Burton Lane

Burton Lane ( Levy; February 2, 1912 – January 5, 1997) was an American composer and lyricist primarily known for his theatre and film scores. His most popular and successful works include '' Finian's Rainbow'' in 1947 and '' On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'' in 1965.

Biography

Early life

Burton Lane was born Burton Levy, in Manhattan, New York City, on February 2, 1912, to Lazarus and Frances Fink Levy.Severo, Richard
"Burton Lane, Composer for 'Finian's Rainbow' and 'Clear Day,' Is Dead at 84"
''The New York Times'', January 7, 1997 This source gives the most exact location of Lane's birth. When a teenager, Burton changed his surname to Lane at the suggestion of someone with whom he was auditioning, and his brother and cousins followed suit.

Lane's parents loved music, and his mother played piano, but she died when Burton was two years old. He studied piano, viola and cello as a child, and composed two marches for his school band which were published. At age 14 the theatrical producers the Shuberts commissioned him to write songs for a revue, '' The Greenwich Village Follies''. That show was canceled, but Lane remained committed to music. He played piano so well that, when his father pushed him to play in public in a boarding house in Atlantic City during the winter holidays, George Gershwin's mother introduced herself to the Lanes, and Burton subsequently met George, his lyricist brother Ira, and Ira's best friend Yip Harburg, Burton's future collaborator.

Lane dropped out of high school to compose for the music publisher J.H. Remick. At the age of 18, he began his Broadway career when he composed "My Real Ideal" for the 1930 edition of the revue ''Artists and Models'', and two songs used in the revue '' Three's A Crowd'': "Forget All Your Books" and "Out in the Open Air." In the post- Depression Broadway slump Lane was only able to contribute to a few more shows. He continued writing and publishing single songs; two that had some success were "Look Who's Here" and "Tony's Wife", both with lyrics by Harold Adamson.

Lane's early days on Tin Pan Alley and Broadway ended when his employer, Irving Berlin Inc., sent him to Hollywood for six weeks, and he remained there for 21 years.

Career and notable works

Lane wrote the majority of his music for films. He composed freelance, usually with his New York colleague Harold Adamson, for several different studios from 1933 to 1936. He worked for Paramount Pictures from 1936 to 1941, and for other studios for more than a decade after that. He wrote original songs for more than 50 movies with Adamson, Harburg, Alan Jay Lerner, Ralph Freed, Frank Loesser and other lyricists, including '' Dancing Lady'' (1933), '' Babes on Broadway'' (1941), and '' Royal Wedding'' (1951).

But Lane was most celebrated for his Broadway musicals '' Finian's Rainbow'' (1947, with Harburg) and '' On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'' (1965, with Lerner). Both shows were subsequently made into films, in 1968 and 1970 respectively. He also wrote the music for the less remembered Broadway shows '' Hold On to Your Hats'' (1940, also with Harburg), '' Laffing Room Only'' (1944), for which he himself also wrote almost all of the lyrics, and '' Carmelina'' (1979, also with Lerner). Both shows with Lerner, ''On a Clear Day'' and ''Carmelina'', were nominated for a Tony Award for Best Original Score.

Lane's best-known songs include " How About You?" from ''Babes on Broadway'', nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1942; " Old Devil Moon" and " How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" from ''Finian's Rainbow''; "Too Late Now" from ''Royal Wedding'', nominated in 1952; and the title song from ''On a Clear Day You Can See Forever''. In 1965, he shared a Grammy Award for Best Score from an Original Cast Show Album for the album of ''On a Clear Day''.

Professional and personal life

Lane was president of the American Guild of Authors and Composers for ten terms beginning in 1957, during which period he campaigned against music piracy. He also served three terms on the board of directors of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, elected its director in 1973, and awarded its highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 1992.

Lane married Marian Seaman in 1935, and had a daughter with her. In 1961 they divorced and he married Lynn Baroff Kaye. He died at his home in Manhattan on January 5, 1997.

Discovery of Judy Garland

Lane claimed to have discovered the 13-year-old Judy Garland in 1935:

He caught her sisters' act at the Paramount theater in downtown Los Angeles, which featured a live stage show along with the movie. The older sisters, Suzy and Jimmy, brought on their younger sister Judy. Lane immediately called the head of the music department at MGM and told him he'd just heard a great new talent. The head told Lane to have her brought in for an audition. Lane went backstage and arranged an audition with the girls' father.

The head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer, was so impressed by Garland's audition that he ordered every producer, director and writer to hear her, with the result that the audition, which began at 9:30 am, finished at 7:30 pm, and MGM signed her. Lane left MGM soon after and worked with other studios and projects for some years, so he didn't work with Garland until they made ''Babes on Broadway'' in 1941.

That's how Lane told the story (aside from minor inaccuracies of names and the date). Other people also claimed to have arranged that audition, and their and Garland's accounts differ from Lane's.

Stage credits

*''Artists and Models'' (1930) – revue – co-composer

*'' Three's a Crowd'' (1930) – revue – co-composer

*'' The Third Little Show'' (1931) - revue - co-composer

*'' Earl Carroll's Vanities'' (1931) – revue – co-composer

*''Singin' the Blues'' (1931) – play with music – co-composer

*'' Hold On to Your Hats'' (1940) – musical – composer

*'' Laffing Room Only'' (1944) – revue – composer and lyricist

*'' Finian's Rainbow'' (1947, revivals in 1955, 1960, 2009) – musical – composer

* ''Jollyanna'' and ''The Little Doll Laughed'' (revisions of '' Flahooley'', 1952) – musical – composer

*'' On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'' (1965) – musical – composer – nominated for Tony Award for Best Original Score

*'' We Bombed in New Haven'' (1968) – play – composer for the song "Bomb, Bomb, Bombing Along"" 'We Bombed in New Haven' Broadway"
ibdb.com, retrieved July 28, 2018

*'' Carmelina'' (1979) – musical – composer – nominated for Tony Award for Best Original Score

See also Musicals by Burton Lane.

Films

Lane wrote several original songs for each of these films.

* '' Dancing Lady'' (1933, lyrics by Harold Adamson)
* '' Bottoms Up'' (1934, lyrics by Harold Adamson)
* '' Here Comes the Band'' (1935, lyrics by Harold Adamson and Ned Washington)
* '' Cocoanut Grove'' (1938, lyrics by Frank Loesser and Ralph Freed)
* '' College Swing'' (1938, lyrics by Frank Loesser)
* '' St. Louis Blues'' (1939, lyrics by Frank Loesser)
* '' She Married a Cop'' (1939, lyrics by Ralph Freed)
* '' Dancing on a Dime'' (1940, lyrics by Frank Loesser)
* '' Babes on Broadway'' (1941, lyrics by Yip Harburg and Ralph Freed)
* '' Ship Ahoy'' (1942, lyrics by Yip Harburg)
* '' Rainbow Island'' (1944, lyrics by Ted Koehler)
* '' Royal Wedding'' (1951, lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner)
* '' Give a Girl a Break'' (1953, lyrics by Ira Gershwin))
* '' Jupiter's Darling'' (1955, lyrics by Harold Adamson)
* '' On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'' (1970, lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner)
* '' Heidi's Song'' (1982, lyrics by Sammy Cahn)

He contributed original songs to many other films.

Notable songs

* " Everything I Have Is Yours". Lyrics by Harold Adamson. From the 1933 film '' Dancing Lady''.
* "Your Head on My Shoulder". Lyrics by Harold Adamson. From the 1934 film '' Kid Millions''.
* " Swing High, Swing Low". Lyrics by Ralph Freed. From the 1937 film of the same name.
* "Says My Heart". Lyrics by Frank Loesser. From the 1938 film '' Cocoanut Grove''.
* " Moments Like This". Lyrics by Frank Loesser. From the 1938 film College Swing.
* " The Lady's in Love with You". Lyrics by Frank Loesser. From the 1939 film ''Some Like It Hot''.
* " I Hear Music". Lyrics by Frank Loesser. From the 1940 film '' Dancing on a Dime''.
* " How About You?". Lyrics by Ralph Freed. From the 1941 film '' Babes on Broadway''.
* " Feudin' and Fightin'". Lyrics by Burton Lane and Frank Loesser. From the 1944 revue '' Laffing Room Only''.
* " How Are Things in Glocca Morra?", " Old Devil Moon" and " If This Isn't Love". Lyrics by Yip Harburg. From the 1947 musical '' Finian's Rainbow''.
* "Too Late Now". Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. From the 1951 film '' Royal Wedding''.
* " On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)". Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. From the 1965 musical of the same name.

See also List of songs composed by Burton Lane and Songs with music by Burton Lane.

Recordings of Lane's works

Stage shows and films

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* This is a reissue of the 1947 original cast recording on 78 RPM shellac.
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Songs

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References

External links

Interviews

*. Audio interview with Lane on diverse topics. Includes sung and played performance of "On a Clear Day".
Burton Lane interview
NAMM Oral History Library (1989)
* "The Unchristmas Show" features an interview with Burton Lane's widow.

Databases

Burton Lane
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
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Burton Lane Awards
at the Internet Broadway Database (archived)
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Burton Lane
at Sony Music Entertainment Masterworks Broadway

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Burton
1912 births
1997 deaths
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American composers
20th-century American songwriters
American musical theatre composers
American male musical theatre composers
American musical theatre lyricists
Broadway composers and lyricists
Jewish American songwriters
Musicians from New York City
Songwriters from New York (state)
Grammy Award winners