Al Sherman
Encyclopedia
- For the football player and coach, see Allie ShermanAllie ShermanAlexander "Allie" Sherman is a retired American football National Football League running back and head coach....
.
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
from the first half of the twentieth century. Sherman is a link in a long chain of musical Sherman family members.
Early life
Al Sherman was born into a Jewish musical family in KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. His father, Samuel Sherman, fled a Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
in 1903, settling in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
which was then part of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. Luck turned for Samuel and he landed a job as concertmaster, first violinist and sometimes court composer in the Royal Court of Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Franz Josef
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
. Within a short time, Samuel was able to send for his family to live with him in Prague.
As a young boy, Al would stand in the wings to hear his father play for the Bohemian
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
, thus sparking the young boy's love of music. Once, when Al was about six years old, the Emperor sent guards to find out who was rustling around behind the curtains. He then asked the frightened youngster (Al) to sit on his knee for the duration of the concert.
In 1909 Samuel decided to take his family to America, but in America Samuel's luck turned again, this time for the worse. In New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Samuel was just another out-of-work musician. The pressure became too much for Samuel and he eventually left his wife Lena and their five young children, Olga, Al, Edith, Regina and Harold.
At the age of 13, Al became the "man" of the family and quit school to work. Nevertheless, Al had a very "accepting" attitude and kept in close contact with Samuel until Samuel's death in 1947. Al had a burning desire to become a musician and taught himself to play the piano, learning from the Beyers Book for Beginners.
Despite his youth and scant knowledge of English, his natural talent for piano improvisation soon earned him a reputation as a top "mood music
Mood music
Mood music may refer to:* Beautiful music* Easy listening* Exotica* Light music* Joe Budden's set of 4 mixtapes, 1 remix mixtape, 1 album, and 1 mixtape awaiting release....
" pianist. His services to improvise inspirational music were sought by many silent film stars including Pauline Frederick
Pauline Frederick
Pauline Frederick was a leading Broadway actress who later became known for her motion picture work.-Early years:...
, Mae Murray
Mae Murray
Mae Murray was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen"....
and Olga Petrova
Olga Petrova
Olga Petrova was an American actress, screenwriter and playwright. Born as Muriel Harding in England, she moved to the United States and became a star of vaudeville using the stage name Olga Petrova. Petrova starred in a number of films for Solax Studios and was Metro Pictures first diva, usually...
. In 1916, Universal
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
signed Al to do bit parts in silent films as well. He later appeared in motion pictures with Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, Mary Fuller
Mary Fuller
Mary Claire Fuller was an American stage and silent film actress and screenwriter.-Early life:Born in Washington, D.C., to Nora Swing and attorney Miles Fuller, she spent her childhood on a farm. As a child, she was interested in music, writing and art...
, Clara Kimball Young
Clara Kimball Young
Clara Kimball Young was an American film actress, who was highly regarded and publicly popular in the early silent film era.-Early life:...
and William Powell
William Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
.
Al's composing career began in 1918 when he became a staff pianist for the Remick Music Company. There, he worked alongside George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
and Vincent Youmans
Vincent Youmans
Vincent Youmans was an American popular composer and Broadway producer.- Life :Vincent Millie Youmans was born in New York City on September 27, 1898 and grew-up on Central Park West on the site where the Mayflower Hotel once stood. His father, a prosperous hat manufacturer, moved the family to...
. During this time Al also organized and directed a small orchestra which played in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Miami Beach.
Marriage
In the summer of 1921, Al was at the piano leading his orchestra when he met a silent filmSilent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
actress, Rosa Dancis. They married in 1923.
Sons, Richard & Robert
Al and Rosa Sherman's elder son, Robert Bernard Sherman was born on December 19, 1925. Their younger son, Richard Morton Sherman was born on June 12, 1928. Both boys were born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The Sherman Brothers
Sherman Brothers
The Sherman Brothers are an American songwriting duo that specialize in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman ....
would one day prove to be Al's greatest songwriting achievement, forming one of the most formidable songwriting teams in family entertainment. (Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The...
).
Career
In the 1920s, 30s and 40s, Al collaborated with songwriters including Sam CoslowSam Coslow
Sam Coslow was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher, and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager...
, Irving Mills
Irving Mills
Irving Mills was a jazz music publisher, also known by the name of "Joe Primrose."Mills was born to Jewish parents in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. He founded Mills Music with his brother Jack in 1919...
, Charles O'Flynn
Charles O'Flynn
Charles O'Flynn was an American twentieth century songwriter, who was active during the Tin Pan Alley era; specifically from 1921 to 1947. One of O'Flynn's most famous lyrics was for the popular song "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile."-Partial list of published songs:...
, Al Dubin
Al Dubin
Alexander "Al" Dubin was an American lyricist. He became known through his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.-Life and works:...
, Pat Flaherty
Pat Flaherty
George Francis 'Pat' Flaherty, Jr. was an American racecar driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1956....
, B.G. deSylva, Harold Tobias
Charles Tobias
-Biography:Born in New York City, Tobias grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts with brothers Harry Tobias and Henry Tobias, also songwriters.He started his musical career in vaudeville. In 1923, he founded his own music publishing firm and worked on Tin Pan Alley...
, Howard Johnson
Howard Johnson (lyricist)
Howard Johnson was a song lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Songwriter , author and lyricist, Johnson was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, and died in New York, New York. He was educated in high school and in private music study...
, Harry M. Woods
Harry M. Woods
Henry MacGregor Woods was a Tin Pan Alley songwriter and pianist. Woods is sometimes credited as Harry Woods.-Early life:...
, Alfred Bryan
Alfred Bryan
Alfred Bryan was a United States songwriter and pacifist.-Songs:His hits included*"Peg O' My Heart"*"Come Josephine in My Flying Machine"*"I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier"...
, Buddy Fields
Buddy Fields
Buddy Fields was an important songwriter during the early twentieth century. He was born on September 24, 1889 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary . He died on October 4, 1965 in Detroit, Michigan in the United States of America. His name at birth was Arthur B. Fields. His most famous song "You Gotta...
, Archie Fletcher
Archie Fletcher
Archie Fletcher was an American Tin Pan Alley songwriter and music publisher, who made his mark during the first half of the 20th century.-Songwriting credits:...
, Al Lewis
Al Lewis (lyricist)
Al Lewis is thought of mostly as a Tin Pan Alley era lyricist; however, he did write music on occasion as well. Professionally he was most active during the 1920s working into the 1950s. During this time, he most often collaborated with popular songwriters Al Sherman and Abner Silver...
, Abner Silver
Abner Silver
Abner Silver was an American songwriter who worked primarily during the Tin Pan Alley era of the craft. He was born on December 28, 1899, in New York....
, Edward Heyman
Edward Heyman
Edward Heyman was an American musician and lyricist, best known for his compositions "Body and Soul", "When I Fall in Love", and "For Sentimental Reasons". He also contributed many songs for films.-Biography:...
, Buddy Feyne
Buddy Feyne
Buddy Feyne was an American composer and lyricist of the swing era.He penned the lyrics for the standards "Tuxedo Junction" and "Jersey Bounce"...
and many others. Al quickly rose to become one of "Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
's" most sought after songwriters.
Between 1931 and 1934, during the last days of Vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, Al and several of his fellow hitmakers formed a sensational review called "Songwriters on Parade
Songwriters On Parade
Songwriters on Parade was a musical Vaudeville revue which featured hit songwriters of the day. It was considered one of the last Vaudevillian forays of this type...
", performing all across the Eastern seaboard on the Loew's and Keith circuits.
Some of Al Sherman's most well known songs also include, "Wanita
Wanita
"Juanita" is a song made popular by Al Jolson. Written by Tin Pan Alley songwriters, Al Sherman and Sam Coslow, it was their first hit song. The song is about a man who is love with a girl who only wants to eat, thereby eating the singer out of house and home.The song is alternatively titled,...
", "Save Your Sorrow
Save Your Sorrow
"Save Your Sorrow " is a popular song first published in 1925 written by Tin Pan Alley tunesmiths, Al Sherman and B.G.DeSylva. The publisher was Shapiro, Bernstein & Company, based in New York City. Songwriter, Al Sherman's son, Robert was just born and Al did not have the money to pay the...
",
"Lindbergh (The Eagle of the U.S.A.)
Lindbergh (The Eagle Of The U.S.A.)
"Lindbergh " was a popular song written by famous Tin Pan Alley songwriters, Howard Johnson and Al Sherman in 1927. It chronicles Charles Lindbergh's famous pioneer solo-flight across the Atlantic Ocean...
",
"Pretending
Pretending (Al Sherman song)
"Pretending" is a song with music and lyrics by Al Sherman and Marty Symes. It was recorded by Andy Russell with the Paul Weston Orchestra , Bing Crosby and Les Paul playing lead guitar and Kate Smith among others...
", "On the Beach at Bali-Bali
On the Beach at Bali-Bali
"On the Beach at Bali-Bali" is a song written by Al Sherman, Abner Silver and Jack Maskill. It was written in 1935 and recorded by Henry "Red" Allen among others...
",
"Over Somebody Else's Shoulder
Over Somebody Else's Shoulder
"Over Somebody Else's Shoulder" is a hit song written by Al Sherman & Al Lewis in 1934 at the end of the Tin Pan Alley era. It was introduced by singer and bandleader, Ozzie Nelson who enjoyed great success with the song. It was further covered by Freddy Martin and his Orchestra with the vocal...
", "No! No! A Thousand Times No!!
No! No! A Thousand Times No!!
No! No! A Thousand Times No!! is a 1935 Fleischer Studio animated short film, starring Betty Boop.-Synopsis:Betty is performing on-stage with her boyfriend Freddie in an old-fashioned melodrama, complete with mustachioed villain. The vile fiend, after tying up the hero, tempts Betty with diamonds...
", "For Sentimental Reasons", "(What Do We Do on a) Dew Dew Dewey Day
Dew-Dew-Dewey Day
" Dew-Dew-Dewey Day" was a popular song dating from 1927. It was recorded by Clyde Doerr and this Orchestra. The song is a Fox Trot which contains a vocal refrain, hence the unconventional length of the record . It was written by Tin Pan Alley tunesmiths, Al Sherman, Howard Johnson and Charles...
", "Nine Little Miles from Ten-Ten-Tennessee
Nine Little Miles from Ten-Ten-Tennessee
"Nine Little Miles from Ten-Ten-Tennessee" is a song written by Al Sherman, Al Lewis and Con Conrad. It was recorded by Duke Ellington on November 21, 1930 by Victor Records #22586 64812-1/2. The song is ASCAP code:...
" and "Ninety-Nine Out of a Hundred (Wanna Be Loved)".
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...
's American breakthrough hit was an Al Sherman/Al Lewis song entitled "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight
Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight
"Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" is a popular song written by Al Sherman and Al Lewis for the 1930 film, The Big Pond starring Maurice Chevalier. The song was also sung by Chevalier who made it famous. Chevalier enjoyed his first American hit with this song...
" from the Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
Picture The Big Pond
The Big Pond
The Big Pond is a 1930 American romantic comedy film based on a 1928 play of the same name by George Middleton and A.E. Thomas. The film was written by Garrett Fort, Robert Presnell Sr. and Preston Sturges, who provided the dialogue in his first Hollywood assignment, and was directed by Hobart...
. "You Gotta Be a Football Hero
You Gotta Be A Football Hero
"You Gotta Be a Football Hero" is a song written by Al Sherman, Buddy Fields and Al Lewis. It is one of the most widely recorded and performed American football anthems of all time...
" has been played, sung and marched to since 1933 when Fred Waring
Fred Waring
Fredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...
and his "Pennsylvanians" introduced it on the radio.
The Sherman/Fletcher song "On a Little Bamboo Bridge
On a Little Bamboo Bridge
"On a Little Bamboo Bridge" was a hit song in 1937 for iconic band leader Louis Armstrong. Music and Lyrics were written by Al Sherman and Archie Fletcher who were frequent collaborators. The copyright is held by Joe Morris Music Company, Incorporated....
" became a hit for Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
. Artists who recorded Al Sherman songs include Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Billie Holliday, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
, Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
, Ozzie Nelson
Ozzie Nelson
Oswald George "Ozzie" Nelson was an American entertainer and band leader who originated and starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio and television series with his wife and two sons.-Early life:...
, Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
, Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and his Cotton Club
Cotton Club
The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem, New York City that operated during Prohibition that included jazz music. While the club featured many of the greatest African American entertainers of the era, such as Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, Count Basie, Bessie Smith,...
Orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
among many others.
Some of his most memorable songs include songs for major Broadway revues, including the Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
, George White's Scandals
George White's Scandals
George White's Scandals were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modelled after the Ziegfeld Follies. The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W.C. Fields, the Three Stooges, Ray Bolger, Helen Morgan, Ethel Merman, ...
, The Passing Show and Earl Carroll's Vanities
Earl Carroll Theatre
Earl Carroll Theatre was the name of two important theaters owned by Broadway impresario and showman Earl Carroll. One was located on Broadway in New York City and the other on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, California.-Broadway:...
.
Beside writing "Livin' in the Sunlight" for The Big Pond
The Big Pond
The Big Pond is a 1930 American romantic comedy film based on a 1928 play of the same name by George Middleton and A.E. Thomas. The film was written by Garrett Fort, Robert Presnell Sr. and Preston Sturges, who provided the dialogue in his first Hollywood assignment, and was directed by Hobart...
, Al also wrote for many other films including songs for the motion pictures: Sweetie, The Sky's the Limit and Sensations of 1945
Sensations of 1945
Sensations of 1945 is a 1944 American musical-comedy film which was released by United Artists.This film was an attempt to recapture the ensemble style of films such as Broadway Melody of 1936 by showcasing a number of top musical and comedy acts of the day, in a film linked together by a loose...
.
Al Sherman's style and settings are suggested by such song titles as "Got the Bench, Got the Park", "Woodland Reverie", "Never a Dream Goes By" and "When You Waltz with the One You Love". Although he would continue to write songs and musical compositions until his death, Al wrote his last big song in 1952, "Comes A-Long A-Love
Comes A-Long A-Love
"Comes A-Long A-Love" is a hit single for American singer Kay Starr. The song was released in 1952 and was written by the former Tin Pan Alley songwriter Al Sherman. This was the last hit song Sherman would write, handing the reins over to his sons, Bob and Dick Sherman who were just beginning...
", and was sung by Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
.
Last years
In 1973 the Associated Press wrote, "Al Sherman helped raise the spirits of a Depression-era generation with his hit `Potatoes Are Cheaper - Tomatoes Are Cheaper - Now's the Time To Fall In Love!'. Al wrote more than five hundred songs but gained his greatest fame for that happy tune." Always capable of finding the "silver lining", "Potatoes Are Cheaper" became Al's signature song. In 1973 he wrote his autobiography entitling it, "Potatoes Are Cheaper" for this reason.Posthumous Achievements
In 1983, Sherman's song, "He's So UnusualHe's So Unusual
"He's So Unusual" is a song from the late 1920s performed by Helen Kane, who was the inspiration for the Betty Boop character. The song was written by Al Sherman, Al Lewis and Abner Silver. Released on June 14, 1929, "He's So Unusual" was featured in the motion picture, Sweetie. Shapiro,...
" was chosen as the title song of Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
's signature album, She's So Unusual
She's So Unusual
She's So Unusual is the debut studio album by American pop singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper. Released in 1983 by Portrait Records, the album catapulted Lauper to stardom with such hits as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", "All Through the Night", and "Money Changes...
. She's So Unusual catapulted Lauper to stardom with such hits as "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", "She Bop
She Bop
"She Bop" is a song by American singer Cyndi Lauper, released as the third single from her album She's So Unusual. It reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on June 9, 1984. Worldwide, the song is her most commercially successful single after "Time After Time", and reached number...
" and "Time After Time
Time after Time (Cyndi Lauper song)
"Time After Time" is a song by American singer Cyndi Lauper, released as the second single from her album She's So Unusual. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on June 9, 1984, and remained there for two weeks...
". Lauper's rendition of "He's So Unusual" was a clear homage to the original 1920s production, even going so far as to feature scratches and hisses on the track, making it sound even more like the original 78 record. She's So Unusual won its sole Grammy in the category of Best Album Package, the concept of which clearly finding foundation on the title of the Sherman's song. As of 2002 She's So Unusual has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard pop albums chart (US). In 2003, the album was ranked number 494 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
Literary Sources
- Sherman, Robert B. Walt's Time: from before to beyondWalt's Time: from before to beyondWalt's Time: from before to beyond is a 252-page autobiographic, full color book by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman. It was edited by Imagineers Bruce Gordon, David Mumford and Jeff Kurtti and was published in 1998 by Camphor Tree Publishers who are out of Santa Clarita, California...
. Chapter 2; "Al's Time", Pages 88–141. Santa Clarita: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998.