Music database

Musician

Ralph Blane

born on 26/7/1914 in Broken Arrow, OK, United States

died on 13/11/1995 in Broken Arrow, OK, United States

Ralph Blane

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ralph Blane

Ralph Blane (July 26, 1914 November 13, 1995) was an American composer, lyricist, and performer.

Life and career

Born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Blane was the son of grocery store owners. He attended Tulsa Central High School.[1] He began his career as a radio singer for NBC in the 1930s before turning to Broadway, where he was featured in New Faces of 1936, Hooray for What!, and Louisiana Purchase. He contributed the lyrics and music to Best Foot Forward (1941) and Three Wishes for Jamie (1952).

With partner Hugh Martin [although Hugh Martin disputes this, see Songwriting Collaboration Controversy], Blane penned many American standards for the stage and MGM musicals. The team's best-known songs include "The Boy Next Door", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "The Trolley Song", all written for the 1944 film musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Facing the challenge of writing a song about a trolley, the duo visited a public library, and in a book they found the caption "Clang, clang, clang went the trolley", which formed the nucleus for the lyric of their song, which earned them their first Oscar nomination (their second was for "Pass That Peace Pipe", written in collaboration with Roger Edens for the 1947 film adaptation of Good News). Meet Me in St. Louis was adapted for a 1989 Broadway musical of the same name.

Blane also collaborated with Harry Warren, Harold Arlen, and Kay Thompson, among others.

In 1983, Blane was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[2]

He is buried in Broken Arrow's Park Grove Cemetery.

References

Along with Harry Warren, Blane wrote the songs to "Summer Holiday" with Mickey Rooney and Gloria De Haven. Often overlooked, these songs are exceptional and should be heard by fans of Blane. One of the songs about "the stanley steamer" rivals "the trolley song".

External links

This page was last modified 20.12.2013 20:45:05

This article uses material from the article Ralph Blane from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.