The Never Ending Pool

QUOTE:
Harold Arlen had written 'The Man That Got Away' and the cosmic 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' [...] He had written a lot of other popular songs, too - the powerful 'Blues In The Night', 'Stormy Weather', 'Come Rain Or Come Shine', 'Get Happy'. In Harold's songs, I could hear rural blues and folk music. There was an emotional kinship there. I couldn't help but notice it [...] I could never escape from the bittersweet, lonely intense world of Harold Arlen. Van Ronk could sing and play these songs. I could, too, but never would have dreamed of it.
[Bob Dylan , Chronicles, Volume 1, p. 49]

Harold Arlen (1905-1986), a cantor's son, started out as a jazz pianist and singer in the 20s, a fan and admirer of both Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke. He only began with songwriting when he had a job as a rehearsal pianist for a Broadway show. His first hit was "Get Happy" (with lyrics by Ted Koehler). In the following years he wrote songs for Cotton Club shows, and then for Hollywood movies and Broadway shows. He was responsible for the melodies to some of the most enduring American songs ever.

Arlen (r.) with Ruth Etting and Ted Koehler (l.)

About Harold Arlen, his life and work :
- Songwriter's Hall Of Fame
- Frank Ferrianio, Did He Write That? America's Great Unknown Songwriter Harold Arlen (soundscapes.info)
John Lahr, Come Rain Or Come Shine. The Bittersweet Life of Harold Arlen (The New Yorker)
- Laurence Maslin, The Wizards Of Oz (AI Online)
- Jeff Lunden, Centennial Of Songwriter Harold Arlen (npr)
- Susan Stamberg, Come Rain Or Come Shine. A One-Hour Musical Celebration Of Harold Arlen (npr - includes recordings of some Arlen classics as well as links to related npr-stories.

Harold Arlen was a composer and never wrote his own lyrics but he always worked with outstanding lyricists with whom he achieved a complex interweaving of music and words. Ted Koehler, sadly half forgotten today, was the first, then came "Yip" Harburg, Johnny Mercer and Ira Gershwin. Arlen was an extremly versatile and unconventional composer with wide ranging influences and a massive knowledge of music (from Blues to Strawinsky). He had a personal style that is hard to define but all his songs are easily recognizable, no matter how different they are from one another.

I wonder if Dylan has ever met Arlen. Interestingly when he was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall Of Fame in 1982 it was also one of Harold Arlen's last public appearances. At least two of Arlen's classics were attempted by Dylan. In 1980/81 "Over The Rainbow" was among the songs rehearsed (I presume as a duet with Clydie King). In the mid-80s he planned to record "Come Rain Or Come Shine" but never managed to get it right. His own "One For My Baby" from the Basement Tapes was of course inspired by Arlen's "One For My Baby" but he only took the title line and built a new song around it.


Music:

Stormy Weather (lyrics: Ted Koehler)
Ethel Waters, 1933 (YouTube)

I've Got The World On A String (lyrics: Ted Koehler)
Bing Crosby (mp3)
Frank Sinatra (YouTube)

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (lyrics: Ted Koehler)
Helen Ward (one of my all-time favourite singers), with Benny Goodman (mp3)
Duke Ellington (YouTube)

It's Only A Papermoon (lyrics: Yip Harburg)
Cliff Edwards, 1933 (YouTube)
Nat King Cole (YouTube)

Lydia The Tattoed Lady (lyrics: Yip Harburg)
Groucho Marx, from "The Marx Brothers At The Circus", 1939 (YouTube)
Groucho Marx, Dick Cavett Show 1969 (YouTube)

I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues (lyrics: Ted Koehler)
Jack Teagarden, 1939 (RedHotJazz.com)
Cab Calloway, 1937 (YouTube)

Blues In The Night (lyrics: Johnny Mercer)
Cab Calloway, 1942 (YouTube)

Last Night When We Were Young (lyrics: Yip Harburg)
Judy Garland (YouTube)

Come Rain Or Come Shine (lyrics: Johnny Mercer)
Judy Garland (YouTube)
Ray Charles (YouTube)

One For My Baby (lyrics: Johnny Mercer)
Billie Holiday (YouTube)
Frank Sinatra (YouTube)
Cab Calloway (YouTube)

Over The Rainbow (lyrics: Yip Harburg)
Judy Garland, from The Wizard Of Oz (YouTube)
Judy Garland, live 1943 Command Performance (YouTube)



Listening to all this songs in a row - and I could have added dozens more like "That Old Black Magic", "Get Happy", "The Man That Got Away", "Kickin' The Gong Around" etc etc - makes me once again wish that Dylan should have studied more Arlen.
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Martha Raye Show with Harold Arlen from YouTube
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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