As Steve Danby points out, to call Irving Berlin a fast worker would be a bit of an understatement.
Irving Berlin and stars of the movie Alexander's Ragtime Band Photo: Boston Globe, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Russian-born Irving Berlin is the most successful songwriter in pop history. Others have made more money, but Irving wrote more hits over a longer period than anyone else; “White Christmas” remained the number-one selling song for about fifty years.
Irving Berlin was most successful with ‘revue’ shows, where you hired a star and tailored various unconnected numbers items to suit their talents. He’d had bad luck with what they called ‘book’ shows, where you had to advance a plot and build character. So when he got a call from arch-rivals Rodgers and Hammerstein asking him to take over the song-writing from Jerome Kern for a ‘book’ show, he wasn’t sure what to say.
Within a week of looking at the script, he had half a dozen songs written. Then during rehearsals, the director said he needed another song for the second act, maybe a challenge song or a quarrel between the lead characters.
Fifteen minutes later, Berlin was on the phone singing Anything you can do I can do better.
Irving Berlin (Part 2)
In 1911, Irving Berlin's song Alexander's Ragtime Band became a world-wide craze and the twenty-three year old Irving became a celebrity. Audio
Irving Berlin (Part 3)
Although the associated movies often flopped, some of the songs from Irving Berlin's early musicals turned out to have 'legs' such as Puttin' on the Ritz. Audio
Irving Berlin (Part 4)
Irving Berlin wrote the songs for the Fred & Ginger movies in Hollywood, more stage shows on Broadway and stand-alone songs such as God Bless America. Audio
Irving Berlin (Part 5)
One of the biggest-selling songs in history was Berlin's White Christmas from his movie 'Holiday Inn', his 1946 musical 'Annie Get Your Gun' was full of hit songs, and his movie 'Easter Parade'… Audio
Irving Berlin (Part 6)
As his star began to dim, Irving Berlin said "You don't have to stop yourself writing songs, the people who listen to your songs tell you to stop." The series ends with what Steve Danby calls 'the… Audio
Music Details for Part 1:
BERLIN: Russian Lullaby - Tony Bennett (CBS 460 450)
BERLIN: Sadie Salome Go Home - Edward M. Favor (Sourced from itunes)
BERLIN: Alexander's Ragtime Band - Bessie Smith (Pavillion 311002)
BERLIN: When I lost you - The Mills Brothers (Axis 701 595)
BERLIN: Play a simple melody - Bing and Gary Crosby (MCA 430 723)
BERLIN: Oh how I hate to get up in the morning - Irving Berlin, cast of Warner Brothers movie (History CD 203117)
BERLIN: Always - Paul McCartney (Universal 723337)
BERLIN: White Christmas - Bing Crosby (MCA 111620)
BERLIN: Blue Skies - Kiri Te Kanawa (Decca 414 666)
BERLIN: Supper Time - Ethel Waters (Sourced from itunes)
BERLIN: Cheek to Cheek - Fred Astaire (Columbia CD 444233)
BERLIN: God Bless America - Kate Smith (ASV AJA 5 465)
BERLIN: Any Bonds Today - The Andrews Sisters (Sourced from itunes)
BERLIN: Anything you can do - Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton (MCA 110047)
BERLIN: A Couple of Swells - Fred Astaire and Judy Garland (Rhino R2 71960)
BERLIN: You're just in love - Dick Haymes and Ethel Merman (MCA 110051)
BERLIN: After you get what you want you don’t want it - Marilyn Monroe (Charly 332343)
