- Jimmy McHugh
James Francis McHugh (
July 10 1894 -May 23 1969 ) was a U.S.composer . One of the greatest and most prolificsongwriter s from the 1920s to the 1950s, he composed over 270 songs.The popular singers from the 20th century, whether crooners like
Frank Sinatra andBing Crosby , stage and screen veteranJudy Garland , jazzy songbirdsBillie Holiday andDinah Washington , or seductive sirensJune Christy andPeggy Lee , could not have asked for a better friend or resource than Boston-born songsmith Jimmy McHugh. With a pen as melodious as any woodwind, Jimmy McHugh created tunes that thrilled and enthralled, from bandstand and cinema screen to Victrola and stereo hi-fi, from The Cotton Club to the Las Vegas Strip and Broadway in between. After struggling in a variety of jobs, including rehearsal pianist for the Boston Opera House and pianist/song plugger forIrving Berlin ’s publishing company, in 1921, at the age of 26, McHugh relocated to New York City. Eventually finding employment as a professional manager with the prominent music publisher Jack Mills Inc., it was here that McHugh published his first song “Emaline”, and briefly teamed up withIrving Mills as The Hotsy Totsy Boys to write the hit song “Everything Is Hotsy Totsy Now”. This songwriting partnership was just the first of McHugh’s many illustrious collaborations, among themTed Koehler (“I’m Shooting High”),Al Dubin (“South American Way”) and the greatHarold Adamson (“It’s a Most Unusual Day”). As impressive as these master lyricists were, perhaps McHugh’s best symbiotic musical relationship was with the school teacher and poetDorothy Fields . Having written material for many of Harlem’s Cotton Club revues, it was no coincidence that their first combined triumph would be the score for the all-black Broadway musical Blackbirds of 1928, which jumps-tarted the fledgling duo’s career with the memorable songs “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “Diga Diga Doo” and “I Must Have That Man.” Other hits written for the stage were soon to follow – including what is arguably their most famous composition, 1930’s “On The Sunny Side of The Street” forLew Leslie ’s International Revue, which also contained the favorite “Exactly Like You”; “Blue Again” for The Vanderbilt Revue; and in 1932, “Don’t Blame Me,” which was featured in the Chicago revue Clowns In Clover. With the lights of Broadway already shining brightly in their eyes, it was not long before the spotlights of the Hollywood movie musical would prove too alluring to resist. Making the move out west, the prodigious pair would meet the challenge with vigor, crafting song after song for numerous major studios. McHugh and Fields contributed wonderful title songs for films such as Cuban Love Song, Dinner at Eight and Hooray For Love, as well as “I Feel A Song Comin’ On” and “I’m In The Mood For Love” from 1935’s Every Night At Eight. In the artistically fruitful years 1930 through 1935, the force that was McHugh/Fields wrote over 30 songs for the film world, captivating and comforting audiences during the bleakest days of the Great Depression. >Works
; Broadway credits
* 1928 - "
Blackbirds of 1928 " (lyrics by Dorothy Fields)
* 1928 - "Hello, Daddy " (lyrics by Fields)
* 1930 - "International Revue " (lyrics by Fields)
* 1939 - "The Streets of Paris " (lyrics byAl Dubin )
* 1940 - "Keep Off The Grass " (lyrics by Dubin andHoward Dietz )
* 1948 - "As the Girls Go " (lyrics byHarold Adamson )
* 1985 - "Sugar Babies There was a medley of his songs in the 1979 Broadway show "Sugar Babies ", which starredAnn Miller andMickey Rooney . The songs included were "I Can't Give You Anything But Love ", "I'm Shooting High ", "Roll Your Blues Away " and "On the Sunny Side of the Street ".Other well known songs of his include "
I'm in the Mood for Love ", "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening ", "Cuban Love Song ", and hundreds more.BLUE AGAIN – Louis Armstrong (McHugh/Fields) (Okeh/Sony BMG)COMIN’ IN ON A WING AND A PRAYER – Bing Crosby (McHugh/Adamson) (Decca/UMG)CUBAN LOVE SONG – Edmundo Ros (McHugh/Stothart/Fields) (London/WMG)DIGA DIGA DOO – The Mills Brothers w/ Duke Ellington (McHugh/Fields) (Brunswick/Sony BMG)DOIN’ THE NEW LOW DOWN – Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (McHugh/Fields) (Brunswick/Sony BMG)DON’T BLAME ME – The Everly Brothers (McHugh/Fields) (Warner Bros./WMG)EXACTLY LIKE YOU – Aretha Franklin (McHugh/Fields) (Columbia/Sony BMG)I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH ME – Dean Martin (McHugh/Gaskill) (Capitol/EMI)I CAN’T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE – Judy Garland (McHugh/Fields) (Capitol/EMI)I COULDN’T SLEEP A WINK LAST NIGHT – Frank Sinatra (McHugh/Adamson) (Columbia/Sony BMG)I JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT LOVE – Dinah Washington (McHugh/Adamson) (Mercury/UMG)I MUST HAVE THAT MAN – Billie Holiday (McHugh/Fields) (Brunswick/Sony BMG)I’M SHOOTING HIGH – Ann Richards (McHugh/Koehler) (Capitol/EMI)IT’S A MOST UNUSUAL DAY – Andy Williams (McHugh/Adamson) (Columbia/Sony BMG)ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET – Frank Sinatra (McHugh/Fields) (Capitol/EMI)SOUTH AMERICAN WAY – The Andrews Sisters (McHugh/Dubin) (Capitol/EMI)TOO YOUNG TO GO STEADY – Nat King Cole (McHugh/Adamson) (Capitol/EMI)WARM AND WILLING – Nat King Cole (McHugh/Livingston/Evans) (Capitol/EMI)WHEN MY SUGAR WALKS DOWN THE STREET – Peggy Lee (McHugh/Austin/Mills) (Capitol/EMI)WHERE ARE YOU? – Johnny Mathis (McHugh/Adamson) (Columbia/Sony BMG) Great Themes for Synch: A LOVELY WAY TO SPEND AN EVENING – June Christy (McHugh/Adamson) (Capitol/EMI)DREAM DREAM DREAM – Joni James (McHugh/Parish/Melle/Mottier) (MGM/UMG)HAPPY TIMES – Hal Kemp & His Orchestra (McHugh/Fields) (Brunswick/Sony BMG)I CAN’T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE – Judy Garland (McHugh/Fields) (Capitol/EMI)I COULDN’T SLEEP A WINK LAST NIGHT – Frank Sinatra (McHugh/Adamson) (Columbia/Sony BMG)I JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT LOVE – Dinah Washington (McHugh/Adamson) (Mercury/UMG)I LOVE TO WHISTLE – Fats Waller (McHugh/Adamson) (RCA/Sony BMG)I MUST HAVE THAT MAN – Billie Holiday (McHugh/Fields) (Brunswick/Sony BMG)I’VE GOT MY FINGERS CROSSED – Louis Armstrong (McHugh/Koehler) (Decca/UMG)IT’S A MOST UNUSUAL DAY – Andy Williams (McHugh/Adamson) (Columbia/Sony BMG)ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET – Frank Sinatra (McHugh/Fields) (EMI)THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE AIR – Ruth Etting (McHugh/Adamson) (Decca/UNI)WHEN MY SUGAR WALKS DOWN THE STREET – Peggy Lee (McHugh/Austin/Mills) (Capitol/EMI) Creative research & bio by Mike Moeller and Marty FernandiReferences
Bibliography
* "Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre" by
Stanley Green . Published by Dodd, Mead and Company, New York 1976.
* "The Oxford Companion to Popular Music" byPeter Gammond . Published by Oxford University Press 1991.Notes
External links
*ibdb name|12130
*imdb name|0006192
*tcmdb name|127664
*amg name|2:102155
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