Carl Sigman (September 24, 1909 – September 26, 2000) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

Early life

Born in

Crown Heights, Brooklyn Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard/East New Yo ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to a Jewish-American family, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his

bar exams A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

to practice in the state of

. Instead of law, encouraged by his friend

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallic ...

, he embarked on a songwriting career, that saw him become one of the most prominent and successful songwriters in American music history. He was awarded the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. W ...

for his efforts in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Career

Although Sigman wrote many song melodies, he was primarily a

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

who collaborated with songwriters such as

Bob Hilliard Bob Hilliard (born Hilliard Goldsmith; January 28, 1918 – February 1, 1971) was an American lyricist. He wrote the words for the songs: "Alice in Wonderland", "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", " Any Day Now", " Dear Hearts and Gentle ...

, Bob Russell,

Jimmy van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and care ...

, and

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was bas ...

. He also wrote

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

lyrics to many songs which were originally composed in other languages, such as "

Answer Me "Answer Me" is a popular song, originally titled "Mütterlein", with German lyrics by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch. "Mütterlein" was published on 19 April 1952. English lyrics were written by Carl Sigman, and the song was published as "Answe ...

", "

Till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

", " The Day the Rains Came", "You're My World", and " What Now My Love?". During the

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

era, Sigman composed works used by top

band leader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues ...

s such as

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the US Army Air Forc ...

and

Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was an Italian-Canadian-American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer. Lombardo formed the Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and oth ...

. These included "

Pennsylvania 6-5000 PEnnsylvania 6-5000 is a telephone number in New York City, written in the 2L+5N (two letters, five numbers) format that was common from about 1930 into the 1960s. The number is best known from the 1940 hit song " Pennsylvania 6-5000", a swing ...

". His songs were also

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

for individual singers. Some of the best-known are " My Heart Cries for You", which was recorded by three different artists in 1951:

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

Guy Mitchell Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. In the fa ...

and

Vic Damone Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit "You're Breaking My Heart", and ...

. Two years later, Sigman's song "

Ebb Tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tabl ...

" was a hit for Frank Chacksfield; and was a Top 10 ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

hit in 1965 for

the Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Lo ...

. and was also recorded by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, the Platters and hundreds of others. Tommy Edwards scored a #1 in 1958 with " It's All in the Game", with lyrics by Sigman set to music the future

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Charles Gates Dawes had composed in 1912. He is most widely remembered for writing the lyrics for " Where Do I Begin", the theme song for ''

Love Story Love Story or A Love Story may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres * Romance (love) ** Romance film ** Romance novel Films * ''Love Story'' (1925 film), German silent film * ''Love Story'' (1942 film), Italian drama film * ''Love ...

''. ''Love Story'' went on to become the top grossing U.S. film of 1970 and the song became a hit for

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

Recognition

In 1972, Sigman was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

Death

Sigman died on September 26, 2000 at home in

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Manhasset area. The population was 8,176 at the 2020 United States ce ...

Published songs

*" A Marshmallow World" (collaboration with

Peter deRose Peter DeRose (or De Rose) (March 10, 1896 – April 23, 1953) was an American composer of jazz and pop music during the era of Tin Pan Alley. Biography A native of New York City, he showed a gift for all things musical at an early age. He lea ...

) *" Arrivederci Roma" *" The All American Soldier" *"

All Too Soon "All Too Soon" is a 1940 song composed by Duke Ellington with lyrics written by Carl Sigman. It is recorded in the key of C major. It was subsequently recorded by several contemporary and modern artists. Notable recordings *Duke Ellington **reco ...

" (collaboration with

) *"

" *"

Ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

" *"

Buona Sera "Buona Sera" (sometimes titled "Buona Sera, Signorina") is a song written by Carl Sigman and Peter de Rose, and best known as performed by Louis Prima in 1956. It reached number one in the singles charts in Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway, and i ...

" *"

Careless Hands "Careless Hands" is a popular song written by Carl Sigman and Bob Hilliard, and first recorded in 1948. The song was originally recorded by Sammy Kaye with vocals by Don Cornell,Civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...

" (aka "Bongo, Bongo, Bongo, I don't want to leave the Congo") *"

Crazy He Calls Me "Crazy He Calls Me" is a 1949 jazz standard. It was composed by Carl Sigman, with lyrics by Bob Russell. Notable recordings American jazz singer Billie Holiday recorded it. Other artists to record the song include Dinah Washington (with Clifford ...

" (1949 collaboration with Bob Russell) *" Dance Ballerina Dance" (collaboration with Bob Russell) *" A Day In The Life Of A Fool" *" The Day The Rains Came" (1957) *"

" *" Enjoy Yourself" (1948) *" Fool" *"How Will I Remember You" (music by Walter Gross) *"I Could Have Told You" (collaboration with

Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and care ...

) *" If You Could See Me Now" (collaboration with Tadd Dameron) *" It's All In The Game" *"

Losing You (English lyrics) Losing You may refer to: Literature * ''Losing You'' (novel), by Nicci French (2006) Music * "Losing You" (Brenda Lee song) (1963) * "Losing You" (Dead by April song) (2009) * "Losing You" (Eiffel 65 song) (2002) * "Losing You" (Ephixa and Lau ...

" *" Music from Across the Way" *" My Heart Cries For You" *"

" (collaboration with

) *" The Saddest Thing Of All" *"

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, g ...

" *"

" *" What Now My Love" *"

(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" is a popular song published in 1970, with music by Francis Lai and lyrics by Carl Sigman. The song was first introduced as an instrumental theme in the 1970 film ''Love Story'' after the film's distributor, Para ...

" *"

The World We Knew (Over and Over) "The World We Knew (Over and Over)" is a popular song recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1967. It is based on a composition by Bert Kaempfert, a German musician and composer. The song first appeared on Sinatra's 1967 album ''The World We Knew'' and was ...

" *"

You're My World "You're My World" is a ballad originally recorded in 1963 as "Il mio mondo" ("My World") by Umberto Bindi, who co-wrote the Italian version with Gino Paoli. Subsequently, an English version was commissioned, and the lyrics were written by Carl S ...

References

* *

External links

Bio at JazzBiographies.com
about his father
SHoF page on Sigman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigman, Carl 1909 births 2000 deaths People from Crown Heights, Brooklyn Jewish American songwriters Songwriters from New York (state) American lyricists Musicians from Brooklyn 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American Jews