Howard Dietz, songwriter: reference sources (web and print); selected songs; recordings, videos; miscellany

Howard Dietz did not write exclusively with Arthur Schwartz, but nearly so. In fact, the only song in the Cafe Songbook Catalog of The Great American Songbookwith lyrics by Howard Dietz but not having music by Arthur Schwartz is "Moanin' Low," a song Dietz wrote with Ralph Rainger for the revue, The Little Show in 1929. All of the other songs in that show with Dietz lyrics have music by Schwartz.

In his autobiography Dietz mentions a noteworthy occasion on which he wrote some songs with another composer, George Gershwin. He explains how he came to help write the lyrics for several of the songs from the 1926 George and Ira Gershwin show, Oh, Kay! Dietz writes that help was needed when Ira had to undergo an appendectomy, and he was called to fill in. Dietz wrote the lyrics for the songs "Oh, Kay!" and "Heaven on Earth," for which he received credit, as well as the versefor "Clap Yo' Hands" and the title for "the best song in the show, 'Someone to Watch Over Me'" for which he didn't receive credit. According to Dietz, who had not yet partnered up with Arthur Schwartz and become a famous lyricist himself, was chosen by George over the more obvious possibilities of Oh, Kay!'s book-writers, P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, because he would work more cheaply and was willing to accept less credit, which George wanted to go solely to his brother. Dietz adds, I was very proud to work with the great Gershwin and I would have done it for nothing, which I did." (Dancing in the Dark, p. 74 Hardcover Ed.)

• Alone Together
• By Myself
• Dancing in the Dark
• Haunted Heart
• I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan
• I See Your Face before Me
• If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You
• Moanin' Low
• New Sun in the Sky
• Rhode Island Is Famous for You
• Shine on Your Shoe
• Something To Remember You By
• Something You Never Had Before
• That's Entertainment
• You and the Night and the Music

Research Resources: Howard Dietz

• Amazon (books by and about, recordings, videos, etc.)
• DBOPM (Database Of Popular Music: song list; awards; hit songs; co-writers)
• Discogs.com (writing and arrangements credits)
• Doolee.com/Playwrites Database (data on the plays that Dietz wrote, as lyricist and/or book writer);
• Indiana University Sheet Music Collection (In Harmony): Howard Dietz
• Internet Broadway Database (Broadway productions and song credits)
• Internet Movie Database (brief biography, filmography, movie song credits)
• New York Public Library (catalog entries for links) the Howard Dietz papers, books, recordings, exhibition material, etc.)
• Songwriters Hall of Fame (biography and song list)
• Wikipedia (Howard Dietz article)
• ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers, New York: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (dates, career, shows/movies, songs; 3rd edition, 1966, entry p. 174-175)
• Howard Dietz. Dancing in the Dark An Autobiography. New York: Quadrangle, 1974 (includes table of Dietz shows and many lyrics).
• David Ewen. American Songwriters, An H. W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary. New York: The H. W. Wilson Co., 1987 (includes 146 bios of composers and lyricists). -- a wide selection of used copies is available at abebooks.com (entry for Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, pp. 349-354).
• Wolfgang Saxon. "Howard Dietz, Songwriter, Dies at 86." The New York Times, August 1, 1983 (obituary).
• Thomas S. Hischak. Word Crazy: Broadway Lyricists from Cohan to Sondheim. New York: Praeger, 1991 (pp. 71-75).
• William Zinsser. Easy to Remember The Great American Songwriters and Their Songs. Jaffrey, New Hampshire: David R. Godine, 2000 (chapter on Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, pp. 67-71).
• Ken Bloom. The American Songbook, The Singers, The Songwriters and the Songs. New York: Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 2005 (entry for Arthur Schwarz and Howard Dietz, 294-296).

Notes

• Other Dietz songwriting collaborators include Vernon Duke , Jerome Kern , and Jimmy McHugh

Cite this page: Howard Dietz, songwriter: reference sources (web and print); selected songs; recordings, videos; miscellany, Cafe Songbook, https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songwriters/d_sws/dietz_howard.html