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The Great American Songbook

Harry Warren

Duration: 57 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 2Latest broadcast: on BBC Radio 2

Leo Green considers why it is that we never seem to talk about Harry Warren in the way we do Gershwin, Porter or Kern. Was it, is as he said himself, that he was first and foremost a family man preferring to spend time with them away from the Hollywood party scene. Or did he just not need to be recognised as one of the famous. As one of eleven children born to a first generation Italian immigrant family in Brooklyn, Warren's rise to songwriting fame was astonishing - as well composing as a mere 42 top 10 hits of which 21 went to Number 1, his songs feature on more than 300 movies and his melodies can be heard on more than 100 Looney Tunes cartoons; There were also Academy Awards and the small matter of the musical 42nd Street making him an unrivalled master. Show less

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