Dorothy Fields: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Dorothy Fields bridged two Broadway eras: raised in the vaudeville house of Weber and Fields, she broke in writing Harlem revue songs with Jimmy McHugh, polished Hollywood sophistication with Jerome Kern, then reinvented herself in the 1960s with Cy Coleman and Bob Fosse. This mix traces that unusually long arc — burlesque stage to jazz clubs to the Palace, lyricist and librettist both.

The Kynda mix for Dorothy Fields

• Key Influence · Show Boat by Jerome Kern (1927). Kern was the master Fields most wanted to work with, and she got him: their RKO partnership on Swing Time and Joy of Living produced her most durable lyrics. Show Boat, written with Oscar Hammerstein II, was the landmark that proved a Broadway score could carry character and story rather than interchangeable numbers — the integrated-musical ideal Fields pursued later as a librettist on Annie Get Your Gun and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
• Influencia Obscura · Hoity-Toity by Weber and Fields (1901). Dorothy's father Lew Fields was half of Weber and Fields, the German-dialect burlesque team whose Music Hall travesties were the comic engine of turn-of-the-century New York. She grew up inside that world and absorbed its timing, its appetite for parody and its distrust of sentiment — while Lew famously opposed her going into show business. The vaudeville blackout joke lives inside her punchline-shaped lyrics.
• Local Roots · Ain't Misbehavin' by Fats Waller (1929). Written for Connie's Inn's Hot Chocolates, Waller's song came out of the same Harlem club-revue economy that employed Fields and McHugh at the Cotton Club, where they supplied floor-show material at the turn of the 1930s. The stride piano bounce and conversational phrasing of that scene shaped how Fields wrote melody-friendly, swinging lines that jazz musicians could and did adopt wholesale.
• Beyond the Medium · Nights of Cabiria by Federico Fellini (1957). Fellini's film about a Roman prostitute's battered optimism became Sweet Charity, the 1966 Coleman–Fields–Simon–Fosse musical that gave Fields her late-career renaissance at sixty-one. Adapting Giulietta Masina's bruised hopefulness into 'If My Friends Could See Me Now' and 'Big Spender' required her to write harder, more ironic lyrics than Broadway expected from a Jerome Kern veteran.
• Peer · Blues in the Night by Johnny Mercer (1941). Mercer was the other great American lyricist of vernacular speech, working the same Hollywood studios in the 1930s and 40s and drawing on blues idiom for mainstream songs. Both wrote plainly and hid the craft; both won Oscars for film songs in the same era. Fields took hers for 'The Way You Look Tonight' with Kern in 1936, the year before Mercer's run at Warner Bros. began in earnest.
• From the Canon · Sweet Charity by Dorothy Fields (1966). Her late masterpiece and the proof of an extraordinary adaptability: at sixty-one she wrote lyrics to Cy Coleman's music for Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, producing 'Big Spender,' 'If My Friends Could See Me Now' and 'There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This.' The slang is 1960s, the construction is vaudeville — the whole career condensed into one score.
• Key Collaborator · Little Me by Cy Coleman (1962). Coleman was Fields's final and most unlikely partner — a jazz pianist thirty years her junior who sought her out, producing Sweet Charity and Seesaw. Little Me, written with Carolyn Leigh just before their partnership, shows the brassy, rhythmically aggressive Coleman sound that pulled Fields's writing into the 1960s and kept her working until her death in 1974.
• Legacy · Chicago by Fred Ebb (1975). Kander and Ebb's vaudeville-framed musical, staged by Fosse with Gwen Verdon the year after Fields's death, extends exactly what Sweet Charity started: brassy showbiz pastiche used to tell a cynical story. Ebb's lyric technique — plain diction, hard comic buttons, a number built as a specialty act — descends directly from the Fields line that runs back to Weber and Fields.

What influenced Dorothy Fields

• Hoity-Toity by Weber and Fields (1901). Hoity-Toity (Weber and Fields) — ghost for Dorothy Fields “Some of their routines were Pousse Cafe, Hurly Burly, Whirl-I-Gig, Fiddle-Dee-Dee, Hoity-Toity, Twirly Whirly, and Whoop-de-Doo.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Show Boat by Jerome Kern (1927). Show Boat (Jerome Kern) — titan for Dorothy Fields “Throughout her career, she collaborated with various influential figures in the American musical theater, including Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin, Arthur Schwartz, and Jimmy McHugh.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Anything Goes by Cole Porter. Anything Goes (Cole Porter) — titan for Dorothy Fields “(They reteamed in 1951 for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.) In the 1940s, she teamed up with her brother Herbert Fields, with whom she wrote the books for three Cole Porter shows, Let's Face It!, Something for the Boys, and Mexican Hayride.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker (1926). Enough Rope (Dorothy Parker) — culture for Dorothy Fields (openlibrary.org)
• West End Blues by Louis Armstrong (1928). West End Blues (Louis Armstrong) — culture for Dorothy Fields (musicbrainz.org)
• Dixie to Broadway by Lew Leslie (1924). Dixie to Broadway (Lew Leslie) — ghost for Dorothy Fields “The songs were composed by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields, both of whom worked on revues at the Cotton Club.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Lady, Be Good! by George Gershwin (1924). Lady, Be Good! (George Gershwin) — titan for Dorothy Fields (wikidata.org)
• Nights of Cabiria by Federico Fellini. Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini) — culture for Dorothy Fields (themoviedb.org)

Peers and kindred spirits

• Cy Coleman. Fields and Coleman collaborated on Sweet Charity. (also via Little Me) “In the 1960’s, Fields teamed up with the much younger Cy Coleman to write the songs for the classic musical Sweet Charity (1966)” (Songwriters Hall of Fame)
• Kay Swift. Fields and Swift are placed in the same songwriting milieu. “Working alongside--and sometimes with--the likes of Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, the female songwriters drew upon, and contributed to, America’s lively jazz idioms” (Los Angeles Times)
• Jerome Kern. Fields and Kern collaborated on film music. (also via Show Boat, All the Things You Are) “She and Kern turned out a magnificent score for the wonderful Fred Astaire film Swingtime (1936), a score that included "A Fine Romance," "Pick Yourself Up," "Waltz in Swing Time," and the Academy-award winning "The Way You Look Tonight."” (Songwriters Hall of Fame)
• Richard Rodgers. Fields brought Rodgers the musical idea that he agreed to produce. (also via Manhattan) “Then Dorothy Fields brought a musical for them to produce: the story of Annie Oakley, to star Ethel Merman, with music by Jerome Kern, book by Dorothy and her brother Herbert Fields, and lyrics by Dorothy herself.” (Breaking Character)
• Dana Suesse. Fields and Suesse are placed in the same songwriting milieu. “Though never as famous as Gershwin or Berlin, there were four women—Dorothy Fields, Kay Swift, Dana Suesse, and Ann Ronell whose prolific work was at the heart of Tin Pan Alley.” (American Masters, PBS)
• Ann Ronell. Fields and Ronell are placed among the early successful women songwriters of Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood. “Though never as famous as Gershwin or Berlin, there were four women—Dorothy Fields, Kay Swift, Dana Suesse, and Ann Ronell whose prolific work was at the heart of Tin Pan Alley.” (American Masters, PBS)
• Oscar Hammerstein II. Fields brought Hammerstein the musical idea that he agreed to produce. “Rodgers & Hammerstein signed on, only to lose Kern who died days after he arrived in New York to work on the show.” (Breaking Character)
• Cole Porter. Fields wrote books for three Cole Porter shows. (also via Anything Goes) “In the 1940s, she teamed up with her brother Herbert Fields , with whom she wrote the books for three Cole Porter shows, Let's Face It! , Something for the Boys , and Mexican Hayride .” (Wikipedia)
• Herbert Fields. Dorothy and Herbert Fields wrote musical books together. “And then in 1946, she and her brother wrote the book for the Irving Berlin musical Annie Get Your Gun .” (Songwriters Hall of Fame)
• Ethel Merman. Fields wrote the book for a musical starring Merman. “Then Dorothy Fields brought a musical for them to produce: the story of Annie Oakley, to star Ethel Merman, with music by Jerome Kern, book by Dorothy and her brother Herbert Fields, and lyrics by Dorothy herself.” (Breaking Character)
• Sylvia Ashley. Fields performed onstage with Ashley. “Early in her career Fields appeared on stage with English actress and socialite Sylvia Ashley — who subsequently married Douglas Fairbanks Sr and Clark Gable — as "Silly and Dotty" in Midnight Follies at the London Metropole” (Wikipedia)
• Michael Harrison. Fields and Harrison appear in the described film scene. “Katharine Cornell , Aline MacMahon and Dorothy Fields serve soldiers played by Lon McCallister and Michael Harrison in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)” (Wikipedia)
• Irving Berlin. Fields and Berlin contributed to the same musical. “Together, she and her brother Herbert wrote the book for Annie Get Your Gun , while Berlin provided all the music.” (Wikipedia)
• Little Me by Cy Coleman (1962). Little Me (Cy Coleman) — collaborator for Dorothy Fields “Throughout her career, she collaborated with various influential figures in the American musical theater, including Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin, Arthur Schwartz, and Jimmy McHugh.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Mood Indigo by Duke Ellington. Mood Indigo (Duke Ellington) — geography for Dorothy Fields “During the later 1920s, she and McHugh wrote specialty numbers for the various Cotton Club revues, many of which were recorded by Duke Ellington.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Lon McCallister. Fields and McCallister appear in the described film scene. “Katharine Cornell , Aline MacMahon and Dorothy Fields serve soldiers played by Lon McCallister and Michael Harrison in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)” (Wikipedia)
• Katharine Cornell. Fields and Cornell appear together in the film. “Katharine Cornell , Aline MacMahon and Dorothy Fields serve soldiers played by Lon McCallister and Michael Harrison in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)” (Wikipedia)
• Arthur Schwartz. Fields and Schwartz worked together on two Broadway shows. “Fields returned to New York and worked again on Broadway shows, but now as a librettist, first with Arthur Schwartz on Stars In Your Eyes . (They reteamed in 1951 for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn .)” (Wikipedia)
• Adelaide Hall. Fields wrote lyrics for a show starring Hall. “Fields's career as a professional songwriter took off in 1928 when Jimmy McHugh, who had seen some of her early work, invited her to provide some lyrics for him for Blackbirds of 1928 . The show, starring Adelaide Hall , became a Broadwa…” (Wikipedia)
• Aline MacMahon. Fields and MacMahon appear together in the film. “Katharine Cornell , Aline MacMahon and Dorothy Fields serve soldiers played by Lon McCallister and Michael Harrison in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)” (Wikipedia)
• Bernice Petkere. Fields and Petkere are placed in the same songwriting milieu. “Along with Ann Ronell , Dana Suesse , Bernice Petkere , and Kay Swift , she was one of the first successful Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood female songwriters.” (Wikipedia)
• Jimmy McHugh. Fields and McHugh were songwriting partners. “Fields and McHugh teamed up until 1935. Songs from this period include " I Can't Give You Anything But Love " (1928), " Exactly Like You " (1930), and " On the Sunny Side of the Street " (1930).” (Wikipedia)
• American Theater Hall of Fame. Fields was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. “Fields is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame , inducted posthumously in 1988.” (Wikipedia)
• Stephen Sondheim. Sweet Charity (Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields) — peer for Stephen Sondheim (via Sweet Charity) “Coleman has been the only composer to win consecutive Tony awards for Best Score at the same time that the corresponding musicals won for Best Musical: City of Angels and The Will Rogers Follies (although Stephen Sondheim actually won th…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• On the Town by Betty Comden (1944). On the Town (Betty Comden) — peer for Dorothy Fields (wikidata.org)
• All the Things You Are by Jerome Kern (1939). All the Things You Are (Jerome Kern) — collaborator for Dorothy Fields “Throughout her career, she collaborated with various influential figures in the American musical theater, including Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin, Arthur Schwartz, and Jimmy McHugh.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Ain't Misbehavin' by Fats Waller. Ain't Misbehavin' (Fats Waller) — geography for Dorothy Fields (musicbrainz.org)
• Manhattan by Richard Rodgers (1925). Manhattan (Richard Rodgers) — geography for Dorothy Fields “In 1945, Fields approached Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II with her idea for a new musical based on the life of famous female sharpshooter Annie Oakley.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Cabaret by Bob Fosse (1972). Cabaret (Bob Fosse) — collaborator for Dorothy Fields (themoviedb.org)
• Elizabeth Seal (1933). Redhead (Albert Hague and Dorothy Fields) — peer for Elizabeth Seal (via Redhead) (wikidata.org)
• Blues in the Night by Johnny Mercer (1941). Blues in the Night (Johnny Mercer) — peer for Dorothy Fields
• Finian's Rainbow. Finian's Rainbow (E.Y. Harburg) — peer for Dorothy Fields

Who Dorothy Fields influenced

• Barack Obama. Obama's speech echoed lyrics from Fields's song. (via Pick Yourself Up) “Nearly thirty-five years after her death, President Barack Obama , in his inauguration speech as 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009, echoed lyrics by Fields when he said, "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, d…” (Wikipedia)
• Chicago by Fred Ebb (1975). Chicago (Fred Ebb) — legacy for Dorothy Fields
• A Chorus Line by Edward Kleban (1975). A Chorus Line (Edward Kleban) — legacy for Dorothy Fields