Dave Barbour, songwriter: Reference Sources

Dave Barbour was born in Flushing (Queens), New York. He began his career as a banjoist with Adrian Rollini in 1933 and then Wingy Manone in 1934. He switched to guitar in the middle of the decade and played with Red Norvo in 1935-1936. He found much work as a studio musician and played in ensembles with Artie Shaw(1939), Lennie Hayton, Charlie Barnet (1945), Raymond Scott, Glenn Miller, Lou Holden, and Woody Herman (1949). He also recorded with Andre Previn in 1945 and worked with Benny Carter in 1962.

Barbour played with Benny Goodman in 1942, and while a member of Goodman's ensemble fell in love with lead singer Peggy Lee. The pair quit the Goodman group to marry in 1943. Soon after they moved to Los Angeles where Johnny Mercer put them to work as a songwriting team. They collaborated on a number of Lee's hits, such as "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)" and "It's a Good Day." Barbour was an alcoholic which led to the end of their marriage in 1952. Barbour and Lee had one child in 1943, a daughter, Nicki Lee Foster.

Dave Barbour and His Orchestra had the best-selling version (USA) of the peppy song "Mambo Jambo," but his remaining career was far less successful than Lee's (who would marry three more times). His songwriting royalties sustained him, as the tunes he co-wrote with Lee were covered by many hit makers of the 1950s.

The above is adapted from the Wikipedia article on Barbour. See Also biography at Solid .

Cafe Songbook Music-Video Cabinet: Dave Barbour

• I Don't Know Enough about You
• It's a Good Day

Research Resources: Dave Barbour

• AllMusic.com (Bio. and other related data)
• Amazon (publications by and about, recordings, videos, sheet music, etc.)
• DBOPM (Database Of Popular Music: song list; awards; hit songs; co-writers)
• Discogs.com (songwriting and arranging credits)
• Internet Broadway Database (Broadway productions and song credits)
• Internet Movie Database--IMDB (brief biography, filmography, movie song credits)
• New York Public Library (catalog entries for books, personal papers, recordings, scores, etc.)
• The New York Times (articles obituary about or related to the songwriter -- incluces Obit.)
• Solid -- The encyclopedia of big band, lounge, classic jazz and space-age sounds (Biog. and photo)
• Wikipedia (Barbour article)
• ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers, New York: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (3rd edition, 1966, entry p. 31).
• Peter Richmond, Fever: The Life and Music of Miss Peggy Lee, Picador, 2007 (multiple references to Barbour).
• "I Cover the Waterfront": Pipecmoysu
• "I May Be Wrong": Arlis Tyner

The overview above is adapted from the Wikipedia article on Barbour.

Notes

• Barbour was also an actor who appeared in such films as The Secret Fury and Mr. Music .
• Barbour died in 1965 in southern California, aged 53.

Cite this page: Dave Barbour, songwriter: Reference Sources, Cafe Songbook, https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songwriters/b_sws/barbour_dave.html