Harold Arlen

Harold Arlen
Arlen in 1960 by Carl Van Vechten.
Born	Hyman Arluck (1905-02-15)February 15, 1905 Buffalo, New York, United States
Died	April 23, 1986(1986-04-23) (aged 81) New York City, New York, United States
Spouse(s)	Anya Taranda (m. 1937-1970; her death)

Harold Arlen (February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. "Over the Rainbow" was voted the twentieth century's No. 1 song by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Biography

Arlen was born Hyman Arluck, in Buffalo, New York, United States, the child of a Jewish cantor. His twin brother died the next day. He learned the piano as a youth and formed a band as a young man. He achieved some local success as a pianist and singer and moved to New York City in his early 20s. He worked as an accompanist in vaudeville. At this point, he changed his name to Harold Arlen. Between 1926 and about 1934, Arlen appeared occasionally as a band vocalist on records by The Buffalodians, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti, Leo Reisman and Eddie Duchin, usually singing his own compositions.

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.

Arlen's compositions have always been popular with jazz musicians because of his facility at incorporating a blues feeling into the idiom of the conventional American popular song.

In the mid-1930s, Arlen married, and spent increasing time in California, writing for movie musicals. It was at this time that he began working with lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. In 1938, the team was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to compose songs for The Wizard of Oz. The most famous of these is the song "Over the Rainbow" for which they won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. They also wrote "Down with Love" (featured in the 1937 Broadway show, Hooray for What!), a song later featured in the 2003 movie Down with Love.

Arlen was a longtime friend and former roommate of actor Ray Bolger who would star in The Wizard of Oz, the film for which "Over the Rainbow" was written.

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 defining tunes which bookend Judy Garland's musical persona: as a yearning, innocent girl in "Over the Rainbow" and a world-weary, "chic chanteuse" with "The Man that Got Away", the latter written for the 1954 version of the movie 'A Star Is Born'.

Harold Arlen timeline

Arlen performs with Peggy Lee and Vic Damone in 1961.

• 1905 Arlen born in Buffalo, New York
• 1920 (age 15) He formed his first professional band, Hyman Arluck's Snappy Trio.
• 1921 (16) Against his parent's wishes he left home.
• 1923 (18) With his new band - The Southbound Shufflers, performed on the Crystal Beach lake boat "Canadiana" during the summer of 1923.
• 1924 (19) Performed at Lake Shore Manor during the summer of 1924.
• 1924 (19) Wrote his first song, collaborating with friend Hyman Cheiffetz to write "My Gal, My Pal". Copyrighting the song as "My Gal, Won't You Please Come Back to Me?" and listed lyrics by Cheiffetz and music by Harold Arluck.
• 1925 (20) Makes his way to New York City with the group, The Buffalodians, with Arlen playing piano.
• 1926 (21) Had first published song, collaborating with Dick George to compose "Minor Gaff (Blues Fantasy)" under the name Harold Arluck.
• 1928 (23) Chaim (Life) (or Hyman) Arluck renames himself Harold Arlen, a name that combined his parents' surnames (his mother's maiden name was Orlin).
• 1929 (24) Landed a singing and acting role as Cokey Joe in the musical "The Great Day"
• 1929 (24) Composed his first well known song - (Get Happy) under the name Harold Arlen.
• 1929 (24) Signed a yearlong song writing contract with the George and Arthur Piantadosi firm.
• 1930–1934 (25-29) Wrote music for the Cotton Club.
• 1933 (28) At a party, along with partner Ted Koehler, wrote the major hit song "Stormy Weather"
• 1933 (28) Billboard heralded Shakespeare as the most prolific playwright in history, and Arlen as the most prolific composer.
• 1934 (29) Wrote "Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good)" with lyrics by Ted Koehler for their last show at the Cotton Club Parade, in 1934, which was sung by Adelaide Hall
• 1935 (30) Went back to California after being signed by Samuel Goldwyn to write songs for the film "Strike Me Pink"
• 1937 (32) Composed the score for the Broadway musical Hooray for What!. Married 22-year-old Anya Taranda, a celebrated Powers Agency model and former Earl Carroll and Busby Berkeley showgirl, actress, and one of the Original "Breck Girls."

Sheet music cover for The Wizard of Oz.

• 1938 (33) Hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to compose songs for The Wizard of Oz.
• 1938 (33) While driving along Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and stopping in front of Schwab's Drug Store, seeing a rainbow appear over Hollywood, came up with the song "Over the Rainbow".
• 1941 (36) Wrote "Blues in the Night"
• 1942 (37) Along with Johnny Mercer, he wrote one of his most famous songs, "That Old Black Magic"
• 1943 (38) Wrote "My Shining Hour"
• 1944 (39) While driving with songwriter partner Johnny Mercer came up with the song "Accentuate the Positive".
• 1945 (40) In a single evening's work in October with Johnny Mercer came up with the song "Come Rain or Come Shine"
• 1949 (44) Collaborated with Ralph Blane to write the score for "My Blue Heaven".
• 1950 (45) Worked with old pal Johnny Mercer on the film "The Petty Girl", out of which came the song "Fancy Free".
• 1951 (46) His wife Anya was institutionalized in a sanitarium for 7 years after repeatedly threatening her husband and others with physical harm.
• 1952 (47) Teamed up with Dorothy Fields on the film "The Farmer Takes a Wife"
• 1953 (48) Harold's father, Cantor Samuel Arluck, died.
• 1954 (49) The Musical "A Star is Born" starring Judy Garland singing the now classic, Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin collaboration, "The Man That Got Away"
• 1954 (49) Becomes dangerously ill with a bleeding ulcer and is hospitalized but recovers to work with Truman Capote on the musical House of Flowers.