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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

April 7, 2021 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Over the Rainbow

The song of the day for Thursday, April 8, 2021, is “Over the Rainbow.”

About Today

The Year of Tony Bennett is remembering one of America’s great lyricists: Edgar Yipsel “Yip” Harburg on the anniversary of his birth on April 8, 1896. In addition to his work on many memorable songs, including today’s song, he was known for the social commentary of his lyrics, as well as his liberal sensibilities. He championed racial and gender equality and union politics.

About This Song

“Over the Rainbow” was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg in 1939 for The Wizard of Oz. Interestingly, the producers wanted to cut the song from the film, as they felt it slowed downed the movie. Thankfully, the preview audiences preferred the movie with the song. “Over The Rainbow” ranked as the #1 song of the 20th century per the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment of the Arts. The song has always been closely associated with Judy Garland.

In a letter to Harold Arlen, Judy Garland wrote:

(the song) has become part of my life. It’s so symbolic of everybody’s dreams and wishes that I’m sure that’s why some people get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I’ve sung it thousands of times and it’s still the song that’s closest to my heart.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Over the Rainbow” in 1960 for Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen. Glenn Osser wrote the arrangement and conducted the orchestra. Unlike many recordings of “Over the Rainbow,” Bennett sings the verse, which is quite beautiful.

Over The Rainbow

Listen to Over The Rainbow on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1960.

“Over the Rainbow,” as well as Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, is available from Apple Music.

We can’t close out this post without two other wonderful versions of today’s song from Judy Garland and Yip Harburg.

Here’s Judy from The Wizard of Oz:

Somewhere Over the Rainbow - The Wizard of Oz (1/8) Movie CLIP (1939) HD

The Wizard of Oz movie clips: http://j.mp/1L5gtKP BUY THE MOVIE: http://bit.ly/2cmiEyC Don"t miss the HOTTEST NEW TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/1u2y6pr Watch more Family and Animation videos to get all the best content that"s fun for all ages. Best Animated Movie Clips http://bit.ly/2a9DaSm Best Family Movie Clips http://bit.ly/2a18bZK CLIP DESCRIPTION: Dorothy (Judy Garland) fantasizes about a land far away from home and sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

And here is Yip singing today’s song. I love this video. I hope you will too.

Yip Harburg - Over The Rainbow

After many requests, I am uploading this short clip which I use in teaching the basics of songwriting. It is a moving version of "Over The Rainbow" by the lyricist himself.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Happy Birthday Yip Harburg, Harold Arlen, Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz, Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg

April 8, 2016 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Over The Rainbow

The song of the day for Friday, April 8, 2016 is “Over The Rainbow.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “Over The Rainbow,” was written in 1939 by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Yip Harburg. Probably the most widely known of all Arlen’s and Harburg’s songs, “Over The Rainbow” is from the great Wizard Of Oz. Interestingly, the producers wanted to cut the song from the film, as they felt it slowed downed the movie. Thankfully, the preview audiences preferred the movie with the song. “Over The Rainbow” ranked as the #1 song of the 20th century per the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment of the Arts.The song has always been closely associated with Judy Garland. In a letter to Harold Arlen, Judy Garland wrote that the song “…has become part of my life. It’s so symbolic of everybody’s dreams and wishes that I’m sure that’s why some people get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I’ve sung it thousands of times and it’s still the song that’s closest to my heart.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett has recorded today’s song twice. Today, we feature his 1995 version from Here’s To The Ladies, where Bennett sings the songs most associated with the great female vocalists who sing from the American songbook. “Over The Rainbow” is, of course, for Jdy Garland. If you haven’t listened to this album lately, I heartily recommend it.

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Listen to Somewhere over the Rainbow on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1995.


“Over The Rainbow,” as well as Here’s To The Ladies, is available from iTunes.

About Today

The lyricist of today’s song, Yip Harburg, was born on April 8, 1896 in New York. I strongly assert that he is one of America’s greatest lyricists. Even though he was born 120 years ago, his lyrics are as fresh and meaningly now as they were early in the 20th century. He is truly one of America’s finest talents.

I know that I’ve featured this video many times, but I love it so much I give it to you again.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Happy Birthday Yip Harburg, Harold Arlen, Here's To The Ladies, Judy Garland, Yip Harburg

April 8, 2014 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Remembering Yip Harburg

Today, The Year of Tony Bennett remembers one of America’s finest lyricists, Yip Harburg, who was born on the Lower East Side of New York on April 8, 1896. His birth name was Isadore Hochberg, but he later adopted the name of Edgar Yipsel Harburg and thus the nickname Yip, as he was widely known.

His parents, both Orthodox Jews, had emigrated from Russia and spoke only Yiddish. As the oldest son, he was always called upon when they needed to communicate to anyone outside of their community. He attended high school with Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershowitz); they both wrote on their school paper and remained lifelong friends. After high school, married and with two children, he became the co-owner of an electric appliance company. That business, along with many others, went under following the stock market crash of 1929.

At that time, his friend Ira intervened and suggested that Yip start writing song lyrics. Ira introduced Yip to songwriter Jay Gorney and the two wrote “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?” which became a kind of anthem of the Great Depression. Here’s Al Jolson’s recording from 1931:

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

Listen to Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? on Spotify. Al Jolson · Song · 2010.

yip_harburg-2

Based on the success of “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?” Harburg was offered a contract in Hollywood. He was very successful, writing lyrics for music by Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jerome Kern, Jule Styne and Burton Lane. His biggest success came with the partnership with Harold Arlen to write the score for The Wizard of Oz. Arlen and Harburg won the Academy Award for Best Music, Best Original Song for “Over the Rainbow.”

In the 1940s, Harburg was more active on Broadway, writing Bloomer Girl with Harold Arlen and Finian’s Rainbow with Burton Lane. He also became more politically active. His father had been a socialist and Yip was heavily involved in social activism. Though he never joined the Communist Party, he was called before the infamous House UnAmerican Activities Committee and was blacklisted in Hollywood.

Yip Harburg died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on March 5, 1981.

In addition to his wonderful body of work, he also left us a remarkable social consciousness, which is reflected in the Yip Harburg Foundation, which supports world peace and works to end discrimination and social injustice. From their website:

Yip fought for social and economic justice for all people his whole life. The Yip Harburg Foundation was created to promote educational opportunity, social and economic justice, world peace and Yip’s artistic legacy.

We leave you today with Yip singing “Over The Rainbow.”

Filed Under: Etcetera Tagged With: E.Y Harburg, Happy Birthday Yip Harburg, Yip Harburg

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