On June 29, 2026 art the funeral service for legendary music producer Clive Davis at Manhattan Central Synagogue in New York City, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl told the audience that she learned from Davis's children that the song their father most admired that he had no hand in producing or promoting was the Yip … Continue Reading ››
Tag Archives: The Wizard of Oz
“Oz” manuscripts added to Library of Congress
On August 25, 2025 the Library of Congress announced the acquisition of “rare music and lyric sketches from composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg, who collaborated on the song score to the iconic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.” They are now part of the Library’s Harold Arlen Collection. The … Continue Reading ››
Billy Ray Cyrus & Friends perform “Over the Rainbow”
Billy Ray Cyrus, along with guitarist-singer Micki Free and producer-singer-composer Buck 22 released a new recording of the Yip Harburg-Harold Arlen classic "Over the Rainbow" on June 27, 2025. Proceeds will go to the National Museum of African-American Music.
HAROLD ARLEN AND HIS SONGS
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 ››
“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 ››
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.
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 ››
HELLO YELLOW BRICK ROAD
On July 19, 2023 the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus will present Hello Yellow Brick Road, combining highlights from Elton John’s 1973 album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, along with favorites from The Wizard of Oz (including, of course “Over the Rainbow” by Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen), The Wiz, and Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked.
SETTING THE STANDARD
Beginning Nov. 15, 2022, Yip Harburg is the focus of one of the podcasts in the "Setting the Standard" series by Warner Chappell Music and Bang/Audiation. The podcast features stories from the Great American Songbook. Interviewees include Ernie Harburg (Yip's son), … Continue Reading ››
YIP HARBURG NIGHT AT THE 2022 CABARET CONVENTION
The 2022 Mabel Mercer Foundation Cabaret Convention will kick off this year's events with a tribute to Yip Harburg hosted by Andrea Marcovicci and Jeff Harnar. Read the press release and this New York Sun feature story by Will Friedwald.