Biography
One of the most versatile American songwriters of the twentieth century, Sammy Cahn scored his initial success before turning twenty-two and went on to enjoy more than fifty years of hit-making and prize-collecting activity. He collaborated most often with Jule Styne in the 1940s and Jimmy Van Heusen in the 1950s, although Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston also supplied melodies; the resulting catalog ranged from aching ballads such as “I’ll Walk Alone” and “Only the Lonely” to buoyant swing numbers like “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” and “Saturday Night Is the Loneliest Night of the Week.”
Samuel Cohen entered the world on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in June 1913 as the child of Polish Jewish immigrants. Encouraged by his mother to study violin, he soon joined a pickup ensemble that performed at bar mitzvahs and other communal celebrations. At sixteen he began composing tunes and persuaded fellow band member Saul Chaplin to form a songwriting team. The pair placed material with dance orchestras and vaudeville acts, achieving their first chart entry when Jimmie Lunceford’s Orchestra cut “Rhythm Is Our Business” in 1935. Over the following twenty-four months they supplied three additional major successes: “Until the Real Thing Comes Along” for Andy Kirk, the Yiddish novelty “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön,” which became the Andrews Sisters’ first million-selling record, and “Please Be Kind,” taken up by Benny Goodman and Bob Crosby.
After their Warner Bros. contract lapsed in the early 1940s, Cahn and Chaplin parted ways. Cahn quickly formed a new alliance with Jule Styne, the partnership responsible for his most enduring catalog. Working chiefly for Frank Sinatra—who had met Cahn while both were associated with the Tommy Dorsey band—they placed numerous titles at the top of the Hit Parade. Among the most prominent were “Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)” (Sinatra, Sammy Kaye, Frankie Carle), “I’ve Heard That Song Before” (Harry James), “I’ll Walk Alone” (Doris Day), “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” (Bing Crosby, Harry James, Charlie Spivak), “The Things We Did Last Summer” (Sinatra), “Five Minutes More” (Sinatra, Tex Beneke, the Three Suns, Bob Crosby), and “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (Vaughn Monroe, Woody Herman, Connee Boswell, Bob Crosby). The team also supplied complete scores for several motion pictures and the 1947 Broadway production High Button Shoes.
Although High Button Shoes proved lucrative, it marked the end of regular collaboration between Cahn and Styne for nearly a decade. While Styne remained in New York, Cahn relocated to Hollywood and teamed with Nicholas Brodszky, writing six songs for Mario Lanza films and the Doris Day vehicle “I’ll Never Stop Loving You.” The two songwriters resumed their partnership in 1954; during the brief reunion they earned an Academy Award for the title song of Three Coins in the Fountain, performed by Sinatra, and contributed material to Marilyn Monroe’s The Seven Year Itch.
By the middle of the decade the relationship with Styne had cooled, prompting Cahn to approach Sinatra once more. This time his principal collaborator was Jimmy Van Heusen. Their joint output included the film title “(Love Is) The Tender Trap,” plus two further Oscar winners for Best Original Song—“All the Way” and “High Hopes.” Additional Sinatra favorites from the late 1950s and early 1960s, many serving as album titles, encompassed “Come Fly with Me,” “Come Dance with Me,” “Only the Lonely,” “No One Cares,” and “September of My Years.” Beyond Sinatra projects, Cahn and Van Heusen secured a fourth Oscar with “Call Me Irresponsible,” composed the score for a television version of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town (introducing the standard “Love and Marriage”), and supplied music for the Broadway productions Skyscraper and Walking Happy.
At the close of the 1960s Cahn rejoined Styne for the short-lived musical Look to the Lilies. Entering the 1970s, he shifted focus toward performance, writing and starring in the autobiographical revue Words and Music, which earned him the Outer Circle Critics’ award for Best New Talent on Broadway—an honor tinged with irony given his long prior career. He toured the show to England the following year and revived it in the 1980s. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Sammy Cahn died in Los Angeles on January 15, 1993.
Samuel Cohen entered the world on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in June 1913 as the child of Polish Jewish immigrants. Encouraged by his mother to study violin, he soon joined a pickup ensemble that performed at bar mitzvahs and other communal celebrations. At sixteen he began composing tunes and persuaded fellow band member Saul Chaplin to form a songwriting team. The pair placed material with dance orchestras and vaudeville acts, achieving their first chart entry when Jimmie Lunceford’s Orchestra cut “Rhythm Is Our Business” in 1935. Over the following twenty-four months they supplied three additional major successes: “Until the Real Thing Comes Along” for Andy Kirk, the Yiddish novelty “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön,” which became the Andrews Sisters’ first million-selling record, and “Please Be Kind,” taken up by Benny Goodman and Bob Crosby.
After their Warner Bros. contract lapsed in the early 1940s, Cahn and Chaplin parted ways. Cahn quickly formed a new alliance with Jule Styne, the partnership responsible for his most enduring catalog. Working chiefly for Frank Sinatra—who had met Cahn while both were associated with the Tommy Dorsey band—they placed numerous titles at the top of the Hit Parade. Among the most prominent were “Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)” (Sinatra, Sammy Kaye, Frankie Carle), “I’ve Heard That Song Before” (Harry James), “I’ll Walk Alone” (Doris Day), “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” (Bing Crosby, Harry James, Charlie Spivak), “The Things We Did Last Summer” (Sinatra), “Five Minutes More” (Sinatra, Tex Beneke, the Three Suns, Bob Crosby), and “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (Vaughn Monroe, Woody Herman, Connee Boswell, Bob Crosby). The team also supplied complete scores for several motion pictures and the 1947 Broadway production High Button Shoes.
Although High Button Shoes proved lucrative, it marked the end of regular collaboration between Cahn and Styne for nearly a decade. While Styne remained in New York, Cahn relocated to Hollywood and teamed with Nicholas Brodszky, writing six songs for Mario Lanza films and the Doris Day vehicle “I’ll Never Stop Loving You.” The two songwriters resumed their partnership in 1954; during the brief reunion they earned an Academy Award for the title song of Three Coins in the Fountain, performed by Sinatra, and contributed material to Marilyn Monroe’s The Seven Year Itch.
By the middle of the decade the relationship with Styne had cooled, prompting Cahn to approach Sinatra once more. This time his principal collaborator was Jimmy Van Heusen. Their joint output included the film title “(Love Is) The Tender Trap,” plus two further Oscar winners for Best Original Song—“All the Way” and “High Hopes.” Additional Sinatra favorites from the late 1950s and early 1960s, many serving as album titles, encompassed “Come Fly with Me,” “Come Dance with Me,” “Only the Lonely,” “No One Cares,” and “September of My Years.” Beyond Sinatra projects, Cahn and Van Heusen secured a fourth Oscar with “Call Me Irresponsible,” composed the score for a television version of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town (introducing the standard “Love and Marriage”), and supplied music for the Broadway productions Skyscraper and Walking Happy.
At the close of the 1960s Cahn rejoined Styne for the short-lived musical Look to the Lilies. Entering the 1970s, he shifted focus toward performance, writing and starring in the autobiographical revue Words and Music, which earned him the Outer Circle Critics’ award for Best New Talent on Broadway—an honor tinged with irony given his long prior career. He toured the show to England the following year and revived it in the 1980s. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Sammy Cahn died in Los Angeles on January 15, 1993.