Harry Barris, songwriter: Reference Sources

Overview and Commentary Harry Barris

Harry Barris was a popular singer and songwriter, born to Jewish parents in New York City, and as described by Gary Giddins, was "as frenetic as Bing was calm . . . the quintessence of Jazz Age show buiness, or at least though he was." Giddins portrays him as "small, wiry, and moon-faced with glittery eyes, and dark hair slicked back and parted in the middle."

Barris first made his mark as a member of the Rhythm Boys, a trio of singers also including Crosby and Crosby's boyhood friend Al Rinker. The group's most well known gigs were first with Paul Whiteman, which included singing several numbers in the film King of Jazz (1930). The Rhythm boys recorded both with Whiteman, with whom they were a star attraction between 1927 and 1930, and on their own with Barris on piano. After Whiteman fired them for undependable behavior (usually caused by drinking too much), they landed a job with the Gus Arnheim Orchestra at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, which led to Crosby's first hit "I Surrender Dear," written by Barris (music) and Gordon Clifford (words) in 1931.

Barris appeared in scores of films between 1931 and 1950, usually as a pianist and singer. Later he was the night club pianist In The Lost Weekend (1945) who humiliates Ray Milland by singing "Somebody Stole My Purse." Off screen, Barris was a successful songwriter composing the music for "Mississippi Mud," "I Surrender Dear," "It Must Be True," and "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams."

Sources: Wikipedia ; the Harry Barris Bio. at Solid , and Gary Giddins, Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams.

Cafe Songbook Music-Video Cabinet: Harry Barris

• I Surrender Dear
• Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams

Research Resources: Harry Barris

• AllMusic.com (bio. and other data)
• The Bing Crosby News Archive ("Spotlight on Harry Barris" -- photo, history, comments)
• DBOPM (Database Of Popular Music: song list, awards, hit songs, co-writers)
• Discogs.com (songwriting and arranging credits)
• Internet Movie Database (brief biography, filmography, movie song credits);
• New York Public Library (catalog entries for books, personal papers, recordings, scores, etc.)
• The New York Times (articles, including Obit., about or related to the songwriter)
• RedHotJazz.com ("Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys" (which includes Barris).
• Solid -- The encyclopedia of big band, lounge, classic jazz and space-age sounds (Biog. and photo)
• Wikipedia (Barris article)
• ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers, New York: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (3rd edition, 1966, entry p. 35).
• Alec Wilder, American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950, New York: Oxford University Press, 1972 -- commentary on two Barris songs: "It Must Be True (469-470) and "It Was So Beautiful" (476) -- pages from hardcover Ed..
• Gary Giddins, Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams-- The Early Years 1903-1940, Boston: Little Brown, 2001 (multiple references including a chapter on The Rhythm Boys.
• David A. Jasen, Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song, New York: Routledge, 2003 (entry, p. 24).
• Barris piano and scat: CCJazzmen2
• "It Mus Be true": phonomono78s
• Barris/Shirley Ross/Kingsmen: perfectjazz78

Notes

• Gary Giddins. Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams--The Early Years 1903-1940 Boston: Little Brown, 2001.
• Plagued by a life-long drinking problem, Barris died in Burbank, California, at the age of 57.
• Gus Arnheim and His Orchestra in Hollywood, 1928-1933

Cite this page: Harry Barris, songwriter: Reference Sources, Cafe Songbook, https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songwriters/b_sws/barris_harry.html