Five For Friday: Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

Five For Friday 1 Minute

Composer Richard Rodgers worked with two notable lyricists in his long career. His first partner was Lorenz Hart, with whom he worked from 1920 to Hart’s death in 1943. Together, they wrote 26 musicals and more than 500 songs, most of which are included in the Great American Songbook. Here are five by Rodgers and Hart for your Friday enjoyment. I’ve listed the shows the songs come from below, for further enjoyment.

  1. Ella Fitzgerald, "The Blue Room" (The Girl Friend, 1926)
  2. Jeanette MacDonald, "Isn’t It Romantic" (Love Me Tonight, 1932)
  3. Frank Sinatra, "Have You Met Miss Jones" (I’d Rather Be Right, 1937)
  4. Chaka Khan, "My Funny Valentine" (Babes In Arms, 1937)
  5. The Marcels, "Blue Moon" (Manhattan Melodrama, 1934)

And that’s Five For Friday for December 2, 2022.

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

Published

8 thoughts on “Five For Friday: Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart”

  1. Pingback: The First December Week That Was – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  2. They had an amazing output of songs but I am not in love with Chaka’s version of this famous song. She does not do it for me:))

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    1. I wanted to use that one to show that, even after all this time, the songs of Rodgers and Hart were still relevant, and had a universal appeal. Elvis Costello did a version of “My Funny Valentine,” too, as did all the popular singers from the ’50’s and ’60’s and maybe even further back…

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    1. It’s interesting that Hart and Hammerstein were so different. Hart’s musicals were in the light-entertainment area, where Hammerstein were more like stories. Both were excellent lyricists and worked very well with Rodgers. I’ll feature Rodgers and Hammerstein next week.

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