Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin, born Israel Isidore Beilin on May 11, 1888, was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. He grew up in the United States after his family left Russia. Berlin became famous for writing many popular songs that are still loved today. He received important awards such as an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award. In 1977, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald R. Ford.

Berlin wrote hundreds of songs, many of which became famous hits before he was even thirty years old. Some of his most well-known songs include "God Bless America," "White Christmas," and "Alexander's Ragtime Band." His songs have been sung by many famous singers and are still enjoyed around the world.

Throughout his long career, Berlin wrote music for Broadway shows and Hollywood films. His work helped shape American music and culture. He passed away in 1989 at the age of 101, leaving behind a legacy of beautiful songs that continue to inspire people everywhere.

Early life

Berlin was born Israel Beilin on May 11, 1888, in the Russian Empire. He came from a Jewish family. His family later moved to the United States and arrived in New York City in 1893. As a child, Berlin helped his family by selling newspapers on the streets. He loved music and began singing songs he heard, which sometimes earned him small amounts of money.

When he was young, Berlin worked as a singing waiter in cafes. He taught himself to play the piano and started writing his own songs. His first song was published in 1907. Berlin kept writing and performing, and by 1910, he became well-known for his music. One of his early hits was Alexander's Ragtime Band, which became very popular.

Songwriting career

Before 1920

"Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1911)

Berlin became a songwriter on Broadway and in Tin Pan Alley. In 1911, Emma Carus introduced his first big hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band". He performed it himself at the Friars' Frolic of 1911 with Clifford Hess playing the piano. He became very famous and soon performed at Oscar Hammerstein's vaudeville house, where he introduced many other songs. The New York Telegraph said that two hundred of his friends came to see "their boy" on stage.

The song brought back the popularity of ragtime that Scott Joplin had started earlier. It made Berlin a star songwriter. At first, the song was not seen as a big hit. Broadway producer Jesse Lasky was not sure about using it, but he included it in his "Follies" show. It was played as background music but did not impress the audience and was soon removed. Berlin thought it was a failure. He then wrote words for the song, played it again in another Broadway show, and this time it was called "the musical sensation of the decade". Composer George Gershwin said it was "the first real American musical work".

Sparking an international dance craze

Berlin was surprised by how popular the song became around the world. He wondered why it became a hit so quickly. He decided it was because the words made all of America and much of Europe start moving their heels and shoulders. In 1913, Berlin appeared in the London revue Hello Ragtime, where he introduced "That International Rag", a song he wrote for the show.

The success of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" gave ragtime new life and started a national dance craze. Two dancers who showed this craze were Vernon and Irene Castle. In 1914, Berlin wrote a ragtime revue, Watch Your Step, which starred the couple and showed their talents on stage. That musical became Berlin's first full set of songs. Berlin's songs showed modernism, and they showed the cultural struggle between Victorian manners and the "people who liked fun, freedom, and leisure". The song "Play a Simple Melody" became the first of his famous "double" songs in which two different tunes and words are counterpointed against each other.

Simple and romantic ballads

Some of the songs Berlin created came from his own sadness. For example, in 1912 he married Dorothy Goetz, the sister of songwriter E. Ray Goetz. She died six months later from typhoid fever caught during their honeymoon in Havana. The song he wrote to show his grief, "When I Lost You", was his first ballad. It was very popular and sold more than a million copies.

He began to see that ragtime was not a good style for serious love songs, and over the next few years he wrote more love songs. By 1918 he had written hundreds of songs, mostly about current events, which were popular for a short time. Many of the songs were for the new dances of the time, such as the grizzly bear, chicken walk, or foxtrot. After a Hawaiian dance craze began, he wrote "That Hula-Hula", and then did a series of Southern songs, such as "When the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam". During this time, he wrote a few new songs every week, including songs for the various immigrant cultures coming from Europe.

An important song that Berlin wrote during his change from ragtime to love songs was "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody", which became one of Berlin's "big hits". The song was written for Ziegfeld's Follies of 1919 and became the main song of the show. It became so popular that it later became the theme for all of Ziegfeld's revues, and the theme song in the 1936 film The Great Ziegfeld.

World War I

On April 1, 1917, after President Woodrow Wilson declared that America would enter World War I, Berlin felt that Tin Pan Alley should help the war with songs to inspire people. Berlin wrote the song "For Your Country and My Country", saying that "we must speak with the sword not the pen to show our appreciation to America for welcoming every immigrant group." He also co-wrote a song to end conflicts between different groups, "Let's All Be Americans Now".

Yip Yip Yaphank

In 1917, Berlin was called to join the United States Army, and his joining became big news. But the Army wanted Berlin, now aged 30, to do what he knew best: write songs. While stationed with the 152nd Depot Brigade at Camp Upton, he wrote an all-soldier musical revue titled Yip Yip Yaphank, written as a patriotic tribute to the United States Army. The show was taken to Broadway where it included a number of hits, including "Mandy" and "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning", which Berlin performed himself.

The shows earned $150,000 for a camp service center. One song he wrote for the show but decided not to use, he introduced 20 years later: "God Bless America".

1920 to 1940

Berlin returned to Tin Pan Alley after the war and in 1921 he formed a partnership with Sam Harris to build the Music Box Theater. He kept an interest in the theater all his life, and even in his last years he was known to call the Shubert Organization, his partner, to ask about the money made that day. In its early years, the theater showed revues by Berlin. As theater owner, producer and composer, he took care of every detail of his shows, from the clothes and sets to the casting and music arrangements.

By 1926, Berlin had written the music for two editions of the Ziegfeld Follies and four yearly editions of his Music Box Revue. These shows covered the years from 1921 to 1926, introducing songs such as "Say It With Music", "Everybody Step", and "Pack Up Your Things and Go to the Devil". Life magazine called Berlin the "Lullaby Kid", noting that "couples at country-club dances felt emotional when the band played 'Always', because they were sure that Berlin had written it just for them. When they fought and split in the sad sweetness of the 1920s, it was Berlin who gave words to their pain with 'What'll I Do' and 'Remember' and 'All Alone'".

"What'll I Do?" (1924)

This love song was a hit record for Paul Whiteman and had several other successful recordings in 1924. Twenty-four years later, the song reached no. 22 for Nat King Cole and no. 23 for Frank Sinatra.

"Always" (1925)

Written when he fell in love with Ellin Mackay, who later became his wife. The song became a hit twice (for Vincent Lopez and George Olsen) when it was first released. There were four more hit versions in 1944–45. In 1959, Sammy Turner took the song to no. 2 on the R&B chart. It became Patsy Cline's song after her death and hit no. 18 on the country chart in 1980, 17 years after her death, and a tribute show called "Always... Patsy Cline" ran for two years in Nashville until 1995.

"Blue Skies" (1926)

Written after the birth of his first daughter, he put his feelings about being married and a father into the song: "Blue days, all of them gone; nothing but blue skies, from now on." The American public often linked Irving Berlin's music with Jewish culture. The song was first sung by Belle Baker in Betsy, a Ziegfeld show. It became a hit recording for Ben Selvin and one of several Berlin hits in 1927. It was performed by Al Jolson in the first feature sound film, The Jazz Singer, that same year. In 1946, it returned to the top 10 on the charts with Count Basie and Benny Goodman. In 1978, Willie Nelson made the song a no. 1 country hit, 52 years after it was written.

"Puttin' On the Ritz" (1928)

An instant favorite with one of Berlin's most "complex rhythms", this song is linked with Fred Astaire, who sang and danced to it in the 1946 film Blue Skies. The song was written in 1928 with a different set of words and was first sung by Harry Richman in a 1930 film of the same name. In 1939, Clark Gable sang it in the movie Idiot's Delight. In 1974 it was in the movie Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks, and was a no. 4 hit for synth-pop artist Taco in 1982, when its writer was 95.

"Marie" (1929)

This waltz-time song was a hit for Rudy Vallée in 1929, and in 1937, changed to a four-quarter-time swing arrangement, it was a top hit for Tommy Dorsey. It was on the charts at no. 13 in 1953 for The Four Tunes and at no. 15 for the Bachelors in 1965, 36 years after it was first heard.

"Say It Isn't So" (1932)

Rudy Vallée performed it on his radio show, and the song was a hit for George Olsen, Connee Boswell (she was still known as Connie), and Ozzie Nelson's band. Aretha Franklin released a version of the song in 1963, 31 years later.

"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" (1937)

Sung by Dick Powell in the 1937 film On the Avenue. Later it had four top-12 versions, including by Billie Holiday and Les Brown, who took it to no. 1.

"God Bless America" (1938)

The song was written by Berlin twenty years earlier, but he kept it until 1938 when Kate Smith needed a patriotic song to mark the 20th anniversary of Armistice Day, celebrating the end of World War I. Its release near the end of the Depression made it a symbol of patriotism mixed with religious belief in the American mind, as stated by The New York Times.

Berlin's daughter, Mary Ellin Barrett, says that the song was "very personal" for her father, and was meant to show his deep gratitude to the country for "allowing" him, an immigrant raised in poverty, to become a successful songwriter. "To me," said Berlin, "'God Bless America' was not just a song but an expression of my feeling toward the country to which I owe what I have and what I am." The Economist magazine says that "Berlin was creating a deep expression of love for the country that had given him everything."

It quickly became a second national anthem after America entered World War II a few years later. Over the years it has raised millions for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, to whom Berlin gave all the money from the song. In 1954, Berlin received a special Congressional Gold Medal from President Dwight D. Eisenhower for writing the song.

The song was heard after September 11, 2001, when U.S. senators and congressmen stood on the Capitol steps and sang it after the attacks on the World Trade Center. It is often played by sports teams such as major league baseball. The Philadelphia Flyers hockey team started playing it before important games. When the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team achieved the "greatest upset in sports history", called the "Miracle on Ice", the players sang it as Americans felt very proud.

Other songs

Though most of his works for the Broadway stage were revues—collections of songs with no single story—he did write a number of shows with plots. The Cocoanuts (1929) was a light comedy with a cast including the Marx Brothers. Face the Music (1932) was a political satire with a script by Moss Hart, and Louisiana Purchase (1940) was a satire of a Southern politician clearly based on the actions of Huey Long. As Thousands Cheer (1933) was a revue, also with script by Moss Hart, with a theme: each number was presented as an item in a newspaper, some of them touching on current issues. The show had a series of hit songs, including "Easter Parade" sung by Marilyn Miller and Clifton Webb, "Heat Wave" (presented as the weather report), "Harlem on My Mind", and "Supper Time", a song about racial violence inspired by a newspaper report about a lynching, sung by Ethel Waters.

1941 to 1962

World War II patriotism—"This is the Army" (1943)

Berlin loved his country, and wrote many songs showing his patriotism. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau asked for a song to encourage Americans to buy war bonds, for which he wrote "Any Bonds Today?" He gave all the money from the song to the United States Treasury Department. He then wrote songs for various government agencies and gave all the profits to them: "Angels of Mercy" for the American Red Cross; "Arms for the Love of America", for the U.S. Army Ordnance Department; and "I Paid My Income Tax Today", again to Treasury.

When the United States joined World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Berlin quickly began writing a number of patriotic songs. His most important and valuable contribution to the war effort was a stage show he wrote called "This Is The Army". It went to Broadway and then to Washington, D.C. (where President Franklin D. Roosevelt attended). It was later shown at military bases around the world, including London, North Africa, Italy, the Middle East, and Pacific countries, sometimes close to where battles were happening. Berlin wrote nearly three dozen songs for the show which had a cast of 300 men. He oversaw the production and traveled with it, always singing "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning". The show kept him away from his family for three and a half years, during which he took no salary or expenses, and gave all the money to the Army Emergency Relief Fund.

The show was made into a movie of the same name in 1943, directed by Michael Curtiz, co-starring Joan Leslie and Ronald Reagan, who was then an army lieutenant. Kate Smith also sang "God Bless America" in the film with a background showing families worried about the coming war. The show became a hit movie and a morale-boosting tour that traveled to the battlefronts of Europe. The shows and movie together raised more than $10 million for the Army, and in recognition of his help to troop morale, Berlin was awarded the Medal for Merit by President Harry S. Truman. Berlin's daughter, Mary Ellin Barrett, who was 15 when she saw the opening-night performance of "This is the Army" on Broadway, remembered that when her father, who usually avoided the spotlight, appeared in the second act in a soldier's uniform to sing "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning", he was met with a standing ovation that lasted 10 minutes.

Annie Get Your Gun (1946)

The difficult tours Berlin did performing "This Is The Army" left him very tired, but when his long-time close friend Jerome Kern, who was the composer for Annie Get Your Gun, died suddenly, producers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II asked Berlin to take over composing the music.

Loose based on the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley, the music and words were written by Berlin, with a script by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields, and directed by Joshua Logan. At first Berlin said no, saying he knew nothing about "hillbilly music", but the show ran for 1,147 performances and became his most successful score and biggest box office success. It is said that the showstopper song "There's No Business Like Show Business" was almost not in the show because Berlin thought that Rodgers and Hammerstein did not like it. However, it became the "ultimate fast-paced show tune".

On the origin of another of the show's main songs, Logan described how he and Hammerstein privately talked about wanting another duet between Annie and Frank. Berlin overheard their conversation, and although the show was about to start rehearsals in a few days, he wrote the song "Anything You Can Do" in a few hours.

One reviewer said about the show's music, that "its tough, quick words are as knowing as its tune, which is fixed in hard, brass rhythms that have been copied—but never matched in pure melodic memory—by hundreds of theater composers since." Singer and music expert Susannah McCorkle writes that the score "meant more to me than ever, now that I knew that he wrote it after a hard world tour and years away from his wife and daughters." Historian and composer Alec Wilder says that the perfection of the score, compared to his earlier works, was "a deep surprise".

Annie Get Your Gun is considered Berlin's best musical theater score not only because of the number of hits it has, but because its songs successfully mix character and story development. The song "There's No Business Like Show Business" became "Ethel Merman's" signature song.

Final shows

Berlin's next show, Miss Liberty (1949), was not successful, but Call Me Madam (1950), starring Ethel Merman as Sally Adams, a Washington, D.C., socialite, loosely based on the famous Washington hostess Perle Mesta, did better, giving him his second-biggest success. Berlin made two tries to write a musical about his friend, the colorful Addison Mizner, and Addison's con-man brother Wilson. The first was the unfinished The Last Resorts (1952); a manuscript of Act I is in the Library of Congress. Wise Guy (1956) was finished but never produced, although songs have been published and recorded on The Unsung Irving Berlin (1995). After a failed try at retiring, in 1962, at the age of 74, he returned to Broadway with Mr. President. Although it ran for eight months, (with the premiere attended by President John F. Kennedy), it was not one of his successful shows.

After this, Berlin officially announced his retirement and spent his last years in New York. He did, however, write one new song, "An Old-Fashioned Wedding", for the 1966 Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun starring Ethel Merman. Though he lived 23 more years, this was one of Berlin's last published songs.

Berlin kept a low profile in the last decades of his life, almost never appearing in public after the late 1960s, even for events in his honor. However, he continued to control his songs through his own music publishing company, which stayed in operation for the rest of his life.

Film scores

In 1927, Irving Berlin's song "Blue Skies" was in the first full-length movie with sound, The Jazz Singer, sung by Al Jolson. Later, movies like Top Hat (1935) began a series of special musical films with stars such as Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, and Alice Faye. These films had new music by Berlin and also used his older songs.

The 1942 film Holiday Inn introduced the song "White Christmas". First sung by Bing Crosby in the movie, it became very popular. The song won Berlin an Academy Award for Best Music in an Original Song. It remained a favorite for many artists for years.

Songwriting methods

Irving Berlin had a special way of writing songs. He wrote a whole song, with words and music, every day. He didn’t wait for ideas to come; he thought hard work was the best way. Berlin often wrote late at night, starting after dinner and continuing until early morning.

He once asked a friend if he should study music theory, but his friend told him his natural talent was enough. Berlin followed this advice. Later, he joined groups that help musicians protect their work. Berlin believed that the words in a song were very important for making it popular, while the tune helped it last forever. He preferred to write in one special musical key and had special pianos to help him change keys easily. Even though he learned to write music down, he still liked to tell his songs to someone who would write them out for him.

Music styles

Irving Berlin's music had lively rhythms and beautiful melodies that felt fresh and exciting. Many famous composers admired his work. Berlin made his songs sound simple and natural. His songs helped shape jazz music and taught other composers new styles and rhythms.

Berlin wrote both the words and music to his songs. He also helped start the career of another famous songwriter. His music mixed many different styles, making him an important part of American music history.

Personal life

Marriages

In February 1912, Irving Berlin married Dorothy Goetz from Buffalo, New York. She became very ill and passed away that same year. Berlin wrote a song called "When I Lost You" to share his feelings.

Later, in the 1920s, Berlin fell in love with Ellin Mackay. Her father did not approve of their marriage. But they married in a quiet ceremony and stayed married for 63 years. They had four children together. Sadly, their son passed away when he was very young.

Lifestyle

Berlin often walked through his old neighborhoods in New York City, remembering his early life. He stayed humble and close to his friends. He loved celebrating holidays with his family and was proud of America, where he found success. He supported civil rights and was honored for helping to bring people together.

Death

Irving Berlin passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 22, 1989, at his home in Manhattan. He was 101 years old. He was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.

After his death, lights on Broadway theater marquees were dimmed in his honor. President George H. W. Bush praised Berlin, saying his music would always be important to American history. Former President Ronald Reagan also shared his sadness at the loss of this talented man.

Musicians and performers, including Morton Gould and Ginger Rogers, remembered Berlin for creating songs that touched many people. Working with him was described as a special and joyful experience.

Legacy and influence

Kennedy Center Tribute to Irving Berlin, 1987

Irving Berlin had a big impact on American music. Many think he captured the spirit of America in his work. He wrote many famous songs that people still enjoy today. Some of his most popular songs are "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Cheek to Cheek," and "There's No Business Like Show Business." He also wrote special songs for holidays like "Easter Parade," "White Christmas," and "Happy Holiday."

After September 11, 2001, many people sang "God Bless America" to show they were together. His songs have been performed by many famous singers and continue to touch people around the world.

Awards and honors

Irving Berlin received many awards for his work. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "White Christmas" in the movie Holiday Inn. He also received a Tony Award for Best Original Score for the musical Call Me Madam, a Congressional Gold Medal in 1954, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1968.

He was honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and a Medal of Liberty in 1986. Berlin was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994.

Musical scores

This section lists the musical scores created by Irving Berlin. Most of these scores were used in plays. Some were later turned into movies. Only movies where Berlin was the main composer are included here.

Stage

Film scores

*This symbol marks films that were first created for the stage.

Song lists

Main article: List of Irving Berlin songs

This section lists songs written by Irving Berlin. The list of songs will be shown in a table below.