This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Paul Lazarus: Hi, this is Paul Lazarus. In the 1980s, I produced and hosted a radio series called Anything Goes, a celebration of the American musical theater. Now, the Broadway Podcast Network is bringing back these shows. This is the second of a three-part series paying tribute to universally admired wordsmith, Ira Gershwin. This program originally aired in 1983 and featured many of Gershwin's standards from shows like Funny Face, Porgy and Bess, and Of Thee I Sing.

[0:34] Tony Bennett: Hi, my name is Tony Bennett. Thank you. Thank you very much. The first time I met Ira was at his publisher's company, and I was very thrilled to do a song that he wrote for Fred Astaire, a recording called Hi Ho, and everybody was enthused about it. One of the producers says, we'll do it in stereo, and he said, we don't need stereo. I have two ears.

[1:00] ♪ Musical number: "They All Laughed" — performed by Tony Bennett ♪

[3:51] Unknown speaker: My relationship with Ira is a very special one. We had a great rapport. We both liked to bet on races, at his horse races. In fact, I first met Ira at the old Belmont track. His mother, Rose, liked horses too, and we all bet him together. And Ira was so fascinated with my good handicapping that he told his good friend Jerome Kern about me, who was also crazy about horses. And one morning, I was invited to breakfast at Kern's, and he wanted to find out about my musical education. And the libretto going up in my mind was that he wanted me to do a show because he didn't want to go back to New York, and I had a whole mythical thing worked up in my mind. And after breakfast, we went into the study, and I was sure he went to his drawer to give me the script.

But lo and behold, he pulled out the scratch sheet and said, will you pick some winners for me? Thank you, Ira. I've chosen Lady Be Good, because it's the first song I ever arranged for my own band back in the early days of Chicago.

[4:59] ♪ Musical number: "Lady Be Good" ♪

[7:20] Betty Comden: Hello, I'm Betty Comden.

[7:22] Adolph Green: I'm Adolph.

[7:25] Betty Comden: Thank you. It's a great joy and a privilege in our lives to feel and to know that Ira thought of us as friends of his. At the closest we came to collaborating was a movie, Barclays of Broadway. We wrote the screenplay, and Ira wrote the score with Harry Warren. It reunited Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and Ginger's here today.

[7:50] Adolph Green: So at least we have a peripheral connection with Ira, professionally. And of course, well, the sight of his cigar raised aloft around the grand piano with him stomping away and all the rhythmic parts and all the rhymes that he kept rediscovering while we stood around and sang, well, that's a memory that can never be erased.

[8:17] Betty Comden: An incredible source of happiness to us.

[8:19] Adolph Green: And all those lyrics, of course, Ira's lyrics will be remembered as long as anybody remembers anything about the 20th century. There was one show when we were both kids in the Depression, we didn't know each other yet, but it made a tremendous, tremendous impression on us.

[8:35] Betty Comden: Because it inspired us, I do believe. It was an oasis in a time of awful times for everyone.

[8:45] ♪ Musical number: "Who Cares?" ♪

[10:33] Arthur Schwartz: I'm Arthur Schwartz. I'm lucky to have known Ira most of my life. Along with his great gifts, his rare humanity made him a very special friend and collaborator. He had a wry sense of humor that frequently expressed itself in understatement. I remember the time when Noel Collard invited Ira and me to see his act in Las Vegas. I picked up Ira at his home to drive him to the airport. Halfway down Ira's driveway, I exclaimed to him with great enthusiasm, "Ira, isn't this a wonderful trip?" He replied, "So far." He wrote a fabulous number of great lyrics. Occasionally, before he wrote a final lyric, he used a device known to songwriters as a dummy lyric. Early in his collaboration with his brother, George played him a startling tune.

Ira wrote this dummy lyric: "Roly poly, eating solely, ravioli, better watch your diet or bust. Lunch or dinner, you're a sinner. Please get thinner. Losing all that fat is a must." He then decided to do the final lyric in a radical, innovative way. No rhymes. "I got rhythm. I got music. I got my man who could ask for anything more. I got daisies."

[12:48] Adolph Green: A few years ago when I was visiting him, he showed me a new record of "I Got Rhythm." The letter from his publisher told him that this record was the 300th different recording of that song. I said, Ira, think of it. Three hundred different artists recorded your song. He said, some people seem to like it. Ira, some people seem to like you.

[13:51] Ginger Rogers: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. My name is Ginger Rogers. Elliot Finkel is at the piano. I had the great privilege of being in a show that George and Ira wrote entitled "Girl Crazy." That was my very first Broadway hit and I was thrilled to sing Ira's lyrics and George's music. And now I should like to sing for you two of those songs I introduced in that show.

[14:40] ♪ Musical number: "Embraceable You" — performed by Ginger Rogers ♪

[15:39] ♪ Musical number: "Embraceable You" — performed by Ginger Rogers ♪

[19:01] Arthur Schwartz: The greatest tribute that can ever be paid a writer is to know that he is recognized and loved by each new generation. When Ira Gershwin collaborated with Harold Arlen, I don't think it ever occurred to them that the songs they wrote for *A Star Is Born* would end up and join that golden circle of America's evergreens. I don't think they ever dreamed that 30 years after the film was released, it would be re-released all over the United States and enjoyed by young and old. And if you're a veteran fan or a new one, I'm sure you will agree with me that what you're about to see and hear hasn't lost one ounce of its magic from the moment it was introduced by that most talented lady, Miss Judy Garland.

[20:49] ♪ Musical number: "The Man That Got Away" — performed by Judy Garland ♪

[21:06] ♪ Musical number: "The Man That Got Away" — performed by Judy Garland ♪

[24:07] ♪ Musical number: "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" — performed by Tommy Tune and Twiggy ♪

[30:09] Ladies and gentlemen, that's about it. Thank you for joining us and helping us celebrate Ira Gershwin. Good afternoon. We've been listening to ASCAP Celebrates Ira Gershwin, a tribute given in the memory of the late lyricist on August 25th, 1983 at the Gershwin Theatre. We hope that you enjoyed it. You've been listening to a tribute to lyricist Ira Gershwin, Part 2.

[31:00] Jeff Lunden: Associate Producer Jeff Lunden.

[31:02] Paul Lazarus: Anything Goes Backstage with Broadway's Best is produced and hosted by Paul Lazarus. For more information, visit anythinggoespl.com. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to rate and follow us. Thanks for listening.