Irving Berlin Books

Have you ever wondered why "White Christmas", one of the best selling songs of all time was written by a Jewish man? "Easter Parade" was also written by the same man. He came to be known as the king of ragtime because of his first published song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band". Musically the songs could not have been different which makes Irving Berlin's career so impressive.
This book not only talks about Berlin's seemingly unending catalogue but also talks about the man. His contemporaries included George M. Cohan, Florence Zeigfield and George Gershwin. Berlin was not only the most prolific of all time but was a true gentleman. Even though he was never accepted by his father-in-law, he ended up supporting him in his final days.
At the end of this book I was more in love with his music and completely impressed with the man. This is a important look at a true American treasure.

I enjoyed Bergreen's book about Irving Berlin as I did his book on Al Capone. To think that all these great songs came from one man simply boggles the mind.

This book is so much fun, filed with intelligent analysis of what made the genius Berlin tick, why he was a genius, how he fit and didn't fit into his time and culture, etc. Berlin emerges both larger and clearer than his public image, a charming, busy, character. I am off, immediately, to get Bergreen's life of Capone. I understand he also wrote a biography of James Agee, but I don't see it on Amazon's data base. Does anyone know if that is still available anywhere

LAURENCE BERGREEN has done a terrific job in all departments. When you finish the book, you have a good idea of who IRVING BERLIN was, and what a life he had from singing waiter to AMERICAN's first great composer with JEROME KERN. Anyone interested in the story of AMERICAN music should read that book.

This is a terrific show-biz bio that focuses on Berlin's career and tells enough about his personal life to satisfy those of us who remember how complex he was. There are many details of his projects on Broadway and in Hollywood, his publishing company, his early career as a singing waiter, and his tormented retirement. Anyone who likes the kind of anecdotes Moss Hart recounts in "Act One," anyone who is interested in the process of putting on shows and developing movies, will be fascinated by this. The book overflows with the larger-than-life personalities you expect from show business, and there are choice revelations (to me, at least), like his first encounter with George Gershwin, who as a very young man wanted to be Berlin's musical secretary but was rejected for being too talented (i.e., threatening).

The psychology (or psychosis?) of Berlin's genius is presented in a straightforward, non-babbling way. His complexity comes through in his ambivalence towards colleagues, with examples of generosity (an anecdote about the young Burton Lane), avuncularity (Harold Arlen), and rivalry (Richard Rodgers), all contrasted with the almost comical hostility he showed towards some "civilians," especially the scholarly types ("f***ing longhairs") who wanted to dissect him late in his career. His most famous paradox -- the fact that without being able to read music or play an instrument well or even sing decently, he was able to create works of matchless intricacy and depth -- is discussed thoroughly, although it will forever remain mysterious.

There are two dimensions I would like to have seen more fully explored. First, his relations with his original family are almost non-existent after his childhood. While this must be a reflection of reality, I was left curious about what went on between him and his sisters, nephews, and nieces. It's obvious that a major part of his assimilation was to reject all vestiges of his childhood, but it would have been nice to have more detail about encounters with those inconvenient relations. One of the few stories Bergreen includes -- about a sister dying of cancer -- is so painful that maybe he couldn't bring himself to pile on more.

Another aspect that could have been more developed was Berlin's technique. Although no one will ever be able to explain exactly why he's the greatest American songwriter, I would have liked more analysis about how he was able to achieve his unique combination of simplicity and sophistication. There is a total absence of musical examples, which might have two reasons: that publishers of musical bios tell their authors to leave notation out the same way authors of popular science books are prohibited from using equations, or that Berlin's estate forbids the quoting of even the smallest snippets of his songs. Or maybe the author isn't as much of a "longhair" as he seems to be from the precision and insight of his observations.

But even though I would have enjoyed reading more of the above, the book is totally splendid as is. The best compliment I can think of is that it does justice to one of the great artists of the 20th century.

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.

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.

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.

This lively biography of American composer/musician Irving Berlin holds almost 130 pages of biographical background, covering his early immigration to the US in 1893, his teen years in New York, and his determination to make a better life through music. His many achievements make for a lively, encouraging read packed with plenty of information appropriate for school reports for middle school and advanced elementary readers.

Say It With Music: The Story of Irving Berlin

This book is a well told, well researched and documented story of an extroadinary life.

Nancy has painted a fascinating portrait of this extremely talented man, Irving Berlin.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could not put it down!

Evonne and Fred Vey

Say it with Music: The Story of Irving Berlin

This book is a well told, well researched and documented story of an extraordinary life. Nancy Furstinger has painted a fascinating portrait of this extremely talented man, Irving Berlin. I would highly recommend this book, my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Evonne and Fred Vey

I bought this book after seeing the show, and decided to use some songs in auditions. This book is very good because they give you most of the songs from the musical. Most of the songs are in there but not all of the reprises are there. The confusing part of the book is the fact that they don't give the names of the characters singing the songs. Clear and easy to read music adds to the benefits of this book! Great for those just learning to read music. Would be challenging for a beginning pianist.

All the great songs needed to audition for the show!

Author Edward Jablonski has written a very thorough book covering the life of Irving Berlin. This is the third biography I have read on Irving Berlin and in many ways it is much the same as the other two. One thing I did notice in this book is the detailed plot explanations of Berlin's plays that he wrote over the years. I did not necessarily care for all this detail, but it does provide the reader with information he may or may not care about. As an introductory book on Irving Berlin I would recommend "Irving Berlin--A Life in Song" by Philip Furia. Author Jablonski's book "American Troubadour" or Laurence Bergreen's book entitled "As Thousands Cheer" would be best read for someone who already has some introductory knowledge of Irving Berlin.

One of the things I particularly liked about Jablonski's biography of Berlin is that it didn't just talk about his successes, but also discussed his failures, and his lifelong insecurities. It would seem that Berlin could never rest on his laurels, but had a strong need to heap on success after success. America's musical heritage is much the greater for this trait.

This same trait, however, was the cause of depression for Berlin whenever one of his musicals was panned by the critics, and several of them were. I should add, however, that he had a great many more successes than failures.

Musically, his career spanned a period lasting from 1907 when he wrote the lyrics to "Marie, from Sunny Italy," until 1966 when he wrote "An Old Fashioned Wedding."

The song that really brought him fame was "Alexander's Ragtime Band," first sung in 1911 by a then famous vaudeville star, Emma Carus. This was the beginning of a long history of popular hit songs and musicals.

Some of his songs that have become a permanent part of the American musical repertoire are: "White Christmas," "Easter Parade," and, of course, Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America." Interestingly, "God Bless America" had been a sort of throw-away song when it was written, not being sung at the time. Many years after it was written, when Kate Smith needed a patriotic song in the World War II years, Berlin pulled it out of "the bottom of the trunk," so to speak. There are many more Berlin songs with which we are all familiar, but the three just mentioned are adequate examples.

Berlin's life went from that of a preteen runaway who survived by selling newspapers on a street corner, to that of a bar room entertainer, to a music hustler, to a song writer, to a musical show writer and theater owner, to, in his last years (from his 80's to his death at the age of 101), a virtual recluse.

Jablonski discusses all of these phases in great detail, and we come away feeling that we really know Berlin.

There was one thing in this biography that I felt could only be of interest to another song-writer. This was when Jablonski would give long examples of the make-up of various chords in a given song. Other than this detail, which one could skip if he or she wished, I felt that this was a superior biography.

The Songwriter Goes To War: The Story of Irving Berlin's World War II All-Army Production of This Is The Army is the long-lost true story of frontline show business - from the hustle and bustle of its large-scale production including the transportation of of a full-scale Broadway musical revue to Great Britain during the blitz, to its premier at theaters, subsequent reception, and role in keeping up morale. Carefully researched by Broadway stage manager, television director, and five-year army serviceman Alan Anderson, The Songwriter Goes To War is enhanced with a handful of vintage black-and-white photographs, a roster of "This Is The Army" members and an index for easy quick referencing. A welcome contribution to both World War II era popular culture and American theatrical history, The Songwriter Goes To War is an enduring true story of a dyed-in-the-wool entertainer expertly applying his gifts to serve his country in its hour of need.

THE SONGWRITER GOES TO WAR by Alan Anderson is a fascinating memoir about the Broadway Show THIS IS THE ARMY. The show had an all soldier cast and music by Irving Berlin. After playing its Broadway run and touring various cities in the United States the company went on to tour throughout Europe and the rest of the world wherever the regiments were. Anderson, the son of playwright Maxwell Anderson, was the stage manager for the tour.

His book is very readable with great humor and pathos. One very interesting aspect is that this was the only integrated unit in the Army at that time and also had many "out-of-the-closet" gay men and they seemed to get along quite well. The relationship Berlin had with the members of the unit is also very touching.

My one complaint is that I would like more information. I would love to hear about the experience from others with different points of view as well.

This book is great for anyone interested in Musical Theatre history or World War II. I highly reccommend it.

Sometimes you can find this book with great used prices. I just picked up another copy since they are getting harder to find. It is a must read for anyone in the Marriage, Family and Child Therapy Field, for Social Workers, Psychiatric Technicians, Psychologists, Doctors, Psychiatrists and Nurses alike.
The Author: Dr Alfred P. French is a Genius--He is a TRIPLE Board Certified Psychiatrist--- This Book gets 5 STARS here. Visit his web site at [...]

The illustrations in this cute Easter book depict a father rabbit ready to escort his daughter down the avenue (5th Avenue) in her new Easter Bonnet. Besides the darling pictures set to Irving Berlin's lovely lyrics, this book adds guitar and piano music at the end. This was especially helpful to me as I had forgotten some parts of the tune. What a great way to introduce children to a great song by a great composer. Would be a fantastic addition to an Easter basket. I would highly recommend this book.

There are too many wonderful songs, each a treasure, to mention them all. It is enough to say that the best from Berlin's movie musicals are included here. Among the many are "Sisters" and the title song from White Christmas, "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails," "Cheek to Cheek," and "Steppin'Out." My friends and I have enjoyed this book so much I am ordering others in the Berlin series. A great collection of songs by one of America's greatest composers.

Irving Berlin was a national treasure and this book celebrates him in style. In the days when music was still civilized Berlin was king. He caught the mood of this country like no other composer. It's fun to browse through this gem over and over.