Don Black, OBE (born 21 June 1938) is an English lyricist. His works have included numerous musicals, movie themes and hit songs. He has provided lyrics for John Barry, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Quincy Jones, Jule Styne, Henry Mancini, Michael Jackson, Elmer Bernstein, Michel Legrand and Marvin Hamlisch.
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Background
Black was born Gerald Blackstone in London,[1] the youngest of five children of Russian immigrants Morris and Betsy Blackstone.[2] During his childhood the family lived in a flat in Tornay House, Shore Place, South Hackney.[3]
Early career
He began his music industry career as an office boy with a music publishing firm, and later worked as a song-plugger. He also had a brief spell as a stand-up comic.[citation needed]
He was personal manager to the singer, Matt Monro for many years and also provided songs for the singer (usually writing English language lyrics to continental songs). These included "Walk Away" (music: Udo Jürgens) and "For Mamma" (music: Charles Aznavour).
Film work
Black's first film work was the lyrics for the theme of Thunderball (1965) and he went on to work on songs for the James Bond films Diamonds Are Forever and The Man with the Golden Gun, all in collaboration with John Barry. Later he wrote lyrics for songs in the Bond films Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough, both in collaboration with David Arnold.
Black wrote with John Barry the title song for the 1966 film Born Free, which won the Oscar for Best Song that year, as well as providing another hit for Matt Monro. The song was nominated for Song of the Year at the 1967 Grammies. Black later collaborated with Barry again on Out of Africa, Dances with Wolves, and their ill-fated Broadway musical, The Little Prince and the Aviator.
"On Days Like These", the title song of the original version of the movie The Italian Job was written by Don Black, to music by Quincy Jones. Other credits include the lyrics of the opening song for True Grit.
He has had two U.S. number one hits with film songs, Michael Jackson's "Ben" (music: Walter Scharf) and Lulu's "To Sir, with Love" (music: Mark London). He also co-wrote with Jim Steinman the single "Is Nothing Sacred," which was sung by Meat Loaf.
As well as being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "True Grit" in 1969 and "Ben" in 1972, he was also nominated in 1974 for "Wherever Love Takes Me" (music: Elmer Bernstein) from the film Gold and in 1976 for "Come to Me" (music: Henry Mancini) from The Pink Panther Strikes Again.
Musical theatre
Black's stage musical credits include Billy (music:John Barry), Bar Mitzvah Boy (music:Jule Styne), Dear Anyone (music:Geoff Stephens), Budgie (music:Mort Shuman) and several Andrew Lloyd Webber shows - the 1980 song-cycle, Tell Me on a Sunday, which was performed by Marti Webb (whom he also managed for a time); Aspects of Love, which propelled Michael Ball to stardom; and, together with Christopher Hampton, the musical adaptation of the Billy Wilder film Sunset Boulevard. Black and Hamilton won a Tony Award for Best Book for Sunset Boulevard.
In 2002 he worked with Indian composer A. R. Rahman on the musical Bombay Dreams. In 2004, Black's second musical collaboration with Hampton, Frank Wildhorn's Dracula, the musical debuted on Broadway. He also collaborated with John Barry once more, on the musical Brighton Rock. Based on the Graham Greene novel, it debuted at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2004. In 2006, Black created the lyrics for the musical adaptation of the book Feather Boy for the National Theatre.
Personal life and legacy
Black lives in London, England, with Shirley his wife of over 40 years.
In 1993 Play It Again released Born Free - The Don Black Songbook which remains the only album to date which consists solely of songs co-written by the lyricist.
In 2007 Black was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
On Sunday 17 August 2008 the tribute concert Lyrics by Don Black was held at the London Palladium featuring performances of Black's songs by a selection of guest artists. The evening, hosted by Michael Parkinson and recorded for broadcast by BBC Radio 2, included an exclusive performance of two songs from Black's new musical The Count of Monte Cristo. The concert included contributions from Lee Mead, Gary Barlow, Elkie Brooks, Craig David, Maria Friedman, Joe Longthorne, Lulu, Peter Grant, Raza Jaffrey, Matt Rawle, Ryan Molloy, Marti Webb, Jonathan Ansell, Hayley Westenra, Phil Campbell and Mica Paris. The singers were accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra led by Mike Dixon and with guest conductors Michel Legrand and David Arnold.
See also
Songs with lyrics by Don Black
References
- ^ IMDb biographical data
- ^ Paint it Black, BBC press office. Retrieved on 5 July 2009.
- ^ Time & Place: From Russia with love to Hackney, 22 June 2003, The Times. Retrieved on 24 June 2009.
- Wrestling With Elephants (The Authorized Biography of Don Black) by James Inverne (Sanctuary Publishing, 2003)
External links
- Official Don Black website
- Don Black at the Internet Movie Database
- Don Black at the Internet Broadway Database
- James Bond Composer David Arnold to Present Award to Don Black
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