“Lullaby Of Birdland” Lyricist George David Weiss Dead At 89
Posted by D.A. Gutierrez in History, Jazz Events, News
August 24th, 2010 2 Comments »
It’s always amazing how many unknown artists touch my life through their work; artists such as George David Weiss who I only find out about through the obituaries.
If you’ve ever tapped your foot or broken out into spontaneous song over tunes like “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” “What A Wonderful World,” or my personal favorite “Lullaby of Birdland,” you can thank Mr. Weiss. (Here’s an interesting bit of trivia – because of some music industry B.S. preventing ASCAP and BMI composers from collaborating, his teaming with George Shearing on “Lullaby of Birdland” was under the pseudonym “B. Y. Forster.”)
Mr. Weiss wrote many other hit songs spanning multiple genres in the middle part of the 20th century. He passed away yesterday at his home in Oldwick, NJ, at the age of 89.
You can read more about this great composer’s life in the NY Times obituary or in his Wikipedia entry.
-
Rick Starr
-
http://twitter.com/jazzvillenj Jazzville, NJ