Harold Arlen was born Chaim Arluch, the son of a cantor, one hundred and four years ago today in Buffalo, New York. He wrote the music for "Get Happy," "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues," "Stormy Weather," "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," "I've Got the World on a String," "Let's Fall in Love," "Ill Wind," "Paper Moon," "Last Night When We Were young," "Over the Rainbow," "If I Only Had a Brain," "Ding-Dong, the Witch is Dead," "Lydia the Tattoed Lady," "Blues in the Night," "Accentuate the Positive," "My Shining Hour," "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "That Old Black Magic," "Hit the Road to Dreamland," "This Time the Dream's On Me," "I Wonder What Became of Me," "The Man That Got Away." Here in New York City, Jonathan Schwartz is devoting his four-hour Sunday show almost entirely to Harold's songs as sung by Sinatra, Judy Garland, Harold himself, Lena Horne, Barbara Cook, Groucho Marx ("Lydia" was his song), Rebecca Kilgore.
"I can't explain / It's the same champagne. . ."
-- DL
