Coming from Oxford University Press on July 26, 2024, Harold Arlen and His Songs by Walter Frisch is the first comprehensive book about the music of one of the great song composers of the twentieth century. Arlen was Yip Harburg’s most frequent composer-collaborator (they wrote over 150 songs together from 1932 to … Continue Reading ››
Category Archives: News
“OZ” TURNS 85
Radio host Bill Rudman’s 2014 interview with Ernie Harburg, “Oz Turns 75,” retitled “Oz Turns 85,” is being rebroadcast on PRX as of July 15, 2024. Bill Rudman’s Footlight Parade: Sounds of the American Musical is a weekly radio program showcasing the best of Broadway and Hollywood – songs from the turn … Continue Reading ››
EARL ROBINSON SINGING “FREE AND EQUAL BLUES” IN 1980’S
On July 6, 2024 The Daily Kos featured an article about the Yip Harburg-Earl Robinson civil rights-themed song, “Free and Equal Blues,” written during World War Two as a protest against the racial segregation of blood supplies by the United States Armed Forces. The song is heard via a YouTube link as performed by Robinson in … Continue Reading ››
BETTE MIDLER’S “IF I ONLY HAD A HEART” PARODY
On July 2, 2024 singer and actress Bette Midler posted a parody of the lyric of the Yip Harburg-Harold Arlen classic "If I Only Had a Heart" from The Wizard of Oz to express her opinion of various Supreme Court judges.
“In Times Like These”
The World War Two-era Yip Harburg-Sammy Fain song “In Times Like These” from the MGM feature film Meet the People (1944) is highlighted on the June 7, 2024 edition of Will Friedwald’s “Slouching Towards Birdland” blog, available on Substack to subscribers.
“Black Music Sunday” Celebrates “Finian’s Rainbow”
Denise Oliver Velez's article “Black Music Sunday: A St. Patrick’s Day Celebration of ‘Finian’s Rainbow’” (March 17, 2024) can be found at the Daily Kos web site.
BEABADOOBEE SINGS “PAPER MOON”
Beabadoobee’s outstanding and original performance of the Yip Harburg-Harold Arlen classic “It’s Only a Paper Moon” is featured on the Jack Antonoff-produced soundtrack of the Apple TV series The New Look which debuted Feb. 14, 2024.
SIXTY YEARS AGO THIS MONTH
Sixty years ago this month, on Sunday February 9, 1964 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time, YIP HARBURG’s most frequent composer-collaborator, HAROLD ARLEN, was honored with a one-hour CBS TV special entitled “The Songs of Harold Arlen.” Hosted by Walter Cronkite, the lineup of participants included Yip, as well as … Continue Reading ››
PODCAST ABOUT “FINIAN’S RAINBOW”
On a January 2024 episode of the Broadway Podcast Network, Jeffrey Scott Parsons talks about Finian’s Rainbow with Broadway performer Joe Aaron Reid, a cast member of the 2009 Broadway revival of the show.
YIP and THE WIZARD OF OZ
Will Friedwald’s January 17, 2024 Substack entry, “The Wizard of Oz: If I Only Had a Verse,” explores Yip’s contribution to the classic film which was re-released to theaters in January 2024.