Harold Arlen: Rhythm, Rainbows, and Blues

by Edward Jablonski

"The book is filled with arresting detail about Arlen's career. . . This one is required reading for anyone who cares about American popular music, or, it goes without saying, musical theatre." -- Show Music

Genres: Biography, Music

444 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Edward Jablonski was the author of several biographies on American cultural personalities, such as George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Alan Jay Lerner and Irving Berlin, as well as books on aviation history.

Jablonski was born in Bay City, Michigan to a family of Polish-American journalists and writers. His father had been a writer for Sztandar Polski and another relative, Paul F. Jablonski, wrote for the Bay City Times. Early on he fell in love with the music of George and Ira Gershwin. A fan letter he wrote to Ira while in school quickly turned into regular correspondence and eventually a lasting friendship with the lyricist.

While Jablonski was interested in music, his true fascination was with aviation. Supposedly, he spent much of his time watching the planes at the James Clements Airport near the South End of Bay City. He had grown up, he said later, listening to the music of the day as he ''hung around the airport watching the planes.'' As a schoolboy he also started a correspondence with Gershwin. Later on in his life, he became interested in aerial warfare. Telling an interviewer in 1986, "Aviation makes possible the most deadly form of warfare ever -- the perversion of one of man's greatest inventions."

He served in the United States Army Field Artillery in New Guinea during World War II. For his actions in New Guinea, he was awarded the Silver Star.

After leaving the army, he attended junior college in Bay City as a pre-journalism major. He continued his studies at the New School for Social Research, receiving his bachelor's in 1950. He also completed postgraduate work in anthropology at Columbia.

While working for the March of Dimes charity in New York, Jablonski wrote articles and music reviews for a number of small magazines as well as liner notes for albums; this was the beginning of a fifty-year freelance career.

At the time of his death, he was working on "Masters of American Song", which would have been a comprehensive history of American pop music.

Reviews

[Phil Atteberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

When this book was published in 1996, I was paid by a music magazine to review it. Afterward, I put it on my bookshelf and didn't look at it until last week. Because I am doing a little work on Harold Arlen, I re-read the book. Then I looked back at that old review to see what I said about it. I complemented the book on its thoroughness and diversity of sources but called it a "somewhat tedious read."

This time, it did not seem tedious, probably because I have more general knowledge of Harold Arlen and his milieu than I did twenty-seven years ago. Thus, all the details about Arlen's collaborators, the operation of the Cotton Club in the 1930's, the lesser known Broadway scores of the 40's and 50's interested me. I suspect I found them to be unnecessary side trips the first time around.

It should be said, however, that this biography is only for those with a deep interest in Harold Arlen and the American Songbook. For those interested in a "lighter" and briefer biography, try Walter Rimler's The Man That Got Away: The Life and Songs of Harold Arlen. It's a better introduction to the subject. It's also more recent.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often debate long and hard before I read biographies. While I love to learn about people whose work I admire, I really don't care about all the intimate details of their love affairs and the like. Edward Jablonski is so highly regarded in the theater community, however, that I knew when I picked up this book that I was in for a treat.

In the introduction, Jablonski points out that Harold Arlen's name is not nearly as familiar as many other composers such as Coal Porter or Richard Rodgers. While that is certainly true, his contributions to American song and to the musical theater are just as noteworthy. Even today, most people know songs such as "Over the Rainbow," "Stormy Weather," and "My Shining Hour," all of which have melodies composed by Arlen.

This book is worth reading for several reasons. Jablonski packs an amazing amount of detail into its pages, but his writing is so compelling that the reader never becomes bored. His descriptions of the various eras in which Arlen wrote are so well crafted that I felt like I was witnessing them firsthand.

The diskography in the back of the book is definitely dated, but I have to admit that it was fun to read all the same.

If you are looking for a compact, but well conceived biography of a great American composer and performer, this is definitely the book for you.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite composers. It was interesting to learn more about him.

[Amber Berry]

I'm not sure if this is the biography I read, so will put onto list & research more later.