Welcome to

Cafe Songbook

Internet Home of the
Songs, Songwriters and Performers of

The Great American Songbook

Madison Square logo, top of page cafe songbook sign for logo

Search Tips: 1) Click "Find on This Page" button to activate page search box. 2) When searching for a name (e.g. a songwriter), enter last name only. 3) When searching for a song title on the catalog page, omit an initial "The" or "A". 4) more search tips.

Jerome Kern

album cover: Smithsonian Collection of Recordings Jerome Kern American Songbook Series
Smithsonian Collection:
Jerome Kern Songbook Series

Amazon iTunes

Basic Information

Born: Jerome David Kern, January 27, 1885,
New York City

Died: November 11, 1945 (age 60), New York City

Primary songwriting role: composer

Notable co-writers: Ann Caldwell, Dorothy Fields, Ira Gershwin, Clifford Grey, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Yip Harburg, Johnny Mercer, and P. G. Wodehouse

Page Menu

Basic Songwiter Information
Overview and Commentary
Music-Video Cabinet
Songs by This Songwriter
in the Cafe Songbook Catalog
of The Great American Songbook
Web Research Resources
Print Research Resources
Visitor Comments
Master List of Songwriters
Credits

Overview and Commentary:
Jerome Kern

(This section remains in preparation)

Notable Kern Quotes

Perhaps Kern's most often quoted statement is about another songwriter. When asked, "What is Irving Berlin's place in American music, Kern famously (and modestly) replied, "There is no place for Irving Berlin in American music -- Irving Berlin is American music."

Another pithy Kern comment came when he and Dorothy Fields were working on the score for the 1935 movie Roberta. After first playing the melody for "Lovely To Look At" for Fields, she commented that it was indeed beautiful but asked why it was so short. "I had nothing more to say," Kern replied.


Book cover" William Zinsser, "Easy to Remember"
William Zinsser.
Easy to Remember
The Great American
Songwriters and Their Songs
.
Jaffrey, New Hampshire:
David R. Godine, 2001.
"After Show Boat, Kern seemed to erase all memory of having created the theater's breakthrough musical. He went right back to composing Viennese-style musicals . . . with inane plots and turgid lyrics, mostly by Hammerstein and Otto Harbach, of the kind they once supplied for Sigmund Romberg. . . . But the melodies continued to soar: "Don't Ever Leave Me," Why Was I Born?", "I've Told Every Little Star," The Song Is You," "The Touch of Your Hand" (Zinsser, p. 21).
   
back to top of page

Cafe Songbook
Music-Video Cabinet:
Jerome Kern

Rusty Cutchin writes,

"A 19-year-old songwriter, full of talent and ambition, leaves his New Jersey home and lands a job with a Manhattan music publisher. He travels to England and is heavily influenced by the cutting-edge artists in the London music scene. Before long he scores a hit, which captures attention partly because of a streetwise slang term in the title. The song is the first in a string of compositions that will be recorded by the greatest bands and singers in America. Ultimately, he will die too soon while leaving an unparalleled collection of music and an unfinished project that will be completed by (and provide a triumph for) another legendary composer.*

The New Jersey songwriter didn't come from Bruce Springsteen’s world. He certainly wouldn’t recognize the London of the Stones, Clash, or Sex Pistols. And his first hit song had nothing to do with drugs or associated paraphernalia, notwithstanding the cryptic use of the word “spoon” in the title. Sex, however, was a clearly understood subtext when the song 'How’d You Like to Spoon with Me' debuted in the musical The Earl and the Girl. The year was 1905, and the young composer was Jerome Kern" (Cutchin, Rusty. Jerome Kern [Internet]. Version 12. Knol. Apr 2, 2011.

[Eds. note: Kern returned to New York from Hollywood in 1945 to write the score for the show that became Annie Get Your Gun, but he died shortly after arriving. Rodgers and Hammerstein, the producers of the show, prevailed upon their reluctant friend Irving Berlin to step in and do the score.]

 


The young Angela Lansbury performs one of Kern's early songs,
'How’d You Like to Spoon with Me' (1905)
in the 1946 Kern biopic Till the Clouds Roll By.


Some ten years after Kern's 50th birthday tribute, Judy Garland, the Les Paul Trio and the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and Chorus perform a medley of Kern songs as a tribute to the songwriter on the Philco Radio Hall of Fame, December, 1944, shortly before his sixtieth birthday and about one year before his death.

Kern turned 50 on January 27, 1935, the year in which I Dream Too Much with Lily Pons premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The songwriter was living in Hollywood at the time writing songs for the movies but his friends in New York and elsewhere were determined to celebrate his fiftieth on a "national scale."

A tribute to be nationally broadcast on Alexander Woollcott's CBS radio show from New York (a program Kern often listened to) was planned. Gerald Bordman, Kern's biographer, notes that arrangements had been made so that Kern would be listening in his Beverly Wilshire hotel room. Woollcott began by announcing that his entire program would be devoted to Kern. First came performances of Kern's works followed by words of praise from the likes of Ethel Barrymore, Kathleen Norris, and Noel Coward, who called Kern his "favorite composer." The surprise climax came when, as Kern listened to the ensemble sing Happy Birthday to him from across the country, there was a knock at his door. When he opened it he found "Irving Berlin standing there with a bouquet of flowers." Woollcott later reported that Berlin said he had been teary eyed listening to the tribute and that when Kern saw him, the two of them "fell on each other's necks, 'just a couple of old Jewish pansies'" (Bordman, p. 353, paperback edition).

Jerome Kern His Life and Music by Gerald Bordman, book cover
Gerald Bordman, Jerome Kern His Life and Music, New York: Oxford University Press (1980)

back to top of page


Jerome Kern Songs
currently included in the
Cafe Songbook Catalog of
The Great American Songbook
  1. All in Fun

  2. All the Things You Are

  3. All through the Day

  4. Bill

  5. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man

  6. Dearly Beloved

  7. Don't Ever Leave Me

  8. A Fine Romance

  9. The Folks Who Live on the Hill

  10. I Won't Dance

  11. I'm Old Fashioned

  12. In Love in Vain

  13. I've Told Every Little Star

  14. The Last Time I Saw Paris

  15. Long Ago (and far away)

  16. Look for the Silver Lining

  17. Lovely To Look At

  18. Make Believe

  19. Never Gonna Dance

  20. Nobody Else but Me

  21. Ol' Man River

  22. Pick Yourself Up

  23. Remind Me

  24. She Didn't Say "Yes"

  25. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

  26. The Song Is You

  27. Sure Thing

  28. They Didn't Believe Me

  29. Till the Clouds Roll By

  30. The Touch of Your Hand

  31. The Way You Look Tonight

  32. Why Do I Love You?

  33. Why Was I Born?

  34. Wild Rode

  35. Yesterdays

  36. You Are Love

  37. You couldn't Be Cuter

  38. You Were Never Lovelier

Click here for a database of songs written or co-written by Jerome Kern.
back to top of page

 


Research Resources:
Jerome Kern

Jerome Kern research resources on the web (listed alphabetically by web source):
back to top of page
Jerome Kern research resources in print (listed chronologically):
 
back to top of page

Visitor Comments

Submit comments on songs, songwriters, performers, etc.
Feel free to suggest an addition or correction.
Please read our Comments Guidelines before making a submission.
(Posting of comments is subject to the guidelines.
Not all comments will be posted.)
To submit a comment, click here.

Posted Comments on Jerome Kern:

 

No comments as yet posted

back to top of page

Credits

(Jerome Kern page)

 

Credits for Videomakers of videos used on this page:

Borrowed material (text): The sources of all quoted and paraphrased text are cited. Such content is used under the rules of fair use to further the educational objectives of CafeSongbook.com. CafeSongbook.com makes no claims to rights of any kind in this content or the sources from which it comes.

 

Borrowed material (images): Images of CD, DVD, book and similar product covers are used courtesy of either Amazon.com or iTunes/LinkShare with which CafeSongbook.com maintains an affiliate status. All such images are linked to the source from which they came (i.e. either iTunes/LinkShare or Amazon.com).

 

Any other images that appear on CafeSongbook.com pages are either in the public domain or appear through the specific permission of their owners. Such permission will be acknowledged in this space on the page where the image is used.

 

For further information on Cafe Songbook policies with regard to the above matters, see our "About Cafe Songbook" page (link at top and bottom of every page).

 

Cafe Songbook
Master List
of Great American Songbook Songwriters

Names of songwriters who have written at least one song included in the Cafe Songbook Catalog of The Great American Songbook are listed below.

 

Names of songwriters with two or more song credits in the catalog (with rare exceptions) are linked to their own Cafe Songbook pages, e.g. Fields, Dorothy.

 

Names of songwriters with only one song credit in the catalog are linked to the Cafe Songbook page for that song, on which may be found information about the songwriter or a link to an information source for him or her.

 

Please note: Cafe Songbook pages for songwriters are currently in various stages of development.

A B C D E F G H I-J K L M N-O P-Q R S T-U
V W X-Y-Z
back to top of page

Adair, Tom

Adams, Lee

Adams, Stanley

Adamson, Harold

Ager, Milton

Ahbez, Eden

Ahlert, Fred

Akst, Harry

Alexander, Van

Allen, Lewis

Allen, Steve

Alter, Louis

Altman, Arthur

Anderson, Maxwell

Andre, Fabian

Arlen, Harold
Arnheim, Gus

Arodin, Sid

Atwood, Hub

Astaire, Fred

Austin, Gene

Ayer, Nat D.

Barbour, Dave

Barnes, Billy

Barris, Harry

Bassman, George

Belle, Barbara

Bennett, Dave

Bergman, Alan and Marilyn

Berlin, Irving

Bernie, Ben

Bernstein, Leonard

Best, William "Pat"

Blackburn, John

Blackwell, Otis (a.k.a. John Davenport)

Blake, Eubie

Blane, Ralph

Blitzstein, Marc

Bloom, Rube

Bock, Jerry

Block, Martin

Boland, Clay

Borne, Hal

Borodin, Alexander

Bowman, Brooks

Boyd, Elisse

Brent, Earl K.

Bricusse, Leslie

Brooks, Harry

Brooks, Shelton

Brown, Les

Brown, Lew

Brown, Nacio Herb

Brown, Seymour

Burke, Joe

Burke, Johnny

Burke, Sonny

Burnett, Ernie

Burns, Ralph

Burwell, Cliff

Bushkin, Joe

 

A B C D E F G H I-J K L M N-O P-Q R S T-U
V W X-Y-Z
back to top of page

 

Caesar, Irving

Cahn, Sammy

Caldwell, Anne

Campbell, Jimmy

Carey, Bill (William D.)

Carmichael, Hoagy

Carroll, Harry

Carter, Benny

Casey, Kenneth

Casucci, Leonello

Chaplin, Charlie

Chaplin, Saul

Charlap, Moose

Clare, Sidney

Chase, Newell

Churchill, Frank

Clarke, Grant

Clifford, Gordon

Clinton, Larry

Coates, Carroll

Coleman, Cy

Comden, Betty and Adolph Green

Conley, Larry

Connelly, Reginald

Conrad, Con

Cooley, Eddie

Coots, J. Fred

Cory, George

Coslow, Sam

Creamer, Henry

Crosby, Bing

Cross, Douglas

Daniels, Charles N.
Davenport, John (See Otis Blackwell.)

David, Mack

Davis, Benny

Davis, Jimmy

Dee, Sylvia

De Lange, Eddie

Denniker, Paul

Dennis, Matt

De Paul, Gene

De Rose, Peter

De Sylva, B.G. (Buddy)

DeVries, John

Dietz, Howard

Distel, Sacha

Dixon, Mort

Donaldson, Walter

Dorsey, Jimmy

Dougherty, Doc

Drake, Ervin
Drake, Milton

Dreyer, Dave

Dubin, Al

Duke, Vernon

Edens, Roger

Edwards, Michael

Egan, Raymond B.

Eliscu, Edward

Ellington, Duke

Elman, Ziggy

Engvick, William

Evans, Ray

Evans, Redd

Eyton, Frank

 

A B C D E F G H I-J K L M N-O P-Q R S T-U
V W X-Y-Z
back to top of page

 

Fain, Sammy

Fetter, Ted

Fields, Dorothy

Fischer, Carl

Fisher, Dan

Fisher, Fred

Fisher, Mark

Fisher, Marvin

Forrest, George

Freed, Arthur

Freed, Ralph

L. E. Freeman

Gaines, Lee

Gallop, Sammy

Gannon, Kim

Garner, Errol

Gaskill, Clarence

Gensler, Lewis E.

George, Don

Gershwin, George

Gershwin, Ira

Gillespie, Haven

Golden, John

Goodman, Benny

Goodwin, Joe

Gordon, Irving

Gordon, Mack

Gorney, Jay

Gorrell, Stuart

Goulding, Edmund

Grainger, Porter

Grand, Murray

Grant, Ian

Gray, Chauncey

Gray, Timothy

Grever, Maria

Grey, Clifford
Green, Adolph and Betty Comden

Green, Bud

Green, Freddie

Green, Johnny

Gross, Walter

Haggart, Bob

Hamilton, Arthur

Hamilton, Nancy

Hamm, Fred

Hammerstein, Arthur

Hammerstein II, Oscar

Hampton, Lionel

Handy, W. C.
Hanighen, Bernie

Hanley, James F.

Harbach, Otto

Harburg, E. Y. (Yip)

Harling, W. Franke

Harline, Leigh

Hart, Lorenz

Henderson, Jimmy

Henderson, Ray

Herbert, Victor

Herman, Woody

Herron, Joel S.

Herzog Jr., Arthur

Heyman, Edward

Heyward, Dubose

Higginbotham, Irene

Higgins, Billy

Hilliard, Bob

Hirsch, Walter

Hodges, Johnny

Holiday, Billie

Holiner, Mann

Hollander, Frederick

Holofcener, Larry

Homer, Ben

Hopper, Hal

Howard, Bart

Hubbell, Raymond

Hupfeld, Herman

 

A B C D E F G H I-J K L M N-O P-Q R S T-U
V W X-Y-Z
back to top of page

 

I-J

Jacobs, Jacob

Jaffe, Moe

James, Freddy (Pseud. for Teddy Powell)

James, Harry

James, Paul

Jenkins, Gordon

Johnson, James P.

Johnston, Arthur

Johnston, Patricia

Jolson, Al

Jones, Isham

Kahal, Irving

Kahn, Gus

Kahn, Roger Wolfe

Kalmar, Bert

Keith, Marilyn
Kent, Walter

Kern, Jerome

Kisco, Charles

Kitchings, Irene

Koehler, Ted

Kosma, Joseph

Kramer, Alex

Kramer, Joan Whitney

Kurtz, Manny

Laine, Frankie

Lamare, Jules (a.k.a Charles N.

Daniels and Neil Moret)

Lane, Burt
Landesman, Fran

Latouche, John

Lawrence, Eddie

Lawrence, Jack

Layton, Turner

Lee, Peggy

Leigh, Carolyn

Leonard, Anita

Lerner, Alan Jay
Leslie, Edgar

Levant, Oscar

Lewis, Morgan

Lewis, Sam M.

Link, Harry

Lippman, Sidney

Livingston, Fud

Livingston, Jay

Livingston, Jerry

Loeb, John Jacob

Loesser, Frank

Loewe, Frederick

Lombardo, Carmen

Lowe, Ruth

Lown, Bert
Lyman, Abe

 

A B C D E F G H I-J K L M N-O P-Q R S T-U
V W X-Y-Z
back to top of page

 

M

MacDonald, Ballard

Magidson, Herb
Malneck, Matty

Mancini, Henry

Mandel, Frank

Mandel, Johnny

Mann, David

Marks, Gerald

Martin, Hugh

Maschwitz, Eric

Mayer, Henry
McCarey, Leo

McCarthy, Joseph

McCarthy, Jr., Joseph

McHugh, Jimmy

McCoy, Joe

Mellin, Robert

Mercer, Johnny

Merrill, Bob

Mertz, Paul Madeira

Meyer, Joseph

Miles, Dick

Miller, Glenn

Miller, Nathan Ned

Mills, Irving
Mitchell, Sidney D.

Moll, Billy

Monaco, Jimmy

Moret, Neil (aka Charles N. Daniels)

Morey, Larry

Moross, Jerome

Mundy, Jimmy

Muse, Clarence

Myrow, Josef

Nemo, Henry

Newley, Anthony

Nichols, Alberta

Noble, Ray

Norman, Pierre
Norton, George A.

Oakland, Ben

Overstreet, Benton W.

Palmer, Jack

Palmer, Bee

Parish, Mitchell

Parker, Dorothy

Parker, Sol

Parsons, Geoffrey

Perkins, Frank S.

Phillipe-Gérard M(ichel)

Pinkard, Maceo

Porter, Cole

Prima, Louis

Prince, Graham

Prince, Hughie

 

A B C D E F G H I-J K L M N-O P-Q R S T-U
V W X-Y-Z
back to top of page

Rainger, Ralph

Raksin, David

Ram, Buck

Ramirez, Roger (Ram)

Rand Lionel

Raye, Don

Razaf, Andy

Reardon, Jack

Redmond, John

Rene, Leon T.

Rene, Otis

Revel, Harry

Reynolds, Ellis

Reynolds, Herbert

Rhodes, Stan

Robin, Leo

Robin, Sid

Robison, Willard

Rodgers, Richard

Romberg, Sigmund

Rome, Harold

Ronell, Ann
Rose, Billy

Rose, Fred

Rose, Vincent

Ruby, Harry

Ruby, Herman

Ruskin, Harry

Russell, Bob

Sampson, Edgar

Sanicola, Henry

Santly, Lester

Savitt, Jay

Secunda, Sholom

Segal Jack
Schertzinger, Victor
Schwandt, Wilbur

Schwartz, Arthur

Scott, Bertha

Shapiro, Ted

Shavers, Charlie

Shay, Larry

Shearing, George

Sherman, Jimmy

Sherwin, Manning

Sigman, Carl

Signorelli, Frank

Silvers, Phil

Simons, Seymour

Sinatra, Frank

Sissle, Noble

Skylar, Sunny

Snyder, Ted

Sondheim, Stephen

Sour, Robert
Spence, Lew

Springer, Philip

Stept, Sam H.

Stock, Larry

Stordahl, Axel

Strachey, Jack

Strayhorn, Billy

Strouse, Charles

Styne, Jule

Suessdorf, Karl

Suesse, Dana

Sullivan, Henry

Swan, Einar Aaron

Swift, Kay

Symes, Marty

 

A B C D E F G H I-J K L M N-O P-Q R S T-U
V W X-Y-Z
back to top of page

 

T-U

Tauber, Doris

Teagarten, Jack

Thompson, Kay
Tobias, Charles

Tobias, Harry

Tormé, Mel

Tracey, William G.
Trent, Jo

Troop, Bobby

Turk, Roy

Turner, John

Van Heusen, Jimmy (James)

Vimmerstedt, Sadie

Waller, Fats

Warfield, Charles

Warren, Harry

Washington, Ned
Watson, Johnny

Webb, Chick

Webster, Paul Francis

Weill, Kurt

Weiss, George David

Wells, Robert

Weston, Paul

Whiting, Richard A.

Whiting, George A.

Wilder, Alec

Wiley, Lee

Wilkinson, Dudley


Williams, Clarence

Williams, Spencer

Wodehouse, P. G.

Wolf, Donald E.

Wolf, Jack

Wolf, Tommy

Wood, Guy B

Woods, Harry M.

Wright, Lawrence

Wright, Robert

Wrubel, Allie

Yellen, Jack

Youmans, Vincent

Young, Joe

Young, Trummy

Young, Victor

A B C D E F G H I-J K L M N-O P-Q R S T-U
V W X-Y-Z
back to top of page
back to top of page