42nd Street

Hear the beat of tapping feet in the Warner Brothers picture, 42nd Street.

A typically overblown scene by Busby Berkeley for Gold Diggers of 1933

Al Dubin and Harry Warren

Al Jolson

A rare photograph of Al Jolson at rest. Over his fifty-plus years he hardly stopped to catch his breath.

Al Jolson entertaining the troops

Al Jolson entertained the troops during World War II and the Korean War in many USO tours.

Alice Faye

Alice Faye in the 1974 revival of Good News

And Then You Kissed Me (sheet music)

“And Then You Kissed Me” with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jule Styne.

Andy Razaf

Andy Razaf going on the air in Los Angeles.

Arthur Freed, Judy Garland, and Fred Astaire

Arthur Freed, Judy Garland, and Fred Astaire during the filming of Easter Parade.

Artie Shaw

Artie Shaw and his clarinet.

Artie Shaw with Betty Grable

Barbra Streisand and Jule Styne

Barbra Streisand and Jule Styne take a break from recording the original cast album of the Broadway hit Funny Girl.

Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman on the set of Hollywood Hotel

Probably the greatest clarinet player of all time, Benny Goodman getting ready for his closeup for the Warner Brothers film, Hollywood Hotel.

Benny Goodman Sextet on stage

Benny Goodman and his Sextet at the Basin Street Club, 51st Street and Broadway in New York City.

Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby in repose.

Bing Crosby and Bob Hope

Bing Crosby and Marion Davies

Bing Crosby serenades Marion Davies in the 1933 film, Going Hollywood.

Bing Crosby at the drums

Der Bingle playing the drums. Or doing something with them.

Bing Crosby in golf mode

Bing Crosby and his favorite sport, golf. In fact, he died on the links when vacationing in Spain. What a way to go!

Bing Crosby jamming

Bing Crosby jams with members of the service and without his toupee.

Bing Crosby on radio

Bing Crosby dressed up in white tie and tails for the radio audience—who couldn’t actually see him, after all.

Bing Crosby on television

Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Sammy Cahn

Crosby, Hope, and Cahn were great friends in Hollywood.

Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dona Drake, and Dorothy Lamour on the Road to Morocco

Bing Crosby, Carol Lawrence, and Maurice Chevalier

Bloomer Girl

A scene from Harold Arlen's biggest Broadway hit, Bloomer Girl.

Bob “Bazooka” Burns, Cass Daley, and Frank Sinatra

Bob “Bazooka” Burns, Cass Daley, and Frank Sinatra performing with the bazooka, ocarina, and slide whistle.

Bob Crosby and Johnny Mercer

Band leader and singer (and brother of Bing) Bob Crosby with a young Johnny Mercer.

Burt Bacharach, Tony Bennett, and Lena Horne

Cab Calloway

Cab Calloway conducting his swinging orchestra.

Cab Calloway and His Orchestra

Cab Calloway and his orchestra broadcasting on CBS Radio.

Cab Calloway conducting his swinging orchestra

Carol Channing and Jule Styne

Star of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Carol Channing, with composer Jule Styne.

Cole Porter

Cole Porter Performing at the Piano

Cole Porter at the place he loved best, in front of the piano.

Cole Porter with Dinah Shore

Songwriter Cole Porter with performer Dinah Shore.

Cole Porter’s, “Kiss Me Kate”

Alfred Dreake gives Patricia Morison reason to sing “I Hate Men” in Kiss Me, Kate.

Collector and Musician Vince Giordano (photo: Steve Friedman)

Collector J. Fred MacDonald (photo: Ulises “Billy” Serrano)

Collector Max Wilk and Michael Feinstein

Collector Max Wilk and Michael Feinstein, Westport, CT.

Collectors Roy Bishop and Harold Jacobs with Michael Feinstein

Collectors Roy Bishop and Harold Jacobs with Michael Feinstein, Valley Village, CA.

Composer Henry Mancini and Lyricist Johnny Mercer

Composer Henry Mancini and lyricist Johnny Mercer, who wrote the academy award winning song “Moon River” for the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s at work together in the early 1960s. (photo appears courtesy of the Henry Mancini Estate)

David Hyde Pierce and Michael Feinstein

David Hyde Pierce and Michael Feinstein perform at Feinstein’s at the Regency in New York.

David Wayne, Vivian Blaine, and Jule Styne go through the score of Say, Darling

Dean Martin and Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney guests on the Dean Martin television show.

Dinah Shore

Dorothy Fields

Dorothy Fields around the time she and Cy Coleman wrote Sweet Charity.

Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh

Dorothy Fields in the 1920s

Dorothy Fields in the late 1920s.

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington and his band

Duke Ellington and singer Joya Sherrill

Duke Ellington at the piano

Duke Ellington caricature

Duke Ellington conducting

Duke Ellington conducting his band

Duke Ellington in concert

Duke Ellington interviewed on radio

Duke Ellington, George Shearing, and Ella Fitzgerald

E.Y. Harburg

E.Y. Harburg

E.Y. Harburg, Jack Haley, and Martha Raye

Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Jimmy Van Heusen, Doris Day, and Nat King Cole

Ethel Merman in Annie Get Your Gun

The original cast album of Ethel Merman in the Music Theatre of Lincoln Center production of Annie Get Your Gun.

Ethel Merman performs in Matt Dubey and Harold Karr’s Happy Hunting

Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters in March of 1933 on NBC radio.

Ethel Waters and Tommy Dorsey around 1935

Ethel Waters finds religion

The last three decades of her life, Ethel Waters found religion.

Ethel Waters starred in DuBose Heyward’s play Mamba’s Daughters

Ethel Waters starred in DuBose Heyward’s play Mamba's Daughters. In it she sang the Jerome Kern song, “Lonesome Walls.”

Fats Waller

Songwriter, performer, and pianist, Fats Waller.

Fats Waller

The oversized personality and the enthusiastic melodies made Fats Waller one of the top performers.

Fats Waller and Andy Razaf and their orchestra

Fats Waller prepares to play the piano while Razaf mans the baton.

Fats Waller at the piano

Fats Waller and his handful of keys.

Frank Loesser

Frank Loesser could be a rough and tumble guy but a nice guy, too.

Frank Loesser and the troops look over the song “Rodger Young.”

Frank Loesser with Fran Warren

Frank Loesser with Marlene Dietrich and Fran Warren

Marlene Dietrich greets Frank Loesser and singer Fran Warren.

Frank Loesser with wife Lynn during rehearsals of The Most Happy Fella

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner were married from 1951–1957. Sinatra left his wife, Nancy, for Ava Gardner. The marriage was controversial and his career suffered. Gardner was able to help Sinatra be cast in “From Here to Eternity” (1953). The role reenergized Sinatra’s acting and singing careers.

Frank Sinatra and Frank Brown at the piano

Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Durante in the 1947 film hit, It Happened in Brooklyn

Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole

Frank Sinatra in the 1950s

The hip and cool Sinatra of the 1950s recording for Capitol Records.

Frank Sinatra performs at New York’s Paramount Theater on Times Square

Sinatra’s big move came when he left Tommy Dorsey in 1942 (owing Dorsey thousands on his contract), and, from that point on, his career soared. He launched his solo career in a spectacular way, with a week of appearances with Benny Goodman’s orchestra at New York’s Paramount Theater on Times Square. We know now that some of the fans may have been paid to scream—but thousands of girls swooned for free during the weeklong engagement that anointed Sinatra the greatest popular singer of the day. His sense of humor, sex appeal, slight whiff of danger, and those mesmerizing blue eyes—not to mention the carefully chosen songs that resonated with his audience—made him an instant favorite of the bobby-soxers.

Frank Sinatra performs on Your Hit Parade

Frank Sinatra smoking

Sinatra had the good sense and taste to pick songs that suited him and that were perfect for the moment, and this carried him along brilliantly through the ’40s.

Frank Sinatra with daughter Nancy Sinatra

Frank Sinatra with his daughter Nancy and her famous boots

Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire recorded for several labels including RCA Victor, Columbia, MGM, and Verve.

George Gershwin

George Gershwin

George Gershwin and Irving Berlin

George Gershwin and Irving Berlin were good friends and contermporaries. Both George and Ira as well as Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg, Irving Caesar, Dorothy Fields, and Burton Lane were all close friends.

George Gershwin in Mexico

There are only two color photos of George Gershwin and this is one of them. Here he is with friends in Mexico.

George Gershwin on radio

George Gershwin appeared many times on radio, including his own show, Music by Gershwin. Here he is ready to broadcast on CBS.

George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin and Fred Astaire

George Gershwin’s rare performances on record

George Gershwin loved to play the piano and made many recordings and piano rolls. Here’s a compilatoin LP made many years after his death.

Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra

Glenn Miller with the Army Air Force Band

Harold Arlen

Harold Arlen and Ella Fitzgerald

Harold Arlen and Tony Bennett

Harold Arlen on record

Harold Arlen sings on the 1955 Walden Records release, The Music of Harold Arlen. The recording was produced by Arlen’s longtime biographer and friend, Edward Jablonaski. The excellent arranger and conductor Peter Matz oversaw the proceedings. It’s now available on Harbinger Records

Harold Arlen, Peggy Lee, Vic Damone—three great singers

Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler and Ruth Etting

Ruth Etting was one of the leading torch singers of her time.

Harold Jacobs in His Sheet Music Closet (photo: Roy Bishop)

Harold Jacobs with Songwriter Doris Fisher at a Sheet Music Luncheon

Harold Jacobs, Roy Bishop, and Beverly Hamer. (photo: Sandy Marrone)

Harold Jacobs and Roy Bishop in their living room with music dealer Beverly Hamer. (photo: Sandy Marrone)

Harry Revel and Mack Gordon

Harry Warren

Harry Warren, just beginning his career as the greatest songwriter in Hollywood history.

Harry Woods

Hoagy Carmichael

Hoagy Carmichael

Irving Berlin in his office

Irving Berlin posing with cast members from Yip Yip Yaphank

Yip Yip Yaphank is a musical revue composed and produced by Irving Berlin in 1918 while he was a recruit during WW I in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York.

Irving Berlin with his wife, Ellin Mackay Berlin

Jack Benny on violin accompanies Benny Goodman

James Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn

Jerry Herman

Jerry Herman teaches Michael Feinstein one of his songs.

Broadway composer/lyricist Jerry Herman teaches Michael Feinstein one of his unpublished, unrecorded “trunk” songs.

Jimmy McHugh

Jimmy McHugh at the piano. Note the photographs pinned to the curtains behind him.

Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields

Jimmy McHugh and Frank Sinatra

Jimmy McHugh with Dinah Shore and Dean Martin

Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke

Joe Franklin with Michael Feinstein

Michael Feinstein visits legendary television talk show host and collector Joe Franklin in Joe’s Times Square office, which is just one of many locations around New York City where Joe stores his memorabilia.

Johnny Mercer

Johnny Mercer

Judy Garland

Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in Babes on Broadway

Judy Garland in A Star Is Born

Judy Garland in the “Born in a Trunk” sequence in her triumphant success, A Star Is Born.

Judy Garland in concert

Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz

The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, Dorothy Gale, and The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz.

Judy Garland photographed for the rotogravure section of the Sunday papers

Judy Garland sings “The Man That Got Away”

Judy Garland sings “The Man That Got Away” in A Star Is Born.

Jule Styne

The great composer and sometime producer, Jule Styne.

Jule Styne and Judy Garland

Judy Garland and Jule Styne. Unfortunately, he never got a chance to write a song for her.

Jule Styne, Barbra Streisand, and Sidney Chaplin

Jule Styne plays the songs from the new musical Funny Girl for stars Barbra Streisand and Sidney Chaplin

Julie Andrews and Jon Cryer in Cinderella

Kate Smith

Kate Smith on television

Lee Gordon Presents Frank Sinatra in “The Big Show”

Lee Gordon Presents Frank Sinatra in “The Big Show” with Extra Added Attraction—Stan Freberg (a concert program).

Lena Horne

Lena Horne in one of her many television appearances.

Lena Horne appearing on the Dean Martin Show

Lena Horne during the 1950s

Lena Horne on stage.

Lena Horne during the 1980s around the time of her one-woman show, The Lady and Her Music.

Lena Horne on television.

Lena Horne strikes a sultry pose during a television special.

Lena Horne stars in Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg’s Jamaica

Lena Horne’s beauty shot

Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger take a stroll

Leo Robin with Ralph Rainger at the piano

Lilo and Peter Cookson in “Can-Can”

Lilo and Peter Cookson in front of Jo Mielziner’s magnificent backdrop for “Can-Can.” The drop was so stupendous, Cole Porter was inspired to write “I Love Paris” after seeing it.

Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland.

Living proof of the maxim, “Like mother, like daughter.” Liza and her mama.

Louis Armstrong and Maxine Sullivan

Louis Armstrong and Maxine Sullivan appeared in the film Going Place, in the Broadway show, Swingin' the Dream, and in the last show of The Cotton Club.

Lyricist Ira Gershwin and Michael Feinstein

Michael Feinstein was hired by the Gershwin family to catalog the Gershwin Collection of Recordings in 1976.

Mack Gordon and Harry Revel

Everywhere is a good place to write music. Here's Mack Gordon (on piano) and Harry Revel (at piano) writing another hit tune.

Mack Gordon and Harry Revel and girls

Mack Gordon and Harry Revel (at top) surrounded by a bevy of beauties on the Fox lot.

Margaret Whiting and Michael Feinstein

Michael Feinstein visits with legendary singer Margaret Whiting in her Manhattan apartment, where he presented her with a recently recovered recording of one of the programs she made for World War II servicemen.

Marvin Hamlisch Plays Piano with Michael Fenstein

Marvin Hamlisch plays piano with Michael Fenstein at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Champagne-Urbana, IL.

Mary Martin and Lauri Peters in The Sound of Music.

Mary Martin learns that Lauri Peters is sixteen going on seventeen.

Maxine Sullivan

Maxine Sullivan in the 1940s.

Michael Feinstein and Cheyenne Jackson Perform

Michael Feinstein and Cheyenne Jackson perform (Feinstein’s at the Regency, NY, NY).

Michael Feinstein and Hugh Hefner

Michael Feinstein and Hugh Hefner check out Hef’s vintage Wurlitzer jukebox in the Playboy Mansion’s fabled “Game House.”

Michael Feinstein and Ira Gershwin

Michael Feinstein was employed by the Gershwin family to catalog the Gershwin Collection of Recordings in 1976.

Michael Feinstein and Jim Caruso

Michael Feinstein and Jim Caruso at Cast Party, as Michael Feinstein prepares to perform Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business” with previously undiscovered lyrics from Berlin.

Michael Feinstein and Karen Kennedy

Michael Feinstein meets with Karen Kennedy, singer Bob Kennedy’s (1922-2008) daughter, in Englewood Cliffs, NJ to view her collection.

Michael Feinstein and Peter Mintun (courtesy of Peter Mintun)

Michael Feinstein and Rosemary Clooney

Michael Feinstein and Rosemary Clooney performed about 200 concerts together.

Michael Feinstein and the U.S. Marine Corps Band Perform

Michael Feinstein and the U.S. Marine Corps Band perform “We Dreamed These Days,” an original song with music by Feinstein and words by Maya Angelou, composed in 2009 in honor of the Lincoln Bicentennial celebration at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

Michael Feinstein at Work

Michael Feinstein in his recording studio.

Michael Feinstein Explores Earl Brown’s Collection

Michael Feinstein prepares to examine the belongings of composer and arranger Earl Brown, who left Feinstein all of his music when he died.

Michael Feinstein Rehearses “Come Fly with Me”

Michael Feinstein rehearses at Palm Beach Community College, West Palm Beach, FL.

Michael Feinstein visits with entertainer Rose Marie

Michael Feinstein visits with entertainer Rose Marie, who literally opened in Las Vegas in 1947, at the first big casino/nightclub, The Flamingo.

Michael Feinstein with Collector Marty Halperin

Michael Feinstein with collector Marty Halperin (Woodland Hills, CA) listening to rare recordings of Margaret Whiting performing for an Armed Forces of the United Nations Recording.

Michael Feinstein with Composer Burton Lane

Michael Feinstein with Composer Harry Warren

Michael Feinstein with Composer Hugh Martin

Michael plays one of Liberace’s rhinestone encrusted pianos

Michael plays one of Liberace’s rhinestone encrusted pianos in the now-closed Liberace Museum in Las Vegas. Liberace used to travel with his own glazier who was responsible for re-gluing all the rhinestones on his pianos and cars that were damaged in transport.

Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in “Words and Music”

 Mickey and Judy in the Rodgers and Hart biopic for MGM.

Milton Ager

Miss Liberty (music and lyrics by Irving Berlin)

A salute to the most expensive statue in the world in Miss Liberty.

Mitch Miller, head of A&R for Columbia Records, with Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn

Mood Indigo Sheet Music

Mood Indigo’s sheet music. The song was originally an instrumental by Ellington and bandmate Barney Bigard.

Musician and Collector Vince Giordano and Michael Feinstein

Michael Feinstein plays a duet with bandleader and collector Vince Giordano in Vince’s Brooklyn home, which houses Giordano’s collection of 33,000 dance band arrangements and a complete array of vintage musical instruments. Here, Michael plays a 1922 Steinway baby grand player piano, while Vince plays a string bass made of aluminum—the high-tech material of the 1920s.

My Kid’s a Crooner (sheet music courtesy: Peter Mintun)

Sheet music from Peter Mintun’s collection of more than 13,000 individual pieces. (courtesy: Peter Mintun)

Nanette Fabray and Robert Ryan in the White Elephant Musical, Mr. President

Nanette Fabray and Robert Ryan in the white elephant musical, Mr. President.

Nat King Cole

Nat King Cole, jazz pianist and singer extraordinaire.

Nat King Cole and Mel Tormé

Mel Tormé and Nat King Cole rehearsing for a television special.

Nat King Cole Playing Piano

Veteran songwriters Jay Livingston and Ray Evans wrote a song titled “Prima Donna” and sent the music to Cole. He rejected the song, as had Frank Sinatra before him. The songwriters asked if they could come to his house and perform the song for him. He agreed out of respect for the writers’ reputation. They arrived to sing the song, now titled “Mona Lisa,” with a few changes in the music and lyrics. Cole asked, “What kind of a song is that?” However, when he heard the song played and sung, he changed his mind. Cole’s wife, Maria, asked, “Why are you doing an Italian song?” She couldn’t change her husband’s mind though she was convinced the song was all wrong for him. The song won the Academy Award and became the biggest selling song of Cole’s career.

Nat King Cole, “Ballads of the Day”

Nat King Cole’s recording, Ballads of the Day, had an original release date of 1956. The recording includes: “A Blossom Fell”; “Unbelievable”; “Blue Gardenia”; “Angel Eyes”; “It Happens To Be Me”; “Smile”; “Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup”; “Alone Too Long”; “My One Sin”; “Return to Paradise”; “If Love Is Good to Me”; “The Sand and the Sea." Orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle; by Billy May on “Angel Eyes."

New Yorker (magazine courtesy: Peter Mintun)

A vintage magazine cover from Peter Mintun’s collection of 2500 periodicals from the early 1900s. (courtesy: Peter Mintun)

Night Life (magazine courtesy: Peter Mintun)

A vintage magazine cover from Peter Mintun’s collection of 2500 periodicals from the early 1900s. (courtesy: Peter Mintun)

Oscar Hammerstein

Oscar Hammerstein

Oscar Hammerstein, William Perlberg & Richard Rodgers

In 1946 Oscar Hammerstein, Richard Rodgers, and Fox producer William Perlberg look over the script for State Fair.

Paul Francis Webster

Paul Francis Webster, one of Tin Pan Alley’s top lyricists.

Paul Whiteman and George Gershwin music

Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra play the music of George Gershwin. Whiteman commissioned Gershwin to write a classical piece for the famous Aeolian Hall concert.

Paul Whiteman, “The King of Jazz”

Popular song purists tend to dismiss Paul Whiteman because he was dubbed “The King of Jazz.” Whether his was actually a jazz band is beside the point. Whiteman brought popular music into the jazz age as a transitional figure who understood how popular music needed to change.

Performer Margaret Whiting

When she started singing under her own name in 1946 her career really took off. Between that year and 1954 she recorded more than 40 hit songs for Capitol.

Performer Nat King Cole and Songwriter Harry Warren

Nat King Cole was one of many performers who sang Harry Warren compositions.

Performer, Musician, and Collector Michael Feinstein

Michael Feinstein exploring a collection.

Peter Mintun and Michael Feinstein

Musician, historian, and collector Peter Mintun and Michael Feinstein play piano on Peter’s Welte-Mignon grand.

Portrait of Songwriter, Mitchell Parish

Songwriter, Mitchell Parish first rejected the song “Stardust” but then relented and wrote the lyrics for the Hoagie Carmichael song in 1929.

Nothing presently is shown in this category.

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart were the premier collaborators in the early years of the American musical theatre. In fact, they were the first team in which the lyricist received equal billing with the composer. Rodgers and Hart were the perfect songwriting team.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were Broadway’s most successful writing team.

Richard Whiting

One of America’s great songwriters and father of songstress, Margaret Whiting.

Richard Whiting, Janet Gaynor, and Henry Carat

Richard Whiting teaches “You’re My First Love” to Janet Gaynor and Henry Carat, stars of the Fox film, Adorable.

Rodgers and Hart

Rodgers wrote of their first meeting in Theatre Arts: “Neither of us mentioned it, but we evidently knew we’d work together, and I left Hart’s house having acquired in one afternoon a career, a partner, a best friend and a source of permanent irritation.”

Rodgers and Hart, “Makers of Melody”

A 1929 Vitaphone short, “Makers of Melody.”

Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney at the height of her fame in the 1950s.

Rosemary Clooney and Jose Ferrer

Jose Ferrer plays piano for his then-wife, Rosemary Clooney.

Rosemary Clooney at the start of her career

Rosemary Clooney’s career began in the late ’40s and lasted until her death in 2002.

Rosemary Clooney in the 1980s

Rosemary Clooney during her triumphant comeback.

Rosemary Clooney on television

Rosemary Clooney on television in the 1960s.

Roy Bishop and a Portion of His Alice Faye Collection

Roy Bishop and Alice Faye at the Los Feliz Theater, Hollywood

Shaking the Blues Away (words and music by Irving Berlin, 1927)

“Shaking the Blues Away”, words and music by Irving Berlin (1927), introduced by Ruth Etting in the stage revue Ziegfeld Follies of 1927. The song was #4 in the charts in 1927 and revived by Ann Miller in Easter Parade (1948). The illustration was probably of Ruth Etting even though she is not mentioned. Eddie Cantor was the established star, so he is mentioned, even though it wasn’t his song.

Sheet music for “Bidin’ My Time”

Here's the sheet music for “Bidin’ My Time” when it was featured in the film, Rhapsody in Blue.

Sheet music for “Come Rain or Come Shine” from St. Louis Woman

Sheet music for “A Touch of Texas”

Jimmy McHugh supplied the music for Frank Loesser’s lyric.

Sheet music for “Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive”

A hit song by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for Here Comes the Waves.

Sheet music for “Baby, It's Cold Outside”

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” was a favorite party song of Frank Loesser and his wife, Lynn. Here they are on the cover of the sheet music. The song later became a big hit.

Sheet music for “Blues in the Night”

One of Mercer’s biggest hits, “Blues in the Night” was written with Harold Arlen.

Sheet music for “Everlasting”

Jule Styne’s first collaboration with Betty Comden and Adolph Green came with the musical revue, Two on the Aisle.

Sheet music for “Getting to Know You”

“Getting to Know You” was one of the gigantic hits from the stage musical, The King and I.

Sheet music for “I’ll String Along with You”

Another Harry Warren hit, written for My Dream Is Yours.

Sheet music for “In the Wee Small Hours”

“In the Wee Small Hours” sheet music. Propitiously, the 33 1/3 rpm record was just coming into vogue, replacing the 78 rpm disc. On 78s, the choice of songs and their order hadn’t been so important, as individual songs could be easily purchased and played. As the 10-inch 78 was replaced by the LP, Frank Sinatra and his producers were able to imbue these long playing records with concepts, carefully choosing the songs and their order. Once Sinatra was back on top, riding the popularity of such carefully crafted and enduring discs as “In the Wee Small Hours” and “Songs for Swinging Lovers,” Sinatra stayed there.

Sheet music for “Night and Day”

Fred Astaire on “Night and Day”.

It had a long range, very low and kind of very high, and it was long, as they all said, and I was trying to figure out what kind of dance could be arranged for it. I asked him to play it again and again, and after four or five times I began to get with it…It was a known fact that it made the show. “Gay Divorce” had an awfully rough trip when it first opened on the road and later in New York. It was known after it caught on as “The Night and Day Show”.

Sheet music for “Serenade in Blue”

Glenn Miller blowing his horn in the 20th Century Fox film Orchestra Wives.

Sheet music for “The Man That Got Away”

Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin’s brilliant song, “The Man That Got Away”, from A Star Is Born.

Sheet music for “Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night?”

One of Al Jolson’s first stage successes.

Sheet music for Bloomer Girl

Sheet music for Arlen and Harburg’s Bloomer Girl. Evelina was one of the fine ballads in the score.

Sheet music for one of Harry Woods's biggest hits, “Side By Side.”

Sheet music for the 1936 MGM film, Born to Dance

Sophie Tucker

Sophie Tucker in one of her beautiful gowns. (Just kidding).

Sophie Tucker fashion plate.

The Last of the Red Hot Mamas, Sophie Tucker.

Sophie Tucker in the 1920s.

Sophie Tucker looking thoughtful in the 1920s.

Spike Jones

Spike Jones

St. Louis Woman

Another failure for Arlen, this time with lyricist Johnny Mercer. Ruby Elzy and Harold Nicholas in St. Louis Woman. The score contains “Come Rain or Come Shine” and “Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home.” The book was the biggest problem.

Susan Johnson in No, No, Nanette.

Susan Watson and the lifeguards in the Broadway revival of No, No, Nanette.

Swanee Sheet Music.

And early piece of sheet music for Swanee by George Gershwin and Irving Caesar. It premiered at the Captiol Theatre in New York as part of the presentation show, Demi-Tasse.

Sweet and demure Judy Garland.

Judy’s not a little girl anymore in this portrait.

The Benny Goodman Quartet.

The famed Benny Goodman Quartet with Teddy Wilson on piano.

The Boys from Syracuse by Rodgers and Hart

 Mary Westcott and Larry’s brother, Teddy in The Boys from Syracuse.

The charming Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney was a favorite of fans and friends.

The dapper Mr. Ellington

Here’s Duke Ellington puttin‘ on the Ritz.

The five faces of Bing Crosby

Here’s the Bing Crosby quintet.

The Flower Drum Song original cast recording.

The Columbia Records orignal cast recording of The Flower Drum Song was a big seller for Rodgers and Hammerstein.

The Girl From Utah (sheet music courtesy: Peter Mintun)

Sheet music from Peter Mintun’s collection of more than 13,000 individual pieces. (courtesy: Peter Mintun)

The jazzy Lena Horne.

Lena Horne’s jazzy side.

The King of Jazz

Way back in the distance is Whiteman, leading the orchestra in the 1930 film musical, The King of Jazz.” They don’t make musicals like that anymore.

The Lady’s in Love with You (Maxine Sullivan Sings the Music of Burton Lane)

The Harbinger Records was at the forefront of Maxine Sullivan’s revival. This is one of the three recordings she made for the label.

The Paul Whiteman Orchestra

The Paul Whiteman Orchestra, augmented for the historic 1924 Aeolian Hall concert in which George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” premiered.

The Sinatra Project

Michael Feinstein performs songs from his “Sinatra Project” CD in London, with a seventeen-piece big band conducted by arranger Bill Elliott.

The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra on stage

Tommy Dorsey on stage at the Astor Hotel on Times Square on July 15, 1950.

Tommy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey, one of the great trombonists of all time.

Tommy Dorsey in the recording studio

Tommy Dorsey and his trombone reading the charts while recording for RCA.

Nothing presently is shown in this category.

Victor Herbert, Irving Berlin, and John Philip Sousa

Three of the greatest heroes of music in the early 20th Century. Composer, violist, and conductor Victor Herbert, songwriter Irving Berlin, and band leader and conductor John Philip Sousa.

Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks (photo: Michael Lenic)

Vincent Youmans

Composer Vincent Youmans.

W.C. Handy

W.C. Handy was called “The Father of the Blues.” Here he is playing for the television audience.

Whatever Will Be, Will Be (sheet music)

Jay Livingston and Ray Evans wrote “Que Sera Sera” but the Oscar rules forced them to change the title to “Whatever Will Be, Will Be.”

Nothing presently is shown in this category.

Yours For a Song (sheet music courtesy: Peter Mintun)

Sheet music from Peter Mintun’s collection of more than 13,000 individual pieces.  (sheet music courtesy: Peter Mintun)

Yvonne Hover, Jule Styne, and Rita Moreno

Styne loved beautiful women. Here he is with Yvonne Hover, wife of Ciro's owner H.D. Hover, and Rita Moreno.

Nothing presently is shown in this category.