Ben Oakland (September 24, 1907 – August 26, 1979) was an American composer, lyricist,[1] and pianist, most active from the 1920s through the 1940s. He composed mainly for Broadway and vaudeville, though he also worked on several Hollywood scores including for the film My Little Chickadee.
Oakland often composed music only, collaborating with lyricists including Oscar Hammerstein II, Bob Russell, Milton Drake, L. Wolfe Gilbert, and Artie Shaw. Notable compositions include "Java Jive", "I'll Take Romance", and "I'm A Hundred Percent For You".
The two songs that Oakland wrote with Oscar Hammerstein II are "I'll Take Romance" and "A Mist Over the Moon." The latter, which was written for a 1938 picture called The Lady Objects won Hammerstein and Oakland an Oscar nomination.[2] The former, which was written for a 1937 film starring Grace Moore,[3] won no awards but is frequently performed. June Christy sang it, to an arrangement by Pete Rugolo, on the 1954 album Something Cool. Another popular version at that time was sung by Eydie Gorme on her LP Sincerely Yours, to an arrangement by Sid Feller.
He collaborated with Artie Shaw and Milton Drake on the love song "If It's You" introduced by Tony Martin in the 1941 Marx Brothers' picture The Big Store.
"If I Love Again," which has a lyric by Jack Murray, was performed by Anita O'Day on the 1960 album Incomparable! and by Barbra Streisand in the 1975 film Funny Lady. It was written for the 1933 musical, Hold Your Horses.[4]
The Songwriter's Hall of Fame lists Oakland on their notable (non-inducted) songwriters list,[5] for contributions to the American popular song.
BenOakland (September 24, 1907 – August 26, 1979) was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist, most active from the 1920s through the 1940s. He composed...
Java Jive is a song written by BenOakland and Milton Drake in 1940 and most famously recorded that year by The Ink Spots, whose recording reached #17...
Educational Pictures. Berle continued to dabble in songwriting: with BenOakland and Milton Drake, he wrote the title song for the RKO Radio Pictures...
Simon Oakland (August 28, 1915 – August 29, 1983) was an American actor of stage, screen, and television. During his career, Oakland performed primarily...
POLICE CHIEF BEN FAIROW" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 25, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2016. James Queally (June 18, 2016). "Oakland loses third...
Pictures. It was directed by Edward F. Cline and the music was written by BenOakland (song "Willie of the Valley") and Frank Skinner. West reportedly wrote...
professional football player who was a defensive end, primarily with the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL). He was a three-time AFL...
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before...
the Oakland Institute was involved in a watchdog complaint to the IRS that alleged self-dealing by Mittal, who is also the vice president of Ben & Jerry's...
final two minutes, referee Ben Dreith called roughing the passer on New England's Ray "Sugar Bear" Hamilton after he hit Oakland QB Ken Stabler. The Raiders...
when a drive-by shooting occurred in front of a federal courthouse in Oakland, resulting in the death of a security officer contracted with the Federal...
collaborators included Oscar Levant, Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston, Louis Alter, BenOakland and Con Conrad, among others. Drake was a member of the American Guild...
that he needed two songs for important scenes in the picture. Composer BenOakland and lyricist Milton Drake wrote two numbers for the film, "I Don't Like...
into an artist collective with living spaces (named the Ghost Ship) in Oakland, California which was hosting a concert with 80-100 attendees. The blaze...
The 1980 season was the Oakland Raiders' 21st since they were founded, their 11th in the National Football League (NFL) and their second under head coach...
(music); Johnny Mercer (lyrics) The Lady Objects "A Mist Is Over the Moon" BenOakland (music); Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) Mannequin "Always and Always"...
hit song, written in 1934, by the compositional pair Con Conrad and BenOakland. It is one of five movies produced by Paramount in the 1930s featuring...
The Oakland Athletics, formerly known as the Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics, are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The...
"Gerkin for Perkin" (Brown) – 2:56 "If I Love Again" (Jack Murray and BenOakland) – 3:24 "Take the "A" Train" (Billy Strayhorn) – 4:16 Clifford Brown...
Ben Michael Sheets (born July 18, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and...
single in 1978 by Roy Clark "Where Have You Been All My Life?", music by BenOakland, lyrics by Herb Magidson, from the 1936 film Hats Off "Where Have You...
comprised the core of a powerful Oakland attack. The addition of Johnny Damon, acquired in a three-way trade for Ben Grieve, promised to add a new dimension...
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