Jerome Kern (January 27, 1885 November 11, 1945) was an American composer of popular music. He wrote around 700 songs, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Long Ago (and Far Away)" and "Who?", a 6-week number 1 hit for George Olsen & his Orchestra in 1925. His career spanned dozens of Broadway musicals and Hollywood films from 1902 until his death. Although Kern wrote almost exclusively for musical theatre and musical film, the harmonic richness of his compositions lends them well to the jazz idiom (which typically emphasizes improvisation based on a harmonic structure) and many Kern melodies have been adopted by jazz musicians to become standard tunes.
Jerome David Kern was born in New York City to Fanny and Henry Kern, both German Jews. They named him Jerome because they lived near Jerome Park (named after Winston Churchill's grandfather, Leonard Jerome), a favorite place of theirs. Kern grew up on East 56th Street in Midtown Manhattan, where he attended public schools. The family then moved to Newark, New Jersey where Kern attended Newark (now Barringer) High School, but left during his senior year prior to graduation. Fanny Kern encouraged her son to take piano lessons. Henry Kern was a merchandiser and sold pianos among other items. Although Henry wanted his son to go into business with him, Jerome insisted on staying with music. While in high school Kern composed his first musical shows, one for the Ramblers organization at the high school; the second for the Newark Yacht Club. Some of these tunes were eventually recycled for the score of Showboat.
Kern studied at the New York College of Music and then briefly in 1904, in Heidelberg, Germany. From 1905 on, Kern spent large blocks of time in London, contributing songs to numerous London shows. In 1909 he took a boat trip on the River Thames with some friends, and when the boat stopped at Walton-on-Thames, Kern went to a pub and inn called the Swan to have a drink. The proprietor's daughter, Eva Leale, was working behind the bar, and on October 25, 1910, the two were married at St. Mary's in Walton.
In New York, he started working as a rehearsal pianist, initially contributing numbers for interpolation into other composers' scores. On May 1, 1915, Kern was supposed to accompany Charles Frohman to London on board the RMS Lusitania, but overslept after staying up late playing poker.Frohman died in the sinking of the ship.
At the end of 1915, Kern was contracted by producer George Kleine to supply the music for an early movie serial, Gloria's Romance from 1916. (One of the first starring vehicles for Billie Burke, this 16-part serial is now considered a lost film.) In the style of silent film music, he supplied a series of themes for basic characters and turns of plot.one of his biggest hits of his early career was the song "They Didn't Believe Me" (lyric by Herbert Reynolds) that was interpolated into the 1914 production The Girl from Utah.
"Long Ago (and Far Away)" is a popular song from the 1944 Technicolor film musical Cover Girl starring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly and released by Columbia Pictures. The music was written by Jerome Kern, and the lyrics were written by Ira Gershwin. The song was published in 1944 and sold over 600,000 copies in sheet music in a year.
In the film it is sung by Gene Kelly to Rita Hayworth. Charting versions were recorded almost simultaneously by Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest, Bing Crosby, Jo Stafford, and Perry Como.
The Dick Haymes-Helen Forrest recording was released by Decca Records as catalog number 23317. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on April 27, 1944 and lasted 11 weeks on the chart, peaking at #2.
The Bing Crosby recording was released by Decca Records as catalog number 18608. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on June 29, 1944 and lasted four weeks on the chart, peaking at #5. The flip side, "Amor," also charted, making this a two-sided hit.
The Jo Stafford recording was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 153. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on May 4, 1944 and lasted 12 weeks on the chart, peaking at #6.
The Perry Como recording was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1569. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on May 11, 1944 and lasted three weeks on the chart, peaking at #8.
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Top tune for a Sunday whilst the potatoes are roasting!!!
jimmyblackjazz 1 year ago
@jimmyblackjazz ,I wish my tatties were roasting! lol... Instead I'm teaching as we speak (even on a Sunday) no rest for the wicked...
Enjoy your roast dinner.
Cheers Steve...
groovetonemusic 1 year ago