Famous Composers Praise Harold Arlen: Scholars of Classic American Song generally agree that there are 6 songwriters who were most influential in shaping what is often called The Great American Songbook. Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin & Richard Rodgers are the first five so noted. The sixth is Harold Arlen who is wholly praised by the five in their own words.

                               In Praise of Harold Arlen 
*   " He is the most original of us all."     GEORGE  GERSHWIN 

*  " He wasn't as well known as some of us but he was more talented than most of us & in a nutshell, no one has written better songs than Harold Arlen."                        IRVING BERLIN

*  " I realized that he was the greatest new talent in years. He has a real valid talent, it is his own and completely original."
                                                                   RICHARD RODGERS

*  " A distinguished personality in music and I have admired him
'       for years,:                                            COLE PORTER    

*  " His songs are almost, without exception, genuine musical creations, not experiments in limitation."  JEROME KERN

Recognizing Arlen's originality is the essence of their praise.

Despite his relative anonymity ( even though his songs are well known) " Harold Arlen accumulated one of the most impressive catalogues in the history of American popular music, not merely lucrative Hit Parade material ( although there are plenty of those)
but evergreen songs that have long outlived their original films and stage presentations."
     Edward Jablonski  Arlen biographer and personal friend.




















                                                                                                                            

                                                  

An Arlen style torch song. " The Faraway Part of Town. 
Composer Andre Previn was a long-time admirer of Harold Arlen whose songs were characterized by inventive harmony and unusual song construction not limited to the standard 32 Bar, AABA song format. This song could have been written by Arlen himself, imbued as it is by Arlen's characteristic blues feeling and "torch song" appeal.. Sung here by Judy Garland, it harkens back to Garland's own emotionally riveting performance of Arlen's " The Man That Got Away" from " A Star is Born."

https://youtu.be/8IvFVxpDGDo 

Two Harold Arlen blues styled songs from ST. Louis Woman, lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Lovely Vanessa Wiliams has a special affinity wih Arlen songs whose singing and piano playing had people assuming he was a black composer. In fact, he was the son of a Jewish cantor,raised in Buffalo and who played piano in speakeasies while still in high school. "Any place I hangs my hat is home" and 'Come Rain or Come Shine " were both sung by Vanessa Williams in a revival of the 1946 musical which has also been recorded by the cast of that revival from NY City Centre. 
NOTE: Anyone who attended Delta Secondary school in Hamilton Ontario would understand my reference to Arlen's great resemblance to Joe Perell, a beloved math teacher who , like Arlen, was always immaculately dressed with both men always wearing a flower in their suit lapels. 

 https://youtu.be/p6c6XQt2IxA

" i Never Has Seen Snow"   Sung by Vanessa Williams, this is more of and art song or aria than a conventional popular song. It is from the Harold Arlen/Truman Capote show House of Flowers. Set in an exotic Haitian setting, the song suggest that Otillie, the beautiful young girl, employed in a bordello run by Pearl Bailey believes that snow which she has never seen could ever be as beautiful as her love is, " as her love is." Vanessa Williams has a real affinity for the Arlen blues-inflected song style. Here she is backed by the Boson Pops and an onstage cellist in an imaginative arrangement by Rob Mathes. Alec Wilder, dedicated song scholar and Arlen devotee has stated that the song " impresses me more than the song arias from " Porgy And Bess."  " Withour prejudice, I respect Gershwin, but I envy Arlen."

https://youtu.be/SYqfL6kygRc

Sinatra sings " It;s Only a Paper Moon."  Harold Arlen  wrote this song in 1932 with lyrics by .Y.Harburg and Billy Rose. It was written for a failed Broadway show " The Great Magoo." It was a big hit later on for Nat Cole and his trio.
Frank Sinatra  provides a very jazzy performance improvising both music and words in a way that Arlen hinself would have approved. Harold would often sing and play his own songs in a freer improvised manner not just playing the notes as written. After all, he started playing in Buffalo area jazz joints as a teenage, high school drop out.

 https://youtu.be/yecohwTQzQY

Lena Horne asks " I Wonder What Became Of Me "  This is a song wondering what one's life has all been amount.No specific answer is provided by composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Johnny Mercer for the musical St. Louis Woman. It concludes with "  For along the way, Something went astray And I can't explain ,it's the same champagne & It's sad to see But I wonder what became of me." It's more about the journey than a specific summation of a life well lived.


https://youtu.be/j0WrgKeZgag

Man for Sale:  A brutal reminder of the horrors of a slavery auction in which the strong virtues of the slave are stated in order to get the highest price. From Harold Arlens' Bloomer Girl set during he civil war. The song was writen by Arlen and he sang it on the cast recording.He was one of he few composers who could effectively sing their own songs. Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer were also able to perform their own material .

 https://youtu.be/73nugts2kvo

\The Eagle and Me  A  strong cry for freedom  as created for a Harold Arlen/E.Y.Harburg musical called Bloomer Girl. Set in a time during the US Civil War, it is an anthem for equality, promised but still never delivered .  Sung by Lena Horne, a long time equal rights advocate,the song  makes a case for people ,like the Eagle," got to feel free."


https://youtu.be/kw3VTF7s-aE

Hit the Road to Dreamland & Come Rain or Come Shine. Two songs by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The first is from a 1944 movie. The second from the musical St. Louis Woman. Dreamland uses very hip language like " Dig You In The Land Of Nod". Come Rain or Come Shine is filled with a fervent pledge of commitment no matter what trouble may come along. These songs, quite different in tone and style, illustrate the great versatility of both Arlen and Mercer.

Nancy Lamott is a favourite NYC cabaret singer.

 https://youtu.be/qm7lsn0PoJ0