The song of the day for Thursday, October 12, 2017 is “East of the Sun (West of the Moon).”
About This Song
Bruce Bowman wrote “East of the Sun” in 1934, while a student at Princeton University, for a student musical production called Stags at Bay, produced by the Princeton Triangle Club. The song had great reception and was noted by Princeton alumnus F. Scott Fitzgerald. After his graduation from college in 1936, Bowman worked briefly in Hollywood for the film industry, but decided to return to the East Coast. He was about to start a contract with a New York music publisher when he was killed in an automobile accident in 1937.
About This Version
Tony Bennett recorded “East of the Sun (West of the Moon)” in 1992 for his album Perfectly Frank. Ralph Sharon did the arrangement and recording engineer Frank Laico came out of retirement to record this album.
“East of the Sun (West of the Moon),” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available from iTunes.
It wasn’t Bruce Bowman but Brooks Bowman as he was my great uncle! He was one of first people suffering from juvenile onset diabetes to live into his 20’s on diet control alone. The way the story of his death has been passed down through the family is he hit his chest during the accident he developed an cardiac arrhythmia that caused his death. Really disappointed that they couldn’t get his name correct!
I sincerely apologize for getting his first name wrong in the post. Based on “East of the Moon,” I believe he would have been one of the great songwriters of the 20th century.
My son has type 1 diabetes, don’t see how it could be controlled by diet. How sad but what a wonderful song. My mother always told me about Brooks. Thank you for sharing this story about your great-uncle.