Jay Livingston
Jay Livingston | |
---|---|
Livingston | |
Born | Jacob Harold Levison March 28, 1915 McDonald, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | October 17, 2001(2001-10-17) (aged 86) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania |
Occupation | Composer |
Years active | 1937–2001 |
Spouse(s) | Lynne Gordon (1947–1991; her death; 1 child) Shirley Mitchell (1992–2001; his death) |
Jay Livingston (born Jacob Harold Levison; March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001) was an American composer best known as half of a song-writing duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote music and Evans the lyrics.
Early life and career
Livingston was born in McDonald, Pennsylvania to Jewish parents.[1][2] He had an older sister, Vera, and a younger brother, Alan W. Livingston, who became an executive with Capitol Records, and later with NBC television.
Livingston studied piano with Harry Archer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he organized a dance band and met Evans, a fellow student in the band. Though they began writing together in 1937, Livingston and Evans did not hit the top until 1946, when they set the music publishing business on fire with "To Each His Own," which reached number one on the Billboard charts for three different artists,[3] and occupied the top five positions on the "Most Played On the Air" chart for four different weeks (August 24, 1946, and again on September 7, September 14 and October 5, five versions appeared simultaneously in the Top Ten).[4][5][6][7] "Buttons and Bows" (1947) was their next multi-million seller, with four artists reaching the top ten in 1948, and won the Academy Award for Best Song. They finished off the decade with 1949's "Mona Lisa", which was a chart hit for seven popular and two country artists in 1950, sold a million for Nat King Cole, and won the pair another Best Song Oscar.[8][9] Their third Oscar came in 1956 for the song "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)," featured in the movie The Man Who Knew Too Much. They also wrote "Tammy" for the movie Tammy and the Bachelor in 1957.
Livingston and Evans wrote popular TV themes for shows including Bonanza and Mister Ed, which Livingston sang.[10] They also wrote the Christmas song "Silver Bells" in 1951, for the film The Lemon Drop Kid, initially calling it "Tinkle Bells" but changed it to "Silver" because of a common connotation of "tinkle", as well as "Never Let Me Go" for the 1956 film The Scarlet Hour. Johnny Mathis sang Livingston's song "All The Time," among others.
Livingston appeared as himself with Evans in the New Year's Eve party scene of the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, which featured his future sister-in-law, Nancy Olson.
Honors
Livingston is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[11] In 2004, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission installed a historical marker in McDonald, Pennsylvania, commemorating his achievements.[12]
Death
Livingston died in Los Angeles and was interred there in Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery, his tombstone reading, "Que Será, Será".[13]
His wife, actress Shirley Mitchell, died on November 11, 2013, at 94.
Work on Broadway
- Oh, Captain! (1958) – musical – co-composer and co-lyricist with Ray Evans – Tony nomination for Best Musical
- Let It Ride (1961) – musical – co-composer and co-lyricist with Ray Evans
- Sugar Babies (1979) – revue – featured songwriter with Ray Evans for "The Sugar Baby Bounce"
References
- ^ Bloom, Nate (2006-12-19). "The Jews Who Wrote Christmas Songs". InterfaithFamily. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- ^ Bloom, Nate (December 22, 2014). "All those Holiday/Christmas Songs: So Many Jewish Songwriters!". Jewish World Review.
- ^ "Ten tunes in forthcoming films". Long Beach Press Telegram Newspaper Archives. April 24, 1948. p. 22. Retrieved Jan 13, 2023.
- ^ "Records Most Played on the Air". Billboard. October 5, 1946. p. 24. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
- ^ "Records Most Played on the Air". Billboard. September 14, 1946. p. 26. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
- ^ "Records Most Played on the Air". Billboard. September 7, 1946. p. 28 and 116. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
- ^ "Records Most Played on the Air". Billboard. August 24, 1946. p. 27 and 112. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 551. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
- ^ "The Ray & Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation | The official website of Ray Evans, American songwriter, Livingston and Evans, Music, Archives, Films". www.rayevans.org. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
- ^ "Livingston Obituary". All Things Considered. NPR. October 18, 2001.
- ^ "Songwriters Hall of Fame - Barry Gibb Exhibit Home". songwritershalloffame.org. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
- ^ "Jay Livingston (1915-2001) - PHMC Historical Markers". Historical Marker Database. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
- ^ Sam Staggs, Born to be Hurt: The Untold Story of Imitation of Life (2009), p. 216.
External links
- Jay Livingston obituary from The New York Times
- Jay Livingston biography Archived 2005-05-08 at the Wayback Machine
- Jay Livingston - Lifetime Sammy Film Music Award
- Jay Livingston at the Internet Broadway Database
- Video on YouTube (begins at 41:32) appearance with Chuck Schaden and members of the Gildersleeve cast: Willard Waterman, Mary Lee Robb and Shirley Mitchell. Songwriter Jay Livingston (Shirley's husband) entertains with a mini- concert featuring his many hit songs. Recorded at the Museum of Broadcast Communications, Chicago. (113 minutes).
- Jay Livingston Interview NAMM Oral History Library (1995)
- Livingston and Evans Official Site
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- "The Continental"
- Music: Con Conrad
- Lyrics: Herb Magidson (1934)
- "Lullaby of Broadway"
- Music: Harry Warren
- Lyrics: Al Dubin (1935)
- "The Way You Look Tonight"
- Music: Jerome Kern
- Lyrics: Dorothy Fields (1936)
- "Sweet Leilani"
- Music and lyrics: Harry Owens (1937)
- "Thanks for the Memory"
- Music: Ralph Rainger
- Lyrics: Leo Robin (1938)
- "Over the Rainbow"
- Music: Harold Arlen
- Lyrics: E. Y. Harburg (1939)
- "When You Wish Upon a Star"
- Music: Leigh Harline
- Lyrics: Ned Washington (1940)
- "The Last Time I Saw Paris"
- Music: Jerome Kern
- Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II (1941)
- "White Christmas"
- Music and lyrics: Irving Berlin (1942)
- "You'll Never Know"
- Music: Harry Warren
- Lyrics: Mack Gordon (1943)
- "Swinging on a Star"
- Music: Jimmy Van Heusen
- Lyrics: Johnny Burke (1944)
- "It Might as Well Be Spring"
- Music: Richard Rodgers
- Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II (1945)
- "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"
- Music: Harry Warren
- Lyrics: Johnny Mercer (1946)
- "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah"
- Music: Allie Wrubel
- Lyrics: Ray Gilbert (1947)
- "Buttons and Bows"
- Music: Jay Livingston
- Lyrics: Ray Evans (1948)
- "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
- Music and lyrics: Frank Loesser (1949)
- "Mona Lisa"
- Music and lyrics: Ray Evans and Jay Livingston (1950)
- "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening"
- Music: Hoagy Carmichael
- Lyrics: Johnny Mercer (1951)
- "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')"
- Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
- Lyrics: Ned Washington (1952)
- "Secret Love"
- Music: Sammy Fain
- Lyrics: Paul Francis Webster (1953)
- "Three Coins in the Fountain"
- Music: Jule Styne
- Lyrics: Sammy Cahn (1954)
- "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing"
- Music: Sammy Fain
- Lyrics: Paul Francis Webster (1955)
- "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"
- Music and lyrics: Jay Livingston and Ray Evans (1956)
- "All the Way"
- Music: Jimmy Van Heusen
- Lyrics: Sammy Cahn (1957)
- "Gigi"
- Music: Frederick Loewe
- Lyrics: Alan Jay Lerner (1958)
- "High Hopes"
- Music: Jimmy Van Heusen
- Lyrics: Sammy Cahn (1959)
- "Never on Sunday"
- Music and lyrics: Manos Hatzidakis (1960)
- "Moon River"
- Music: Henry Mancini
- Lyrics: Johnny Mercer (1961)
- "Days of Wine and Roses"
- Music: Henry Mancini
- Lyrics: Johnny Mercer (1962)
- "Call Me Irresponsible"
- Music: Jimmy Van Heusen
- Lyrics: Sammy Cahn (1963)
- "Chim Chim Cher-ee"
- Music and lyrics: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman (1964)
- "The Shadow of Your Smile"
- Music: Johnny Mandel
- Lyrics: Paul Francis Webster (1965)
- "Born Free"
- Music: John Barry
- Lyrics: Don Black (1966)
- "Talk to the Animals"
- Music and lyrics: Leslie Bricusse (1967)
- "The Windmills of Your Mind"
- Music: Michel Legrand
- Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman (1968)
- "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"
- Music: Burt Bacharach
- Lyrics: Hal David (1969)
- "For All We Know"
- Music: Fred Karlin
- Lyrics: Robb Royer and Jimmy Griffin (1970)
- "Theme from Shaft"
- Music and lyrics: Isaac Hayes (1971)
- "The Morning After"
- Music and lyrics: Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn (1972)
- "The Way We Were"
- Music: Marvin Hamlisch
- Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman (1973)
- "We May Never Love Like This Again"
- Music and lyrics: Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn (1974)
- "I'm Easy"
- Music and lyrics: Keith Carradine (1975)
- "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)"
- Music: Barbra Streisand
- Lyrics: Paul Williams (1976)
- "You Light Up My Life"
- Music and lyrics: Joseph Brooks (1977)
- "Last Dance"
- Music and lyrics: Paul Jabara (1978)
- "It Goes Like It Goes"
- Music: David Shire
- Lyrics: Norman Gimbel (1979)
- "Fame"
- Music: Michael Gore
- Lyrics: Dean Pitchford (1980)
- "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"
- Music and lyrics: Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross and Peter Allen (1981)
- "Up Where We Belong"
- Music: Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie
- Lyrics: Will Jennings (1982)
- "Flashdance... What a Feeling"
- Music: Giorgio Moroder
- Lyrics: Keith Forsey and Irene Cara (1983)
- "I Just Called to Say I Love You"
- Music and lyrics: Stevie Wonder (1984)
- "Say You, Say Me"
- Music and lyrics: Lionel Richie (1985)
- "Take My Breath Away"
- Music: Giorgio Moroder
- Lyrics: Tom Whitlock (1986)
- "(I've Had) The Time of My Life"
- Music: Franke Previte, John DeNicola and Donald Markowitz
- Lyrics: Franke Previte (1987)
- "Let the River Run"
- Music and lyrics: Carly Simon (1988)
- "Under the Sea"
- Music: Alan Menken
- Lyrics: Howard Ashman (1989)
- "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)"
- Music and lyrics: Stephen Sondheim (1990)
- "Beauty and the Beast"
- Music: Alan Menken
- Lyrics: Howard Ashman (1991)
- "A Whole New World"
- Music: Alan Menken
- Lyrics: Tim Rice (1992)
- "Streets of Philadelphia"
- Music and lyrics: Bruce Springsteen (1993)
- "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"
- Music: Elton John
- Lyrics: Tim Rice (1994)
- "Colors of the Wind"
- Music: Alan Menken
- Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz (1995)
- "You Must Love Me"
- Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Lyrics: Tim Rice (1996)
- "My Heart Will Go On"
- Music: James Horner
- Lyrics: Will Jennings (1997)
- "When You Believe"
- Music and lyrics: Stephen Schwartz (1998)
- "You'll Be in My Heart"
- Music and lyrics: Phil Collins (1999)
- "Things Have Changed"
- Music and lyrics: Bob Dylan (2000)
- "If I Didn't Have You"
- Music and lyrics: Randy Newman (2001)
- "Lose Yourself"
- "Into the West"
- Music and lyrics: Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox (2003)
- "Al otro lado del río"
- Music and lyrics: Jorge Drexler (2004)
- "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp"
- Music and lyrics: Juicy J, Frayser Boy and DJ Paul (2005)
- "I Need to Wake Up"
- Music and lyrics: Melissa Etheridge (2006)
- "Falling Slowly"
- Music and lyrics: Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (2007)
- "Jai Ho"
- Music: A. R. Rahman
- Lyrics: Gulzar (2008)
- "The Weary Kind"
- Music and lyrics: Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (2009)
- "We Belong Together"
- Music and lyrics: Randy Newman (2010)
- "Man or Muppet"
- Music and lyrics: Bret McKenzie (2011)
- "Skyfall"
- Music and lyrics: Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth (2012)
- "Let It Go"
- Music and lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (2013)
- "Glory"
- Music and lyrics: John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn (2014)
- "Writing's on the Wall"
- Music and lyrics: James Napier and Sam Smith (2015)
- "City of Stars"
- Music: Justin Hurwitz
- Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (2016)
- "Remember Me"
- Music and lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (2017)
- "Shallow"
- Music and lyrics: Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt (2018)
- "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again"
- Music: Elton John
- Lyrics: Bernie Taupin (2019)
- "Fight for You"
- Music: D'Mile and H.E.R.
- Lyrics: H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas (2020)
- "No Time to Die"
- Music and lyrics: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (2021)
- "Naatu Naatu"
- Music: M. M. Keeravani
- Lyrics: Chandrabose (2022)
- "What Was I Made For?"
- Music and lyrics: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (2023)