Wednesday, June 11, 2008




Frankie Carle -composer-

song title: Oh, What It Seemed To Be
lyric by Jules Loman & Chet Thompson

song title: Sunrise Serenade (Click Here for YouTube audio clip: Glenn Miller)
lyric by Jack Lawrence
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Joe Bushkin -composer-

song title: Oh, Look At Me Now

lyric by John DeVries
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Joe Burke -composer-

song title: Oh, How I Miss You Tonight
music by Joe Burke, Mark Fisher
lyric by Benny Davis

song title: Moon Over Miami
lyric by Edgar Leslie

song title: For You (Click Here for YouTube audio clip: Jo Stafford)
lyric by Al Dubin

song title: A Little Bit Independent
lyric by Edgar Leslie
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Leslie Bricusse -lyricist, composer-

song title: If I Ruled The World
music by Cyril Ornadel

song title: I'll Never Be Lonely Again
song title: My Kind Of Girl

song title: My Kind Of Guy

song title: Once In A Lifetime

song title: What Kind Of Fool Am I? (Click Here for YouTube video clip: Sammy Davis, Jr.

song title: When I Look In Your Eyes (Click Here for YouTube audio clip: Lainie Kazan)
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Irving Bibo -composer-

song title: Once Upon A Moonlight Night

lyric by Sidney Clare
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Bennie Benjamin -composer-

Not to be confused with Motown drummer William "Benny" Benjamin, prolific songwriter Bennie Benjamin found tremendous success during the '40s and '50s, chiefly as a lyricist. The first Virgin Islands native to find success in the American music industry, he was born Claude A. Benjamin in Christainsted, St. Croix, on November 4, 1907. He was fiorced to abandon early aspirations of becoming a minister when his parents were unable to afford seminary tuition, and moved to New York in 1927 to try his hand at music. He studied guitar and banjo at Hy Smith's School of Music, and landed professional jobs with several lower-level orchestras and vaudeville groups. He also worked on his songwriting, and later went on to study at the prestigious Julliard School of Music. Eventually, he took a position as a staff songwriter at a music pub;ishing firm, and scored a smash hit right out of the box with 1941's "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire"; co-written with Sol Marcus, Eddie Seiler and Eddie Durham. It was a major hit for the Ink Spots. Working mostly in a trio with Marcus and Seiler over the next five years, Benjamin penned popular tunes like "Strictly Instrumental" (Harry James), "When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World)" (Vera Lynn, Vaughn Monroe), and "Cancel The Flowers" (Tony Martin). In 1946, Benjamin struck up a highly fertile partenrship with the legendary composer George David Weiss, which resulted in a quick succession of hits over the next two years--"Oh! What It Seemd To Be (Frank Sinatra), "Rumors Are Flying" (the Andrews Sisters), and "Confess" (a duet between Doris Day and Buddy Clark) among them. They also wrote music for the Disney cartoons Fun And Fancy Free and Melody Time over 1947-1948. Perry Como took a liking to their material and recorded quite a few of their songs during the late '40s, notably "I Want To Thank Your Folks" (1946), the chart-topping "Surrender" (1946, "Pianissimo (1947), and "I Don't See Me In Your Eyes Anymore" (1949); additionally, he and Benjamin co-founded a music publishing company in 1950. One of Benjamin and Weiss' biggest hits , "I'll Never Be Free," arrived in 1950, in successful versions by duet partners Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kay Starr, as well as Dinah Washington. That year also brought (Can AnyoneExplain (No, No, No!), which was recorded by the Ames Brothers and as a duet between Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Perhaps their best known song was 1952's "Wheel Of Fortune," a huge hit for Kay Starr that was also recorded by Dinah Washington, among many others. Further hits followed in "Cross Over The Bridge" (Patti Page, 1954) and "How Important Can It Be?" (Joni James, 1955) before Benjamin and Weiss eventuallywent their separate ways. Benjamin reunited with Sol Marcus in the early '60s and wrote a couple of songs for Elvis Presley in 1960--"I Will Be Home Again" and "Lonely Man," the latter from the film Wild In The Country. In 1964, jazz singer Nina Simone recorded six Benjamin compositions--most in tandem with Marcus--for album Broadway-Blues-Ballads. One of those songs, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," was covered by British rockers The Animals for a significant hit for Santa Esmeralds. Benjamin started his own publishing company in 1968, and was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall Of Fame in 1984. Through the charitable foundation he established with his wife, he was a major benefactor of medicine in his native Virgin Islands, helping to supply both facilities and education. He passed away in Manhattan on May 3, 1989--Steve Huey, All Music Guide

song title: Always On My Mind
music & lyric by Bennie Benjamin & Sol Marcus
song title: Are You Certain
music & lyric by Bennie Benjamin & Sol Marcus
song title: Dear, Dear What Can The Matter Be
music & lyric by Frankie Carle, George David Weiss & Bennie Benjamin
song title: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
music & lyric by Bennie Benjamin, Sol Marcus & Gloria Caldwell
song title: How Important Can It Be?
music & lyric by George David Weiss & Bennie Benjamin
song title: I Don't See Me In Your Eyes Anymore
music & lyric by George David Weiss & Bennie Benjamin
song title: I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire
music by Eddie Durham & Bennie Benjamin
lyric by Sol Marcus & Eddie Seiler
song title: I Love Your Lovin' Ways
music & lyric by Sol Marcus & Bennie Benjamin
song title: I Want To Thank Your Folks
music & lyric by George David Weiss & Bennie Benjamin
song title: I'll Never Be Free
music &lyric by Bennie Benjamin & George David Weiss
song title: Oh, What It Seemed To Be
music & lyric by George David Weiss, Frankie Carle & Bennie Benjamin
song title: Rumors Are Flying
music & lyric by George David Weiss & Bennie Benjamin
song title: There's Something Missing
music & lyric by Jimmy Rule, Bennie Benjamin, George David Weiss, Morton Downey, R. O'Brien
song title: Wheel Of Fortune
music &lyric by George David Weiss & Bennie Benjamin
song title: When The Lights Go On Again
lyric by Sol Marcus & Eddie Seiler
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Count Basie -composer-

song title: Swingin' The Blues
song title: Swingin' At The Daisy Chain (Click Here for YouTube audio clip: Count Basie)
song title: Sweety Cakes
song title: Sent For You Yesterday And Here You Come Today
lyric by Jimmy Rushing
song title: Roseland Shuffle
music by Count Basie, Tadd Dameron
song title: Feather Merchant (Click Here for YouTube audio clip: Count Basie
music by Count Basie and Jimmy Mundy
song title: Rock-A-Bye Basie (Click Here for YouTube audio clip)
song title: Good Bait
song title: Pres
song title: One O'Clock Jump
song title: Nobody Knows (Click Here for YouTube audio clip: Count Basie)
music by Count Basie and Lester Young
lyric by Jimmy Rushing
song title: Miss Thing
music by Count Basie and Skip Martin
song title: Midgits
song title: Lonesome Miss Pretty
song title: Jumpin' At The Woodside
song title: Jump For Me (Click Here for YouTube audio clip: Buddy Rich)
song title: Jive At Five
music by Count Basie, Harry "Sweets" Edison

song title: Hardav
music by Count Basie and Zoot Sims


song title: Evil Blues (Click Here for YouTube audio clip: Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing)
music by Count Basie and Harry "Sweets" Edison
lyric by Jimmy Rushing
song title: Captain Bligh
music by Count Basie and Zoot Sims

song title: Blues In The Alley
song title: Blues In The Church

song title: Blue And Sentimental
music by Count Basie, Jerry Livingston
lyric by Mack David
song title: Baby Lawrence

song title: Baby, Don't Tell On Me
music by Count Basie, Lester Young
lyric by Jimmy Rushing

song title: Blues For Nat King Cole
music by Count Basie, Zoot Sims
song title: Boogie Woogie (I May Be Wrong)
music by Count Basie
lyric by Jimmy Rushing

song title: Ain't It The Truth
music by Count Basie, Buster Harding and Jack Palmer

song title: Gone With What Wind (Click Here for YouTube audio clip)
music by Count Basie and Benny Goodman
song title: Going To Chicago Blues (Click Here for YouTube audio clip)
lyric by Jimmy Rushing
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