“Without A Song” – Vincent Youmans, Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu.

This songwriting team partnered for the 1929 Broadway show Great Day, which included this song and another standard, “More Than You Know.” There are numerous notable versions of “Without A Song” including recordings by Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Oscar Peterson, Louis Armstrong, Billy Ekstine, The Isley Brothers, The Ravens, Joe Henderson, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Stanley Turrentine, Stan Getz, and Sonny Rollins on his famous “comeback” recording The Bridge.

Vincent Youmans was born in New York City in 1898, and grew up on Central Park West. While in the Navy during WW1 he produced shows for the troops. After the war he became a Tin Pan Alley song plugger, and a rehearsal pianist for Victor Herbert’s operettas. He wrote the music for No, No Nannette in 1927 with lyricist Irving Ceasar, producing the perennial “Tea for Two.” Throughout his career he has collaborated with many lyricists including Oscar Hammerstein, Gus Khan, Edward Heyman (Heyman and Youman?), and Buddy DeSylva. He is credited with over 100 songs including “Rise and Shine” and “Tie a String AroundYour Finger.”

Born in 1899, Billy Rose rose to become a major force in American entertainment. After WW1 Rose became a Tin Pan Alley lyricist with songs like “Me and My Shadow” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” Rose became a Broadway producer, and opened the Billy Rose Music Hall on 52nd and Broadway in 1939, with the Benny Goodman Orchestra as the headliner. He was married to famous entertainer Fannie Brice, the subject of the Barbara Streisand movie Funny Girl. Later in 1939, he opened Aquacade, a show at the World’s Fair featuring swimmers Esther Williams, Johnny Weissmuller, and Eleanor Holman, whom he later married. He gave Gene Kelley his first big break at his nightclub on Broadway. In 1943 he produced Carmen Jones, an adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen featuring an all-black cast. He also owned the Billy Rose Theater, which after his death in 1966 was renamed the Nederlander, which now houses the show Rent. When Rose died, he was worth more than 42 million dollars.

Edward Eliscu, born in 1902, lived 96 years, and worked as a lyricist, playwrite, screenwriter, producer, and actor. His first hit was the show Great Day with Youmans and Rose in 1929. After the crash of ’29, he moved to Hollywood, partnered with Gus Khan and wrote the music in 1933 for Flying Down to Rio, the first movie to pair Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. He also wrote scripts for movies including The Gay Divorcee, also from 1933. He was blacklisted in the 1950’s for his political views. He also partnered with composers Billy Hill and Vernon Duke.