IRA GERSHWIN

Singing the praises of George Gershwin’s brother and musical collaborator.

Ira Gershwin has long been overshadowed by his younger brother George, who died of brain cancer at the age of 38. Yet Ira, writes cultural historian Owen, was his own man, whose “true religion was words.” He labored away at songs that have long since entered the American songbook: “I Got Rhythm,” “’S Wonderful,” “Embraceable You.” As Owen writes, a constant source of tension was Ira’s deliberate, perfectionist approach to writing, even as George seemingly dashed off classics such as Rhapsody in Blue (a title Ira came up with) and Porgy and Bess: “George wanted his brother to work more quickly, as the endless melodies that flowed from George’s fingertips could not wait while Ira struggled to find his own voice.” Ira was easygoing and modest, though when fame caught up with him, he took the familiar route of high living and, in middle age, “the popping of pills—whether uppers to lift his mood during the day or barbiturates to calm him down or help him sleep.” It was Ira’s good fortune to work often with lyricist Yip Harburg, a high school classmate and lifelong friend; Harburg wrote “Over the Rainbow,” to which Ira added the last line: "If happy little bluebirds fly / beyond the rainbow / why, oh why, can't I?" It was his misfortune to sign on to movie projects that threatened to drain his talent dry, as with the Judy Garland remake of A Star Is Born, which, Ira feared, rested too much on “the shoulders of its shaky star, who, he was convinced, would eventually fall apart.” Owen is especially good on the business side: though Ira proved a faithful caretaker of his brother’s legacy, it required him to fight endless battles that detracted from his own work.

A vigorous biography that accords Ira Gershwin his due as a canonical American writer.