Irving Berlin: A Life in Song [Hardcover]

Philip Furia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

To chronicle the life of "America's songster", Furia draws on original research and documents from the Berlin estate to provide a full picture of Berlin's life and achievements. 30 illustrations. Index.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The songwriting accomplishments of Irving Berlin (1888-1989) are staggering: "Most songwriters dream of having a single hit song in a lifetime. More than half?451?of Berlin's songs became hits, and 282 of these" reached the Top Ten, according to Furia, an English professor at the University of North Carolina, in this brisk, enjoyable biography. Born Israel Baline in Russia, Berlin moved to New York City with his Russian-Jewish family at age five, learning songwriting fundamentals as a singing waiter in a Chinatown bar/brothel. By age 23, he was a rich wunderkind with some 200 hit songs, and hundreds more to follow. How could Berlin, who had no formal music education and who played the piano in just one key, so quickly achieve the perfect marriage of music and words in classics like "White Christmas," "Easter Parade," "God Bless America" and "There's No Business Like Show Business"? Furia credits Berlin's innate genius, rigorous perfectionism and flair, perhaps greater than any other American songwriter's, for creating so many works that are both timeless and evocative of a specific era. He effectively portrays Berlin as a lonely, hardworking dynamo who composed almost until the day he died, yet who spent his last years as a bitter recluse, and convincingly identifies his broader achievements: completing the Americanization of the Broadway musical with Annie Get Your Gun (1946), revitalizing Tin Pan Alley and shepherding songwriting from Broadway to Hollywood. Scores of photos enliven a narrative studded with cameos of such luminaries as Fred Astaire, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Florenz Ziegfeld, P.G. Wodehouse and Dorothy Parker, to name a few.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Furia (English, Univ. of North Carolina) continues his series of books on the history of American popular music (e.g., The Poets of Tin Pan Alley, LJ 8/90) with this biography of Irving Berlin. Furia draws on several recent works, including Laurence Bergreen's As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin (LJ 6/1/90) and Charles Hamm's Irving Berlin: Songs from the Melting Pot (LJ 4/1/97), as well as newly available archival information. A major emphasis, which goes beyond other works on Berlin, is Furia's entertaining study of Berlin's role in movie musicals. Another Berlin biography (Irving Berlin: American Troubadour, Holt, 1998) by musicologist Edward Jablonski is being published almost simultaneously, making the field somewhat crowded. Furia's previous titles remain in demand, however, so larger music collections will want to add this to their other Berlin biographies. Smaller collections with no other biography will find this satisfying for a wide range of readers.?James E. Ross, WLN, Seattle
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Schirmer Trade Books (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028648153
• ISBN-13: 978-0028648156
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,689,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Master At His Craft, September 14, 2000

By 

C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Irving Berlin: A Life in Song (Hardcover)

While this book doen't cover as much of Berlin's personal life as does Laurence Bergreen's biography entitled As Thousands Cheer, Furia's biography does cover in great detail the background involved in a number of Berlin's songs. "What'll I Do" was written just after the loss of his mother. However, Berlin said people read too much personal stuff whenever he writes a ballad. I like the fact that the author includes the lyrics of a number of Berlin's songs. Despite being a prolific song writer, Berlin often felt insecure about his ability to continue to write songs. Following his first big hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" he always felt he had to continue to follow up with another big hit. He was able to continue to adjust to the music tastes of the country until rock and roll came in the mid-fifties. He became a very private man in his later years and felt people no longer cared about his music. Despite these thoughts, his contributions to American music remain timeless and will remain with us long after the latest fad of music passes by. To think that so many great songs came from this one man simply boggles the mind.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a spiffy tunesmith, February 1, 2000

By 

Brady Buchanan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Irving Berlin: A Life in Song (Hardcover)

The creativity of Irving Berlin was amazing. This is a story of an interesting life, but also points out that, eventually, time erases foundations just like eroding soil or dripping water. Now, I would like to find a source to hear all of his songs as his number one concern was always quality. At times he would create a song in minutes, but it could also take years. As with most artists, he was continually looking for verification that his output was good. The appendix lists ALL of his tunes as well as other interesting data. A fine read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinatin' look at songwriter's life and craft..., May 30, 2002

By 

William E. Adams (Midland, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Irving Berlin: A Life in Song (The Companion Series) (Hardcover)

An excellent short bio of the wondrously talented songwriter who had little musical education yet produced hundreds of great popular songs between 1908 and the end of the century (He died at 101.) As a non-musician, I didn't always understand the author's explanations of why a particular standard broke new lyrical or musical ground, but I found the information riveting anyway. Berlin, the immigrant, became a symbol of the American Dream and deservedly so. Anyone who cherishes American music should read this.