CHAPTER FOUR: “I GOT RHYTHM”: THE GOLDEN AGE OF TIN PAN ALLEY SONG
Important Names and Brief Bios
Irving Berlin (1888–1989):
Generally recognized as the most productive, varied, and
creative of the Tin Pan Alley songwriters. His professional
songwriting career started before World War I and
continued into the 1960s. His most famous songs include
“Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “Blue Skies,” “Cheek to
Cheek,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,”
“White Christmas,” and “God Bless America.”
Richard Rodgers (1902–79):
Produced many of the finest songs of the twentieth century,
in collaboration with lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar
Hammerstein II. Wrote the ground-breaking musical
Oklahoma! in partnership with Oscar Hammerstein II in
1943.
Cole Porter (1891–1964):
Born into a wealthy family in Indiana; studied classical
music at Yale, Harvard, and the Schola Cantorum in Paris.
George Gershwin (1898–
The son of an immigrant leatherworker, did much to bridge
1937):
the gulf between art music and popular music. Studied
European classical music but also spent a great deal of time
listening to jazz musicians in New York City. Wrote Porgy
and Bess (1935), which he called an “American folk opera.”
Bing Crosby (1904–77):
A crooner, by far the most popular representative of the
style. Sales of his records have been estimated at more than
CHAPTER FOUR: “I GOT RHYTHM”: THE GOLDEN AGE OF TIN PAN ALLEY SONG
300 million.
Ethel Merman (Zimmerman)
At the age of twenty-one, introduced “I Got Rhythm” in the
(1909–84):
stage show Girl Crazy written by George Gershwin.
Al Jolson (1886–1950):
Billed himself as “The World’s Greatest Entertainer.” The
most popular performer of his generation; his career
overlapped the era of vaudeville stage performance and the
rise of new media in the 1920s.