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Cole Porter

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Cole Porter was born on 9 June 1891 in Peru, Indiana, into a wealthy family. His mother had him learn music young: violin at six, piano at eight. His grandfather wanted him to become a lawyer, but Porter chose music. At Yale he wrote hundreds of songs and sang in choirs. After that he studied music in Paris for a time.

Music and breakthrough

After a slow start he broke through in the 1920s, and in the 1930s he was among the most important songwriters of Broadway. Unlike many colleagues he wrote both the music and the lyrics. Musicals such as Fifty Million Frenchmen and Anything Goes yielded standards such as Night and Day, Begin the Beguine, I Get a Kick Out of You and You're the Top. After a serious riding accident in 1937 he was in pain for the rest of his life, but he kept working. In 1948 he made a great comeback with Kiss Me, Kate, based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. It was his most successful musical and won the first Tony Award for best musical. He also wrote music for Hollywood, such as for High Society (1956).

Influence

Porter's songs are known for their witty, urbane lyrics full of unexpected turns and rhymes. With Irving Berlin and George Gershwin he was one of the great writers of the American song from the era of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway. Many of his songs became standards that jazz and pop singers still sing today. He died on 15 October 1964.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to You're the Top from Anything Goes (1934). Notice the lyrics: a long series of compliments that grows more and more exaggerated and funny, and how Porter makes the rhymes fall exactly on the melody.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: ArtistsTin Pan AlleyVocal jazz