BA> Replying to a message of Roger Nelson to Bob Ackley:

 BA>>> Uh, no.  Irving Berlin did write it specifically for her, and AFAIK
 BA>>> she did do the first performance and recording of it but AFAIK there
 BA>>> was no formal restriction on it.

 RN>> Wow!  Did I remember wrong?  I often confuse Cole Porter with Irving
 RN>> Berlin and have no reason why.  My late brother and I had a lot of
 RN>> their records, but they're gone now.

 BA> Isadore Baline (Irving Berlin's given name, he changed it
 BA> after immigrating to this
 BA> country late in the 19th century) wrote his first hit song
 BA> (on sheet music) - Alexander's Ragtime Band - in about
 BA> 1906.  He wrote (and performed in) his first musical - Yip
 BA> Yip Yaphank - during WW I ("Oh How I Hate To Get Up In The
 BA> Morning" and "This Is The Army Mr. Jones" are both from
 BA> that musical).

 BA> In about 1916 or thereabouts he wrote a song he couldn't
 BA> *give* away - "Smile And Show Your Dimple."  So he packed
 BA> it away and in about 1928 dug it out and redid the lyrics,
 BA> giving the result to Guy Lombardo - who had a big hit with
 BA> it. You know that song today as "Easter Parade."

 BA> Unlike most songwriters, Berlin wrote the music and lyrics
 BA> for most of his songs.

 Ever seen the "Bathroom Reader" series of books? You should put
 those factiods together into a book of some similar sort.

BOB KLAHN bob.klahn{at}sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... If we were supposed to be vegetarian why are animals made of meat ?
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