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He was a lyricist and poet born Michael Hyman
Pashelinsky to Lithuanian parents who moved to the United States in
1901. They further moved from
their new home in Shreveport, Louisiana to settle in New York and he would
begin to write lyrics while he was in his teens/early 20s. He studied law at the Columbia and
New York Universities but decided that he wanted to make songwriting his
career. Making his name known
for the songs he had worked on Tin Pan Alley made use of his talents, and
by the time of the late 1920s his works such as "Star Dust" and "Sweet
Lorraine" were becoming already successful hits. He continued to meet with success with songs such as "Deep
Purple", "Sophisticated Lady" and "Moonlight Serenade" and around 1950 he put
lyrics to at least six of the composer Leroy Anderson's songs including "Blue
Tango" and "Sleigh Ride". He
translated many songs that were in a foreign language with possibly his
best known being "Volare" and working with many artists during his career
including Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller, his works have
been recorded numerous times. Working on Broadway his lyrics have been heard on
Continental Varieties, Bubbling Brown Sugar and the 1987 revue Stardust
among others, and in film and television his work can be heard on more
than 76 programmes and movies.
As a poet he published the book For Those In Love, and as a lecturer
he would appear at universities and theatres throughout America. Inducted into the Songwriter's Hall
of Fame in 1972, he was the winner of the Johnny Mercer Award for the huge
amount of hit songs he wrote lyrics for. He died in New York City in 1993 aged 92.
Leroy Anderson recordings
Sleigh Ride
The Abbey Road
Ensemble
EMI 56176 (CD: Our Christmas Songs For You)
Conductor -
Jonathan Tunick
London Voices
Soprano - Kiri Te
Kanawa
Tenor - Roberto
Alagna
Baritone - Thomas
Hampson
Boston Pops Orchestra & Chorus
RCA 6428 (CD: A Christmas Festival with
Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops)
Conductor - Arthur
Fiedler
Cincinnati Sinfonietta
Telarc 83315 (CD: Christmas Songs)
Conductor - Keith Lockhart
Vocals - Mel Torme
Richard Hayman and His Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra & Choir
recordings
Naxos 8.990006 (CD: Silent Night)
Philadelphia Orchestra + Chorus recordings
RCA 6430 (CD: Joy to the World)
Conductor - Eugene
Ormandy
Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and Chorus recordings
Naxos 8.990013 (CD: Joy to the World)
Conductor -
Richard Hayman
Sources:
- http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_bio.asp?exhibitId=226
- http://www.pbs.org/sleighride/Biography/Parrish.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Parish
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0661695/
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