… was born Hyman Arluck in Buffalo, New York, on this date in 1905.
A short list from the more than 400 tunes written by Harold Arlen:
- Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive
- Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
- Come Rain Or Come Shine
- Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead
- Hooray For Love
- It’s Only A Paper Moon
- I’ve Got the World on A String
- One For My Baby
- Over The Rainbow
- Stormy Weather
- That Old Black Magic
Arlen worked with many lyricists through the years, most notably Ira Gershwin, Yip Harburg, Johnny Mercer and even Truman Capote. Harburg, for example, wrote the lyrics for the Wizard of Oz songs. Though it’s the lyrics we most remember, it’s the melody that makes a song memorable. That was Arlen.