Somewhere Over Harold Arlen
From ‘Ill Wind’ to ‘Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home’, we have mixed 18 ‘Jazz‘ tunes written or co-written by ‘ Harold Arlen‘. It has Norma Bengel, Helen Merrill, Coleman Hawkins, Nancy LaMott and many more.
Harold Arlen: On February 15, 1905, Samuel and Celia Arluck gave birth to twin boys; one weighing seven pounds and the other, a mere four pounds. The larger of the two sadly died the following day. The Arlucks quickly changed their surviving son’s name to “Hyman,”
The Songwriters Hall of Fame : By age 7 he was singing in his father’s synagogue chore and by age 15 he had become a professional pianist and entertainer in night clubs and lake steamers.
Jewish Buffalo on the Web : His most prominent local engagement ‘as a pianist during the 1920s) was with the “Southbound Shufflers” aboard the Crystal Beach boat S.S. Canadiana.
IMDB : He was one of the members of the Ken Darby Vocal Trio. His voice can be heard as the Scarecrow in the Decca Records single of the Harburg-Arlen song “The Jitterbug”, which was cut from the final release print of “The Wizard of Oz”.
Everything 2 : By 1926, Hyman Arluck decided to change his name. The name Harold Arlen was a take on his mother’s maiden name, Orlin. Although a few of his early works were copyrighted under his given name, he never went back to it, and the bulk of his oeuvre was written under his new “stage name.”
Riverwalk Jazz : Surprisingly, Arlen and producer Arthur Freed had to fight the studio (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) to keep “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” in the movie (The Wizard of Oz).
ASCAP : Sam Arlen says : “Gershwin used to have what they called the Gershwin Salon, where once a week he would listen to young budding composers. George always felt – as did others — that Harold’s melodies were just too complex for the average listener.
TalkinBroadway.com : Barbra Streisand won her first singing job auditioning with the composer’s “A Sleepin’ Bee,” found on her debut solo album which had liner notes by Mr. Arlen himself. The tune was introduced in the charming musical House Of Flowers.
Voice of America : Mark Horwitz says “Even people who had hit film scores, the composers weren’t as well known. It was really a Broadway thing, and Arlen had a kind of tragedy of never really having a hit Broadway musical.”
Voice of America : Mark Horwitz says “Even people who had hit film scores, the composers weren’t as well known. It was really a Broadway thing, and Arlen had a kind of tragedy of never really having a hit Broadway musical.”
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