Bernard Bierman (August 26, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American composer of popular songs.

Biography

Bierman was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. He studied pre-law and law at NYU and

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...

, passing the bar in 1930. He practiced law until 1942 when he joined the U.S. Army where he served until 1945. After the war, he worked at the height of The Great American Songbook as a contracted songwriter for the music publisher Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. in NYC's

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as ...

, in the historic

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

writing a multitude of songs performed by such artists as Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra,

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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 ...

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and

Jimmy Heath James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath. Biography Heath ...

. Some of his best known songs of this period are "Midnight Masquerade", recorded 11 different times by various artists, reaching #3 in the USA on The Hit Parade music charts; "

Vanity Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant ''futility''. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic ...

", recorded twice by jazz vocalist Sarah Vaughan, reaching #2 on The Hit Parade was also recorded by vocalist Hadda Brooks and saxophonist

. Other hits were "My Cousin Louella" recorded by Frank Sinatra and "Forgiving You" recorded by

Sammy Kaye Orchestra Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...

in 1947 and by

for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

in 1951. He left his position as staff writer in 1952 due to the death of a relative to lead an existing family business as head of the

Painting and Decorating Contractors of America The Painting Contractors Association (PCA) is a non-profit association established in 1884 to represent the painting and decorating industry. It was founded as the "Master House Painters Association of the United States and Canada". PCA has establ ...

. He returned to music in 1989 when a song he co-wrote with

Jack Manus Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, i ...

and Guy Wood recorded by

with

was featured in the theatrical release of the

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

film ''

Crimes and Misdemeanors ''Crimes and Misdemeanors'' is a 1989 American existential comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, who stars alongside Martin Landau, Mia Farrow, Anjelica Huston, Jerry Orbach, Alan Alda, Sam Waterston, and Joanna Gleason. The ...

''. The tune was incorrectly licensed and miscredited resulting in mistaken violation of the songwriters' copyrights. Although it resulted in a winning settlement for the writers, the song was later replaced by another when the film was released on video. Composer Bernard Bierman Celebrates Centennial

Selected works

;Musicals * "The Love of Two Cabbages, An Operetta for Children" Apollo Records, (1946) * ''The Farmer Weds a Widow'', A Musical Romance (1998) * ''We Have Something to Say'', A Musical Revue (1999) ;Songs * Why? * It Must Be You * My Cousin Louella * I Wouldn't Be Surprised * Midnight Masquerade * I Can't Sleep * Don't Shout! * Now and Then * Forgiving You * Where Were You * I Can Tell * Let Me Be The One * Anything for a Laugh * Lies * Go Away * Immigrant Song * Confetti * A Puppet on a String * City Limits

Discography

* ''The Other Half of Me'' (1995) * ''The Farmer Weds a Widow: A Musical Romance'' (1998 Studio Cast Recording) * ''We Have Something to Say: A Musical Revue'' (1999) * ''Somewhere in the World'' (2002) * ''Bernie's Journey'' (2005) * ''Discoveries'' (2007)

References

External links

Craig's Big Bands & Big Names: Bernie Bierman

Bernie Bierman website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bierman, Bernard 1908 births 2012 deaths American male composers American composers Songwriters from New York (state) Musicians from New York City American centenarians Brooklyn Law School alumni New York University alumni Men centenarians American male songwriters