Berlin because that was the way the Bowery pronounced Baline.

As a singing waiter he kicked a hoofer named George White out of the place for being a pest, and he served Al Smith.

Is always chewing gum. This can be observed by merely watching the funny way his hat moves on his head.

His favorite biographer is Alexander Woollcott.

He composes in this fashion: First playing the song on the piano. Then singing it to Arthur Johnson, his right and left hand man, who records upon paper what he hears. Then Johnson plays the written manuscript. This is the first draft. From this Berlin works on to the final version. Often after a song has been published he changes it.

His bill for flowers for the Mrs. is $1,000 a month.

His patent leather dinner shoes have more cracks than his hair has waves.

Of all the songs he has written, a figure exceeding four hundred, his favorite is “The Song Is Ended But the Melody Lingers On.”

Is very restless. Can’t sit or stand still. Always paces the floor. He walks miles in any room he is in. It is the only exercise he gets.

As far as playwrights go, his taste begins and ends with George S. Kaufman. As for music, he’ll whistle anything by Jerome Kern. For lyrics he hands first prize to B. G. De Sylva. And if asked to name the swellest guy in the theatrical game, he’d shout Sam Harris.

He has had to change his entire working schedule since he became a father.

He has never worn a diamond. The only jewelry he wears is, occasionally, a pearl tie pin.

Never eats the crust of bread or rolls. Always plucks the filling. This can be seen circled about his plate.

After finishing a song he sings it to the first person he meets. A bell boy at Palm Beach was the first person to hear “Lazy.” A Broadway taxi driver was the first to hear “All Alone.” A bewildered stranger, occupation unknown, was the first to hear “Say It With Music.”

He never writes anything in longhand but his signature on a check. Everything else he prints.

The one thing in life he is looking forward to is walking into a restaurant with his daughter, Mary Ellen.

Of all the songs ever written the one he’d love to be the author of is “The Rosary.”

On the fly leaf of a book containing every song he wrote there is this ditty which he believes sums up everything:

Let Me Be a Troubadour,

And I Will For Nothing More

Than One Short Hour Or So

To Sing My Song And Go.

He has a form-fitting couch which was especially designed for him.

13 Feb 12 | Tags: Al Smith, Alexander Woollcott, Alexander's Ragtime Band, Chinatown, G. B. De Sylva, George S. Kaufman, George White, Irving Berlin, Israel Baline, Jerome Kern, Nigger Mike’s, Sam Harris, Sidney Skolsky, the Bowery
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A Berlin parade

As a small Easter egg for the Cladrite Radio community, we thought we’d offer the following:

Did you know that the lovely Irving Berlin standard “Easter Parade” is a reworking of an earlier Berlin tune? It’s true. In 1917, Berlin wrote a song called “Smile and Show Your Dimple.” That song wasn’t particularly well received, so in 1933, when writing for the Broadway musical revue “As Thousands Cheer,” Berlin revisited the song, writing new lyrics and tweaking the melody a bit to create the song that is still so well known today.

Just as a bit of trivia, “Easter Parade” was performed in “As Thousands Cheer” by Marilyn Miller and Clifton Webb.

So we’re sharing a 1933 recording below of Webb singing the song backed by the Leo Reisman Orchestra, along with a 1942 Harry James rendition, a 1939 recording by the Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, Bing Crosby singing the song backed by the Victor Young Orchestra in 1948, a Gene Austin recording from 1933, and a 1917 recording by Sam Ash of the song that fostered “Easter Parade,” “Smile and Show Your Dimple.”

“Easter Parade” — Clifton Webb with the Leo Reisman Orchestra

“Easter Parade” — Harry James and His Orchestra

“Easter Parade” — Guy Lombardo and His Orchestra

“Easter Parade” — Bing Crosby with the Victor Young Orchestra

“Easter Parade” — Gene Austin

“Smile and Show Your Dimple” — Sam Ash

24 Apr 11 | Tags: As Thousands Cheer, Bing Crosby, Clifton Webb, Easter Parade, Gene Austin, Guy Lombardo, Harry James, Irving Berlin, Leo Reisman, Marilyn Miller, Sam Ash, Smile and Show Your Dimple, Victor Young
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Give a boy a June night,
Give a girl a song.
They'll be dancing in the moonlight
All night long.

---Dancing in the Moonlight, Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson, 1933

We’ll be loving you, always

Sweet nothings, tenderly crooned

A dream that can be heard

Times Square Tintypes: Irving Berlin

A Berlin parade

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