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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZCOLEMAN, Cy(b Seymour Kaufman, 14 June '29, NYC; d 18 Nov. 2004). Singer, pianist, composer. He played a recital at Steinway Hall age six, played supper clubs in Manhattan at 17 and formed his own trio '48 while still attending NY College of Music. Wrote 'Try To Change Me Now' and 'Witchcraft' (recorded by Frank Sinatra '52 and '58); 'Firefly' (hit for Tony Bennett '58); musical Wildcat for Lucille Ball '60 with lyricist Carolyn Leigh (b 21 Aug. '26, NYC, d '83; she also wrote 'Young At Heart' with Johnny Richards, etc). Then followed shows Little Me '62 (with Leigh), Sweet Charity '66 (including 'Big Spender'), Seesaw '73 (with Dorothy Fields; see Jimmy McHugh), I Love My Wife '77, On The Twentieth Century '78, Barnum '79, providing songs 'If My Friends Could See Me Now', 'Hey, Look Me Over', 'Real Live Girl' and 'I've Got Your Number'. Other songs included 'When In Rome', 'Pass Me By' (written for film Father Goose '65); 'Sweet Talk'. Coleman's albums included Jamaica, If My Friends Could See Me Now, Age Of Rock. The Piano Witchcraft Of Cy Coleman '63 on Capitol was arranged by Billy May; trio Comin' Home with Grady Tate and Ben Tucker same year was finally issued '87 on DRG; Mark Murphy made Songs Of Dorothy Fields And Cy Coleman '77 on Audiophile. City Of Angels (with Ira Gasman) in the mid-'90s was a show about Los Angeles that deserved to do better, with an excellent book and music; The Life was recorded by RCA with an all-star cast (Liza Minnelli, Lou Rawls, Bobby Short, many others) before it was produced, and when it was mounted '97 it turned out to be a stunning portrayal of the old Times Square before it was 'rescued' by Disney, its tragic dimensions comparable to those of Gershwin's Porgy And Bess. When Sinatra was recording soft-rock slush in the '70s, as Will Friedwald has pointed out, there were still plenty of Cy Coleman songs he hadn't recorded. |