Harold Adamson

Adamson, the son of building contractor Harold Adamson and Marion "Minnie" Campbell Adamson, was born in Greenville, New Jersey, United States.Jasen, p. 2 He was raised in Brooklyn, New York, where he went to public schools. He later attended the Hackley prep school in Tarrytown, New York.Ewen

Adamson suffered from polio as a child which limited the use of his right hand. Initially, Adamson was interested in acting, but he began writing songs and poetry as a teenager.

He went on to study acting at the University of Kansas and Harvard, where he wrote the book and lyrics for Close-Up, the first musical produced by the Harvard Dramatic Club.

Vincent Youmans had noticed Adamson's work at Harvard and, after Adamson graduated, recruited him to write lyrics for his 1930 Broadway musical Smiles. Adamson then began working with composer Burton Lane, contributing the song "Say the Word" to The Third Little ShowBloom, p. 1114 and "Crazy Street" to Singin' the BluesBloom, p. 1026, and writing the songs for Earl Carroll's Vanities,Green & Ginell, p. 76 all in 1931. In the same year, Adamson, with lyricist Mack Gordon and composer Harry Revel, also placed "(I'm) All Wrapped Up in You" in the revue Everybody's WelcomeBloom, p. 298 and "Where's My Happy Ending?" in Revel and Gordon's musical Fast and Furious.Bloom, p. 310 In 1932 Adamson collaborated with Revel and Gordon on "Do Say You Do" for their musical Smiling Faces.Bloom, p. 1036

Adamson and Lane both entered into songwriting contracts with MGM in 1933. Their first film was Dancing Lady, for which they wrote the hit song "Everything I Have Is Yours". Adamson went on to write lyrics for original songs for more than 50 films. After Lane he worked with Walter Donaldson, then, on many films, with Jimmy McHugh, and later with Jule Styne, Hoagy Carmichael, Harry Warren, Sammy Fain and others.

Later in his career, Adamson periodically returned to Broadway, writing lyrics for Banjo Eyes (1941)Mordden, p. 26 and As the Girls Go (1948).Green & Ginell, p. 1948 In 1963 he added words to Victor Young's music for the 1956 film Around the World in 80 Days (he had written lyrics for the film's theme, "Around the World", though they were not used in the film), and also wrote new songs with Sammy Fain, for a stage adaptation presented at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York.Bloom, p. 49-50. His shows Hi Ya, Gentlemen, with Johnny Green (1940),Bloom, p. 477 and Strip for Action, with Jimmy McHugh (1956),Bloom, pp. 1074-1075 closed out of town.

In 1941 Adamson collaborated with Pierce Norman and baseball's Joe DiMaggio to write "In the Beauty of Tahoe", published by Larry Spier, Inc.[https://huntauctions.com/live/imageviewer_online.cfm?auction_num=27&lot_num=911&lot_qual= "Joe DiMaggio Auction, Lot Number: 911"] Hunt Auctions June 14, 2017

Adamson also occasionally worked in television. In 1953 he added lyrics to Eliot Daniel's theme for the sitcom I Love Lucy.{{cite web |title=I Love Lucy: An American Legend |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/i-love-lucy/theme-songs.html |website=LoC.gov |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=3 June 2025}} He and Harry Warren wrote the themes for two Western series: The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, which aired from 1955 to 1961, and The Californians, which aired from 1957 to 1959.{{cite book |last1=Burlingame |first1=Jon |title=Music for Prime Time: A History of American Television Themes and Scoring |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-061830-8 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DGqEAAAQBAJ&dq=Californians+NBC&pg=PA88 |access-date=December 20, 2023 |language=en}}

Adamson was adept at adding lyrics to previously written melodies. In addition to "Around the World" and the I Love Lucy theme, in 1942 he added lyrics to Louis Alter's "Manhattan Serenade" and to "Mardi Gras" from Ferde Grofé's 1926 Mississippi Suite, which became "Daybreak". Both adaptations were commercial successes. He also wrote "The Woodpecker Song" to Eldo Di Lazzaro's music for "Reginella campagnola" and "Ferry-Boat Serenade" to Di Lazzaro's "La piccinina", both hits in 1940.{{cite web |title=Songs from the Year 1940 |url=https://tsort.info/music/yr1940.htm |website=tsort.info |access-date=3 June 2025 |ref=2.9.0001}}

His last projects, along with Around the World in 80 Days, were the films A Ticklish Affair and Island of Love in 1963 and The Incredible Mr. Limpet in 1964.

Adamson married Judy Crisfeld in 1935. They had a daughter, Eve, who later founded the Jean Cocteau Repertory in New York City. Harold and Judy divorced in 1941. In 1947 he married Gretchen Davidson, a Broadway actress.

Five of Adamson's songs written for films were nominated for Academy Award for Best Song (see Notable songs).

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.{{cite web |title=Prodigious Hollywood composer gave us score to "Around the World in 80 Days" and dozens more. |url=https://www.songhall.org/profile/Harold_Adamson |website=SongHall.org |publisher=Songwriters Hall of Fame |access-date=3 June 2025}}

In 2007, ASCAP and Adamson's heirs established the annual Harold Adamson Lyric Award, given to aspiring lyricists who "demonstrate talent and an intelligent and sensitive use of language".{{cite web |title=The ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Lyric Awards |url=https://www.ascapfoundation.org/programs/awards/award-recipients/adamson.aspx |website=ascapfoundation.org |publisher=The ASCAP Foundation |access-date=3 June 2025}} In 2024, ASCAP awarded the first Harold Adamson Prize for Mid-Career Concert Music Composers and Performers.{{cite web |title=Mary Kouyoumdjian Selected to Receive Inaugural ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Prize for a Mid-Career Concert Music Composer and Performer |url=https://www.ascap.com/press/2024/01/inaugural-harold-adamson-prize |website=ascapfoundation.org |publisher=The ASCAP Foundation |access-date=3 June 2025}}

• "Time on My Hands". With Mack Gordon. Music by Vincent Youmans. From the 1930 musical Smiles.Hischak 1995, p. 348-349
• "Everything I Have Is Yours". Music by Burton Lane. From the 1933 film Dancing Lady.Hischak 1999, p. 70
• "Your Head on My Shoulder". Music by Burton Lane. From the 1934 film Kid Millions.Hischak 1999, p. 361
• "Did I Remember". Music by Walter Donaldson. From the 1936 film Suzy. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.{{cite web |title=The 9th Academy Awards - 1937 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1937 |website=oscars.org |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=4 June 2025}}
• "There's Something in the Air". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1936 film Banjo on My Knee.Hischak 1999, p. 303
• "Where the Lazy River Goes By". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1936 film Banjo on My Knee.Hischak 1999, p. 338
• "Where Are You?". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1937 film Top of the Town.Hischak 1999, p. 336-337
• "You're a Sweetheart". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1937 film of the same name.Hischak 1999, p. 362
• "My Own". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1938 film That Certain Age. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.{{cite web |title=The 11th Academy Awards - 1939 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1939 |website=oscars.org |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=4 June 2025}}
• "You're as Pretty as a Picture". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1938 film That Certain Age.Hischak 1999, p. 362-363
• "It's a Wonderful World". Music by Jan Savitt and John K. Watson. 1939.Hischak 2002, p. 186
• "Ferry-Boat Serenade". Music by Eldo Di Lazzaro. 1940.Hischak 2002, p. 104
• "The Woodpecker Song". Music by Eldo Di Lazzaro. 1940.Hischak 2002, p. 409-410
• "Manhattan Serenade". Music by Louis Alter. 1942.Hischak 2002, p. 229
• "Daybreak". Music by Ferde Grofé. 1942.Hischak 2002, p. 78-79
• "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer". Music by Jimmy McHugh. 1943.Hischak 2002, p. 67
• "Change of Heart". Music by Jule Styne. From the 1943 film Hit Parade of 1943. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.{{cite web |title=The 16th Academy Awards - 1944 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1944 |website=oscars.org |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=4 June 2025}}
• "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening". Music by Jimmy McHugh. 1943.Hischak 1999, p. 191
• "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1944 film Higher and Higher. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.{{cite web |title=The 17th Academy Awards - 1945 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1945 |website=oscars.org |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=4 June 2025}}
• "Dig You Later (A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba)". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1945 film Doll Face.Hischak 1999, p. 107
• "It's a Most Unusual Day". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1948 film A Date with Judy.Hischak 1999, p. 152-153
• "You Say the Nicest Things, Baby". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1948 musical As the Girls Go.Hischak 1995, p. 403
• "My Resistance Is Low". Music by Hoagy Carmichael. From the 1952 film The Las Vegas Story (film).Hischak 1999, p. 212
• "Around the World". Music by Victor Young. 1956.Hischak 2002, p. 21
• "I Just Found Out About Love". Music by Jimmy McHugh. From the 1956 musical Strip for Action.Bloom, p. 1074-1075
• "An Affair to Remember (Our Love Affair)". With Leo McCarey. Music by Harry Warren. From the 1957 film An Affair to Remember. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.{{cite web |title=The 30th Academy Awards - 1958 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1958 |website=oscars.org |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=4 June 2025}}

See also Songs with lyrics by Harold Adamson and Films with songs by Harold Adamson.

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Ken |author-link1=Ken Bloom (writer) |title=American Song: The Complete Musical Theatre Companion |date=1996 |publisher=Schirmer Books |location=New York |isbn=0-02-870484-3 |page=53 |edition=2nd}}
• {{cite book |title=American Songwriters |last1=Ewen |first1=David |author-link1=David Ewen (writer) |year=1987 |pages=3-5 |publisher=H.W. Wilson |location=New York |isbn=0-8242-0744-0}}
• {{cite book|title=Broadway Musicals: Show by Show|first1=Stanley |last1=Green|author-link1=Stanley Green (historian)|first2=Cary |last2=Ginell|publisher=Applause, Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781493050710|year=2019}}
• {{cite book |last1=Hischak |first1=Thomas |title=The American Musical Theatre Film Song Encyclopedia |date=1995 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=0-313-29407-0}}
• {{cite book |last1=Hischak |first1=Thomas |title=The American Musical Film Song Encyclopedia |date=1999 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=0-313-30737-7}}
• {{cite book |last1=Hischak |first1=Thomas |title=The TIn Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia |date=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=0-313-31992-8}}
• {{cite book|last1=Jasen|first1=David A.|title=Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song|url=https://archive.org/details/tinpanalleyencyc00jase|url-access=limited|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|location=New York and London|isbn=0415938775|page=[https://archive.org/details/tinpanalleyencyc00jase/page/n19 2]}}
• {{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Larkin, Colin.|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|pages=41–42}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zF7nCwAAQBAJ&dq=Banjo+Eyes+1941+Harold+Adamson&pg=PA26|title=Beautiful Mornin': The Broadway Musical in the 1940s|first1=Ethan |last1=Mordden|author-link1=Ethan Mordden|year=1999|isbn=9780195128512|publisher=Oxford University Press}}

• {{cite web |title=Harold Adamson |url=http://www.ciajfk.com/harold.html |website=his nephew Bruce Campbell Anderson's website |access-date=4 June 2025}} Includes lists of single songs and films with Harold Adamson's songs.
• {{IBDB name}}
• [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/103077/Adamson_Harold Harold Adamson] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
• {{MusicBrainz artist|id=a3243e28-dc60-4d91-8bd4-5e2cfff9b181|name=Harold Adamson}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Harold}}

Category:1906 births

Category:1980 deaths

Category:Musicians from Jersey City, New Jersey

Category:University of Kansas alumni

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:American male lyricists

Category:American musical theatre lyricists

Category:Songwriters from New Jersey

Category:20th-century American composers

Category:20th-century American songwriters

Category:Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey