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American lyricist
Musical artist
Harold Campbell Adamson (December 10, 1906 – August 17, 1980)
[1] was an American
lyricist during the 1930s and 1940s.
Early life
Adamson, the son of
building contractor Harold Adamson and Marion "Minnie" Campbell Adamson, was born and raised in
Greenville, New Jersey , United States.
[2]
Adamson suffered from
polio as a child which limited the use of his right hand. Initially, Adamson was interested in acting, but he began writing songs and poetry as a teenager.
[1]
He went on to studying acting at the
University of Kansas and
Harvard .
[2]
Career
Ultimately he entered into a songwriting contract with
MGM in 1933. During his stint with
MGM , he was nominated for five
Academy Awards . Among his best-known compositions was the theme for the hit
sitcom ,
I Love Lucy .
He retired from songwriting in the early 1960s,
[2] and was inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.
In 1941, he collaborated with Pierce Norman, and
baseball 's
Joe DiMaggio to write "In the Beauty of Tahoe", published by
Larry Spier, Inc.
[3] He was the lyricist for the
Broadway musicals Smiles (1930),
[4]
The Earl Carroll Vanities of 1931 ,
[5] Singin' the Blues (1931),
Banjo Eyes (1941),
[6] and
As the Girls Go (1948).
[7]
Songs or lyrics by Harold Adamson
"
An Affair to Remember "
"
Around the World "
"
Comin' In on a Wing and a Prayer "
"Daybreak"
"
Everything I Have Is Yours " (with
Burton Lane )
"Eighty Miles Outside of Atlanta". From the 1944 film
Something for the Boys starring
Carmen Miranda ,
Michael O'Shea , and
Vivian Blaine
"Ferry-Boat Serenade" (with E. Di Lazzaro)
"How Blue the Night" (music by
Jimmy McHugh , recorded by
Dick Haymes March 5, 1944)
"
I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night " nominated for an
Oscar for Best Song, also featured in the 1943 film Higher and Higher , sung by Frank Sinatra
"I Love Lucy (And She Loves Me)"
"I Wish I Were a Fish", from the 1964 film
The Incredible Mr. Limpet , sung by
Don Knotts
"It's a Wonderful World"
"It's a Most Unusual Day"
"I've Come to California",
theme song for the
NBC
television series
The Californians
"
A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening " from the 1943 film
Higher and Higher , sung by
Frank Sinatra
"
Manhattan Serenade "
"
My Resistance Is Low "
"
The Little Man Who Wasn't There "
"There's Something in the Air"
"
Time on My Hands " (with
Mack Gordon and
Vincent Youmans )
"We're Having a Baby (My Baby and Me)" 1941. Music by
Vernon Duke . Sung by
Desi Arnaz
"When Love Goes Wrong" with
Howard Hoagland Carmichael for
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes .
"
Where Are You? ". Music by
Jimmy McHugh
"Winter Moon" . Music by
Hoagy Carmichael
"You're a Sweetheart" (1937) Music by Jimmy McHugh
[1]
Citations
References
Bloom, Ken (1996). "Harold Adamson". American Song: Songwriters, The complete companion to Tin Pan Alley Song . Schirmer Books. pp. 5–6.
ISBN
9780028654782 .
Fisher, James (1999). "Adamson, Harold Campbell (10 December 1906–17 August 1980)".
American National Biography . Vol. 1. pp. 135–136.
doi :
10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1801376 .
Green, Stanley; Ginell, Cary (2019). Broadway Musicals: Show by Show . Applause,
Rowman & Littlefield .
ISBN
9781493050710 .
Jasen, David A. (2003).
Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song . New York and London: Routledge. p.
2 .
ISBN
0415938775 .
Larkin, Colin. , ed. (1992).
The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.).
Guinness Publishing . pp. 41–42.
ISBN
0-85112-939-0 .
Mordden, Ethan (1999).
Beautiful Mornin': The Broadway Musical in the 1940s .
Oxford University Press .
ISBN
9780195128512 .
Suskin, Steven (2000).
Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers .
Oxford University Press . p. 83.
ISBN
9780195125993 .
External links
International National Artists Other