Johnny Burke

Johnny Burke (born October 3, 1908 in Antioch , California , † February 25, 1964 in New York City ) was an American pianist and songwriter . He worked with Sammy Cahn , James V. Monaco and James Van Heusen , among others .

Live and act

Johnny Burke is considered one of the most famous songwriters of the popular song in the United States, better known as the Great American Songbook, between the 1920s and 1950s.

Burke's family moved to Chicago when he was a child. In his youth he learned to play the piano and took acting lessons. He studied at the University of Wisconsin – Madison , where he played the piano in an orchestra. After graduating, he worked in the Chicago office of the Irving Berlin Publishing Company in 1926 , as a pianist and song seller.

Irving Berlin eventually brought him to New York City , where he started writing lyrics; he worked with the composer Harold Spina . In 1932 they celebrated their first success with " Shadows on the Swanee ", followed in 1933 by " Annie Doesn't Live Here Anymore ", their first big hit for the Guy Lombardo Orchestra. In 1934 they wrote the title " You're Not the Only Oyster in the Stew ", which was a great success for Fats Waller , as well as the song " My Very Good Friend, the Milkman ". They wrote a whole series of other songs for the current bands of the swing era such as Ben Pollack , Paul Whiteman and Ozzie Nelson .

Burke and Spina's partnership ended in 1936 when the lyricist moved to Hollywood to work in the burgeoning musical film industry. There his first partner was the composer Arthur Johnston , later he worked with James Monaco . He only became famous through his cooperation with the composer Jimmy van Heusen . The Burke and Van Heusen team was responsible for many of the great hits of the late 1930s and 1940s. Burke worked exclusively for Paramount Pictures , there especially for the Bing Crosby films. From this came many successful titles that would later become popular jazz standards , e.g. B. " Pennies from Heaven ", " It Could Happen to You ", " But, Beautiful ", " Polka, Dots and Moonbeams " and " Here's That Rainy Day ". For a Bob Haggart instrumental piece he wrote the lyrics in 1939, the song was named “ What's New? “A popular standard.

In the 1950s Burke wrote the lyrics for the songs " Scatterbrain " with the music of Frankie Masters , " Keene-Bean " and the classic " What's New?" “With Bob Haggart . In 1955, Burke wrote the lyrics for jazz pianist Erroll Garner's classic song , " Misty, " which was to become an evergreen . The film The Vagabond King was Johnny Burke's last work for Hollywood; he died eight years later at the age of 55.

Awards

With the title " Swinging on a Star " with the music of Jimmy van Heusen from the film Going My Way , in which Bing Crosby starred, Burke won the Oscar in the category Best Song in the year 1944.
Johnny Burke 1970 in the Songwriters Hall of Fame .

literature

• Ken Bloom: The American Songbook - The Singers, the Songwriters, and the Songs . Black Dog & Leventhal, New York City 2005, ISBN 1-57912-448-8

Web links

• Johnny Burke Biography in the Songwriters Hall of Fame Virtual Museum