Pick Yourself Up: Dorothy Fields and the American Musical
Charlotte Greenspan
Abstract
Dorothy Fields was best known as a lyricist, one of the few women who played a central role in the great period of American popular song from 1920 to 1960. Fields first became prominent writing the lyrics for Cotton Club shows in Harlem in the late 1920s and 1930s, and her most successful collaboration was with the great songwriter Jerome Kern. Her role as a music creator in a world dominated by men makes a fascinating and unusual story — with particular interest for woman today. Dorothy Fields first famous lyrics for the Cotton Club show songs include “I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby ... More
Dorothy Fields was best known as a lyricist, one of the few women who played a central role in the great period of American popular song from 1920 to 1960. Fields first became prominent writing the lyrics for Cotton Club shows in Harlem in the late 1920s and 1930s, and her most successful collaboration was with the great songwriter Jerome Kern. Her role as a music creator in a world dominated by men makes a fascinating and unusual story — with particular interest for woman today. Dorothy Fields first famous lyrics for the Cotton Club show songs include “I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby,” and “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” Her most successful collaboration with the great songwriter Jerome Kern was on three 1930s films, including the incomparable Swing Time with Rogers and Astaire, which produced such classic songs as “The Way You Look Tonight” and “A Fine Romance.” Fields also collaborated with such prominent composers as Sigmund Romberg, Fritz Kreisler, Harold Arlen, Burton Lane, Arthur Schwartz, and Cy Coleman. Her lyrics were colloquial and urbane, sometimes slangy and sometimes sensuous. Her role as a music creator in a world dominated by men makes a fascinating and unusual story—with particular interest for woman today. This book further discusses Fields in relation to other women songwriters and lyricists of the time.
Keywords:
Dorothy Fields,
Cotton Club,
Harlem,
Jerome Kern,
Swing Time,
Rogers and Astaire,
women songwriters
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2010 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780195111101 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: September 2010 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195111101.001.0001 |
