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mahatmakanejeeves

(57,379 posts)
Sat Jun 18, 2022, 09:34 AM Jun 2022

On this day, June 18, 1913, Sammy Cahn was born.

Sammy Cahn



Background information
Birth name: Samuel Cohen
Born: June 18, 1913; New York City, U.S.
Died: January 15, 1993 (aged 79); Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He and his collaborators had a series of hit recordings with Frank Sinatra during the singer's tenure at Capitol Records, but also enjoyed hits with Dean Martin, Doris Day and many others. He played the piano and violin, and won an Oscar four times for his songs, including the popular hit "Three Coins in the Fountain".

Among his most enduring songs is "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", cowritten with Jule Styne in 1945.

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Music

Cahn wrote lyrics for many songs, including:

Academy Award winners
• 1954 – "Three Coins in the Fountain" (music by Jule Styne) introduced by Frank Sinatra in the film Three Coins in the Fountain.
• 1957 – "All the Way" (music by Jimmy Van Heusen) introduced by Frank Sinatra in the film The Joker Is Wild.
• 1959 – "High Hopes" (music by Van Heusen) introduced by Frank Sinatra and Eddie Hodges in the film A Hole in the Head.
• 1963 – "Call Me Irresponsible" (music by Van Heusen) introduced by Jackie Gleason in the film Papa's Delicate Condition.

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Other well-known songs

• "All My Tomorrows" (with Jimmy Van Heusen)
• "Bei mir bist du schoen" (English version, with Saul Chaplin) (music by Sholom Secunda)

{snip the rest; the list is too long.}

Bei Mir Bistu Shein

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History

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English version





The song became a worldwide phenomenon following its recording by The Andrews Sisters (left). Sammy Cahn (right) was purportedly responsible for the song's procurement and, via Lou Levy, for contracting the Andrews Sisters to perform it.

There are conflicting versions regarding the origins for the English version of the song. In one popular retelling, musician Sammy Cahn witnessed a spectacular performance of the song in Yiddish by African-American performers Johnnie and George at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City. Jenny Grossinger, a Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel proprietor, claimed to have taught the song to Johnnie and George while they were performing at the resort. Upon seeing the enthusiastic audience response to the song, Cahn urged his employer to buy the rights so that he and frequent collaborator Saul Chaplin could rewrite the composition with English lyrics and alter the rhythm to be more typical of swing music. Cahn later was able to locate the sheet music in a Manhattan store in the Jewish Lower East Side.

A competing origin story claims that bandleader Vic Schoen discovered Secunda's and Jacobs' catchy tune "in a collection of folk songs in a small shop in the lobby of a Yiddish theater on Second Avenue." Schoen forwarded the memorable song to Lou Levy "who in turn gave it to Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin who wrote the lyrics for it." Levy then persuaded the little-known Andrews Sisters to record the song ( as "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" ) on November 24, 1937, for a flat fee of $50. The Andrews Sisters had initially attempted to record the song in Yiddish, but their Decca Records producer Jack Kapp stridently objected and insisted the trio record the song in American-vernacular English.

Hitherto dismissed as mere imitators of the Boswell Sisters, the Andrews Sisters' cover of the Yiddish song—"which the [three] girls harmonized to perfection"[16]—catapulted the relatively unknown trio to fame and became a tremendous hit for Kapp's Decca label. Within thirty days, a quarter of a million records had been sold, as well as two hundred thousand copies of the sheet music. Life magazine claimed that music stores were inundated by baffled customers trying to purchase a record which they misidentified as either "Buy a Beer, Mr. Shane," or "My Mere Bits of Shame."

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Vaughn Monroe: Let It Snow
210,800 views Jan 22, 2009

VAUGHNMONROEVIDEO
1.41K subscribers

When winter rolls around, musical thoughts turn to Vaughn Monroe's hit recording of Let It Snow. Vaughn's warm, deep, baritone voice makes his interpretation of this tune the best! In this video Vaughn performs his classic version of Let It Snow before a live audience in 1965.



Three Coins In The Fountain
95,603 views Jul 31, 2018

Frank Sinatra
1.66M subscribers

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group

Three Coins In The Fountain · Frank Sinatra



Three Coins in A Fountain trailer
147,773 views Jan 6, 2011

SanMor Feliz
115 subscribers

The trailer from the oscar winner movie!



1938 HITS ARCHIVE: Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen - Guy Lombardo (vocal trio)

the78prof
32.2K subscribers

Written for an early ‘30s Yiddish musical comedy, the tune became a sensation when an up-and-coming girl trio named Andrews recorded it with new English lyrics by Sammy Cahn & Saul Chaplin. The Lombardo version also sold well.

CD audio, originally issued on 78rpm: Victor 25739 - Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (Cahn-Chaplin-Jacobs-Secunda) by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, vocal by male trio, recorded in NYC December 15, 1937

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