Irving Gordon

Irving Gordon (February 14, 1915  – December 1, 1996) was a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter.

Biography

Irving Gordon was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, he studied violin, and after attending public schools in New York City, went to work in the Catskill Mountains at some of the resort hotels in the area. While working in the hotels, he took to writing parody lyrics to some of the popular songs of the day. In the 1930s, he took a job with the music publishing firm headed by talent agent Irving Mills, at first writing only lyrics but subsequently writing music as well.

After writing "Mister and Mississippi", he decided he enjoyed puns on state names, and some years later write "Delaware." He is perhaps best known for his song, "Allentown Jail", which was played by numerous other musicians, and told the story of a man who stole a diamond for his girlfriend and ended up in the Allentown jail, unable to make bail. Late in his life he won a Grammy for Song of the Year when Natalie Cole re-recorded her father's (Nat "king" Cole) earlier hit of "Unforgettable".

He is noted for his contribution in music and lyrics of the Americana genre.

He died in Los Angeles, California.

Partial selection of his published songs

• "Allentown Jail"
• "Be Anything, But Darling Be Mine"
• "Blue Prelude" (lyrics by Gordon; music by Duke Ellington)
• "Delaware" (Perry Como hit vocal)
• "Mama From The Train" (Patti Page hit vocal)
• "Me, Myself and I" (Billie Holiday hit vocal, co-written with Allan Roberts and Alvin S. Kaufman)
• "Mister and Mississippi" (Patti Page hit vocal)
• "Prelude to a Kiss" (lyrics by Gordon; music by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills)
• "Unforgettable" (major hit for Nat King Cole, Grammy Award in 1992)
• "What Will I Tell My Heart" (Bing Crosby hit vocal)