Yip Harburg: Legendary Lyricist and Human Rights Activist

Notes

Notes Many of the sources used in this book came courtesy of the Yip Harburg Foundation. I have designated these as YHF. Complete citations for lyrics appear in the Lyric Credits. PREFACE AND A NOTE TO THE READER 1 Facts on Over the Rainbow adapted from “A Yip Harburg Chronology,” Yip Harburg Foundation (YHF). 2 “Yip at the 92nd Street YM-YWHA, December 13, 1970,” typed transcript 1-10-3, p. 3, cassettes 7-2-10 and 7-2-20, YHF. 3 “Yip at the Y #2, February 1, 1972,” typed transcript, p. 3, archive tapes 7-2-50 and 7-2-60. YHF. 4 Denny Martin Flinn, Musical! A Grand Tour (New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1997), p. 363. 5 Ibid. 6 Wilfrid Sheed, The House That George Built (New York: Random House, 2008), p. xxv. 7 “Yip at the Y #2,” p. 10. The song from Finian’s Rainbow is titled “When I’m Not Near the Girl I Love.” 8 “Table 1: Yip’s Composers and Number of Songs Published with Yip and Registered at American Societyof Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP),” in Harold Meyerson and Ernie Harburg,Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz? (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993), p. 39; also “Yip Harburg ’s Composers” with explanation by Nick Markovich, July 18, 2008, YHF. 9 “Appendix 4: Alphabetical List of Yip Harburg’s Song Titles (537),” Meyerson and Harburg, pp. 393–405. 10 “Something Sort of Grandish–Paul Lazarus, WBAI-FM, March 2, 1980,” typed transcript 1-9-8, p. 16, recording 7-1-100, YHF. 11 “Over the Rainbow: Yip Harburg interviewed by Deena Rosenberg, 1980,” typed transcript from video documentary, p. 11, archive audio cassette 7-1220 , archive video cassette 5-1-41, YHF. 12 E. Y. Harburg, “Lecture at UCLA on Lyric Writing, February 3, 1977,” typed transcript, pp. 5–7, tape 7-3-10, YHF. 260 | Notes to Chapter 2 1. WHAT’S IN A NAME? 1 Much of this material has been gathered into “The Evolution of E. Y. Harburg ’s Name” collected by the Yip Harburg Foundation (YHF). 2 “Speech by E. Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg: Oral History Luncheon, Waldorf-Astoria, May 17, 1980, Moderated by Martin Bookspan,” typed transcript, pp. 2–3, recording 7-2-201, YHF. 3 City College transcript for Edgar Y. Harburg, courtesy of the registrar’s office of the City College of New York. 4 Ibid. The transcript is currently available only on microfilm and is difficult to read in places. Yip’s father’s name could be “Leivin” or “Lewis” or “Louis.” 5 Ibid. 6 Interview with Studs Terkel, n.d., quoted in Harold Meyerson and Ernie Harburg , Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz? (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993), p. 10. 7 “Yip Harburg interviewed by Michael Jackson, KABC Radio, California, post-1976, n.d.,” typed transcript 1-9-1, p. 10, tape 7-1-20, YHF. 2. EARLY YEARS 1 “Reminiscences of E. Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg” (February 1959) on p. 1 in the Popular Arts Project through the Columbia University Center for Oral History. 2 “Speech by E. Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg: Oral History Luncheon, Waldorf-Astoria, May 17, 1980, Moderated by Martin Bookspan,” typed transcript, pp. 2–3, recording 7-2-201, Yip Harburg Foundation (YHF). 3 “Reminiscences of E. Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg,” p. 2. 4 Yip Harburg in Bernard Rosenberg and Ernest Goldstein, Creators and Disturbers: Reminiscences by Jewish Intellectuals of New York (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982), pp. 135–54. 5 “Brief Interview with Yip Harburg: Canadian Broadcasting Company (not confirmed), n.d.,” typed transcript 1-9-22, pp. 1–2, tape 7-1-200, YHF; probably from the late 1970s or 1980. 6 “Reminiscences of E. Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg,” p. 3. 7 Rosenberg and Goldstein, pp. 139–40. 8 Max Wilk, They’re Playing Our Song: Conversations with America’s Classic Songwriters (New York: De Capo Press, 1973, 1991; reprint 1997), p. 229. 9 Rosenberg and Goldstein, pp. 140–41. 10 “Over the Rainbow: Yip Harburg interviewed by Deena Rosenberg, 1980,” typed transcript from video documentary, pp. 1–2, archive audio cassette 7-1220 , archive video cassette 5-1-41, YHF. Notes to Chapter 3 | 261 11 Rosenberg and Goldstein, pp. 138–39. 12 Wilk, p. 229. 13 “The David Frost Show—February 23, 1972, Guest: Yip Harburg,” typed transcript 1-9-25, p. 2, VHS 185, audio...