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Irving Gordon (February 14, 1915 – December 1, 1996) was an American songwriter. ==Biography== Irving Gordon was born in Brooklyn, New York and later lived on Coney Island. He was named Israel Goldener but later changed his name to Irving Gordon. As a child, he studied violin, In high school he wrote a symphony piece but his teacher laughed at it. He wanted to study at Juilliard but Jews were not admitted then, After attending public schools in New York City, went to work in the Catskill Mountains at some of the resort hotels in the area. While working there, he took to writing parody lyrics to some of the popular songs of the day. In the 1930s, he took a job with the music publishing firm headed by talent agent Irving Mills, at first writing only lyrics but subsequently writing music as well. After Gordon was introduced to Duke Ellington in 1937, Ellington sometimes invited him to put words to his compositions. Working with Ellington was probably the most difficult commission there was, because most of the Ellington songs were really instrumental pieces whose singable potential only emerged after they had been played and recorded by one or another of the soloists in the Ellington orchestra.〔Benny Green. Obituary: Irving Gordon: Simply Unforgettable. ''The Guardian'' (London), December 4, 1996 Features page; Pg. 16〕 While Ellington's lyricist for years he wrote the words to Billy Strayhorn's piece "Prelude to a Kiss". After writing "Mister and Mississippi", Gordon decided he enjoyed puns on state names, and some years later wrote "Delaware." One of his humorous songs was I have tears in my lying on my back crying over you. He is perhaps best known for his song, Unforgettable as well as "Allentown Jail", which was played by numerous other musicians, and told the story of a man who stole a diamond for his girlfriend and ended up in the Allentown jail, unable to make bail. Late in his life he won a Grammy for Song of the Year when Natalie Cole re-recorded her father Nat "King" Cole's earlier hit of "Unforgettable." Gordon wrote the words and music for Unforgettable For years he like many other composers worked out of the Brill Building in Manhattan Gordon did not care for rock music, which he said was composed not of "melodies but maladies."〔Irv Lichtman. 10th Yr. For Writers' Haven; Irving Gordon Rages Again. Billboard June 13, 1992, Artists & Music; Words & Music; Pg. 18〕 Gordon told the ''Los Angeles Times'' that by 1960 the vogue for rhymed words and hummable melodies had passed, "So I became a tennis pro. I have many lives."〔Myrna Oliver. Obituary; Irving Gordon; Composer of 'Unforgettable.' ''Los Angeles Times'', December 3, 1996 Page: 26, Section: A; Metro Desk〕 Abbott and Costello often performed a baseball comedy routine, "Who's on First?" which they perfected during their years in vaudeville. Gordon has been credited with writing "Who's on first?" though others have also claimed authorship. Gordon is noted for his contribution to music and lyrics of the Americana genre. For examples it was commonly thought that his song ''Two Brothers'' was a folk song about the civil war For several years before his death he was writing a musical about Sigmund Freud. He died of lymphoma cancer in Malibu, California. He was survived by three sons, one a message therapist in Santa Cruz ,Will a psychologist in Palo Alto and one in San Diego. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Irving Gordon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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