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One of their most famous works was the opera “Porgy and Bess.” Porgy and Bess is the story of Porgy, a disabled street-beggar, living on Catfish Row in South Carolina. Catfish Row was a horribly dirty place to live. In fact, it is described as a slum. Porgy falls in love with Bess and tries to save her from a man who is bullying her.
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Ira Gershwin was born in New York City in December of 1896. His birth name was Israel Gershovitz. His parents bought him a piano early in life; however, it was his brother, George, who showed an interest in the piano. Ira was more interested in writing. Ira attended college at “College of the City of New York” where he showed talent with poetry and song lyrics.
In 1918, Ira and his brother, George, worked together to write their first big hit, “The Real American Folk Song”. Ira decided he liked writing song lyrics and was quickly hired to write lyrics for a Broadway musical titled, “Two Little Girls In Blue.” Ira really didn’t want everyone to think he was only good because his brother was THE George Gershwin, so he used the name Arthur Francis instead of Ira. |
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In 1914, Gershwin left high school to work as a Tin Pan Alley song plugger. A song plugger was someone who picked out and played music in music stores to interest the customers. Within three years, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em; When You Have ‘Em, You Don’t Want ‘Em,” was published. Though this initial effort created little interest, “Swanee” (lyrics by Irving Caesar) — turned into a smash hit by Al Jolson in 1919 — brought Gershwin his first real fame.
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