Biography
Bob Merrill ranks among popular music’s most productive and widely admired composers, celebrated above all for a remarkable run of successes that extended from playful novelties such as “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” to more substantial numbers like Barbra Streisand’s “People.” Born in Atlantic City in 1921, he hitchhiked to New York at seventeen and began his working life affixing lettering to movie marquees. After several brief theatrical engagements he moved to Hollywood, where his breakthrough arrived through writing and composing for radio. His earliest numbers—“Why Does It Have to Rain on Sunday?,” “Lovers Gold,” and “Fool’s Paradise”—each found buyers yet none became hits. Joining forces with Al Hoffman and Clem Watts, he co-wrote “If I Knew You Were Coming I’d’ve Baked a Cake,” and when Eileen Barton carried it to the top of the charts Merrill’s career began its ascent.
Throughout the late 1940s and the 1950s his compositions appeared constantly, among them “Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” “My Truly, Truly Fair,” “Sparrow in the Tree Top,” “Love Makes the World Go ’Round,” and “Mambo Italiano.” Unable to read or write music, he produced every melody on an inexpensive toy xylophone whose keys he numbered to transcribe the lines. The ingratiating character of his work was marked by its buoyant, wholesome tone; he met complaints about clichéd lyrics with equanimity, readily admitting that he kept a notebook of such phrases to help craft songs of wider appeal. Returning later to Broadway, he scored his greatest success with the Streisand vehicle Funny Girl, which, in addition to “People,” introduced the lasting standard “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” In 1964 he received the New York Drama Critics award for his contributions to Carnival and New Girl in Town. After a prolonged illness, Merrill ended his life on February 17, 1998, at the age of seventy-four.
Throughout the late 1940s and the 1950s his compositions appeared constantly, among them “Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” “My Truly, Truly Fair,” “Sparrow in the Tree Top,” “Love Makes the World Go ’Round,” and “Mambo Italiano.” Unable to read or write music, he produced every melody on an inexpensive toy xylophone whose keys he numbered to transcribe the lines. The ingratiating character of his work was marked by its buoyant, wholesome tone; he met complaints about clichéd lyrics with equanimity, readily admitting that he kept a notebook of such phrases to help craft songs of wider appeal. Returning later to Broadway, he scored his greatest success with the Streisand vehicle Funny Girl, which, in addition to “People,” introduced the lasting standard “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” In 1964 he received the New York Drama Critics award for his contributions to Carnival and New Girl in Town. After a prolonged illness, Merrill ended his life on February 17, 1998, at the age of seventy-four.
Albums
