JACK LAWRENCE from LINDA to BEYOND THE SEA

Best known as a lyricist, Jack Lawrence put words into the mouths of Billie Holiday, Fats Waller, Ella Fitzerald and hundreds more. Even Buddy Hackett.
While most active in the 40's and 50's with big band tunes and swingin' classics, many of his songs are known to rock fans. Fats Domino and Bobby Darin had hits with his tunes, and most everyone knows "Linda." Jack couldn't decide which girl's name to use...until he saw a girl named Linda Eastman, daughter of a friend. Yes, guys were singing about her a decade before she married Paul McCartney.
Sometimes savvy Jack discovered a foreign melody that had hit potential. One French tune that was Americanized to the top of the charts: "Beyond the Sea." OK, still better as an instrumental is "Poor People of Paris," but the words were strong enough to interest Dean Martin.
One thing Jack didn't do was write sound effects. A police siren turns up at the end of Eydie Gorme's version of his "Yes My Darling Daughter." I sent him a copy, as he hadn't heard it. No, he couldn't figure out what they were trying to infer by using that siren, either. (Type the title into the search feature...you'll find a post on Gorme's version elsewhere on the blog). That one, "Linda" and "If I Didn't Care" are all examples of Jack writing both the lyrics and music.
Born Jack Lawrence Schwartz, he was originally planning on being a podiatrist, but the same year he graduated from The First Institute of Podiatry, 1932, he had bucks coming in for his first hit song, "Play, Fiddle, Play." Thanks to healthy royalties, he could avoid unhealthy feet and keep devoting his energy to more songs. One of his first hit "classics" came when a Walter Gross melody inspired him to add lyrics. The result was "Tenderly."
Jack rarely strayed from the pop song formula, but he did join Stan Freeman to write the music for Broadway's "I Had a Ball." It's represented here by "Addie's At It Again," the sexpot highlight for gorgeous Luba Lisa (she died in a plane crash a few years later) and by "Dr. Freud," a patter song for the show's star, Buddy Hackett.
You can read more about Jack at jacklawrencesongwriter.com (not jacklawrence.com; as is sometimes the case, often an asshole or a nobody with the same name takes the dot com address first). You can even buy CDs and books there.
Jack passed away a few weeks ago after a fall in his home. When you're 96, that type of thing can get the best of you. Whether the fall led to renal failure, or renal failure caused the fall...seems the coroner just listed both as causes for his demise. The New York Times' obit mentioned that "in 1979, Mr. Lawrence adopted his partner, Richard Debnam; he is Mr. Lawrence’s only survivor."
Below, some of his best-remembered songs:


1. YES, MY DARLING DAUGHTER Glenn Miller Orchestra with Marion Hutton
2. WITH THE WIND AND RAIN IN YOUR HAIR: Kay Kyser Orchestra and Ginny Sims
3. WHAT'S YOUR STORY, MORNING GLORY? Anita O'Day with Russ Garcia's Orchestra
4. LINDA Buddy Clarke with Ray Noble's Orchestra
5. WHAT WILL I TELL MY HEART? Fats Domino
6. ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL Old Blue Eyes with Harry James and his Orchestra
7. IF I DIDN'T CARE The Ink Spots
8. SUNRISE SERENADE Connee Boswell
9. BIG BOY BLUE Ella Fitzgerald / Mills Brothers
10. HOLD MY HAND Fats Waller
11. DO ME A FAVOR Fats Waller
12. ADDIE'S AT IT AGAIN Luba Lisa
13. DR. FREUD Buddy Hackett
14. POOR PEOPLE OF PARIS Dean Martin
15. BEYOND THE SEA Bobby Darin
16. THE OTHER HALF OF ME Bobby Darin
17. IT'S FUNNY TO EVERYONE BUT ME The Ink Spots
18. CIRIBIRIBIN Ray Eberle with Glenn Miller Orchestra
19. VAGABOND DREAMS Ella Fitzgerald
20. A HANDFUL OF STARS Nat King Cole Trio
21. SYMPHONY Freddy Martin
22. FOOLIN' MYSELF Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra with Billie Holiday
23. TENDERLY Patti Page
24. YES MY DARLING DAUGHTER Adelaide Hall

If you want more background on each song, you might find it on Jack's website. For more on "Linda," the song inspired by Linda McCartney:
http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/songs/linda.html
And here's a fun look at the business end of songwriting, and how his "Yes My Darling Daughter" sat around, unwanted, and how a twist of fate (Dinah Shore singing a demo) turned the tune into a sudden hit...thanks to Jack standing up for himself and forcing his publisher to give him the song back:
http://www.jacklawrencesongwriter.com/songs/yes_my_darling_daughter.html
This double dozen collection...
TRIBUTE TO JACK LAWRENCE