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Eddie De Lange
Edgar De Lange
Lyricist, Bandleader, Stunt Man
(1904 - 1949)
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Eddie De Lange came from a musical family, but he began his career as a stunt man in Hollywood movies. When he returned to New York City in 1932 he worked as a lyricist for the music publishing company of Irving Mills and collaborated on “The Man with the Horn” (with Jack Jenney, 1932); “Haunting Me” (with Joseph Myrow, 1934); and two enduring standards, “Moonglow” (with Will Hudson and Irving Mills, 1934) and “Solitude” (with Duke Ellington, 1935). “Moonglow” would enjoy a second life in 1955 when George Duning entwined it in his theme for the movie Picnic. From 1935 to 1938 he and Will Hudson led one of the early swing bands and recorded for the Brunswick label. The band was extremely popular and played hundreds of engagements in the best venues around the country. A songwriting partnership with composer Jimmy Van Heusen produced “Deep In A Dream” (1938) and three songs in 1939, “All This And Heaven Too,” “All I Remember Is You,” and “Heaven Can Wait,” which was number one on the Hit Parade for 11 weeks. They also had their biggest hit that year with “Darn That Dream” from the less than successful Broadway musical, Swingin’ The Dream. “Shake Down the Stars” (1940) was a hit for Glenn Miller and later revived by Frank Sinatra. In 1941 De Lange collaborated with Jerry Gray on a song that would become synonymous with Glenn Miller, “String of Pearls.” Along with Larry Markes and Dick Charles, De Lange contributed “Along the Navajo Trail” to the 1942 film Don’t Fence Me In. Two years before his death he wrote the sentimental favorite, “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans” with Louis Alter for the 1947 film, New Orleans, which boasted a high caliber of performances and an absence of racial stereotypes.
- Sandra Burlingame |
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