Black Goes With Everything

Speaking of lyricists, reminded me of a review I wrote of James Inverne's biography of Don Black. Black has a phenomenal career and the photo album to prove it. Anyway here's the review:

Don Black is the Little Black Dress of lyricists: classy, smart and pretty much goes with anything. Reading about his life in James Inverne’s biography you get the impression that he’s classically understated too, which might explain why the only people he gets recognized by are the old dears who’ve seen him on Countdown. Whilst Don Black may not be as well-known as Lord Lloyd-Webber or Sir Tim, he has been just as successful. His name has appeared alongside some of the biggest in popular entertainment. John Barry and Quincy Jones were writing partners; Sinatra and Streisand sung his words; Michael Jackson was a family friend. Did I mention Carol Vorderman? Well, you get the idea.

Like many a great songwriter Don Black was born into an immigrant Jewish family, not on New York’s East Side but in London’s East End. His early experiences of the entertainment world involved going to see the latest Hollywood flicks and watching the variety acts at the Hackney Empire Music Hall. He started his career as a stand-up comic. The tag on his billing read, “Don Black, the Living Joke”. Unfortunately he was a flop and, as his brother quipped, tended to leave the stage to the sound of his own footsteps.

After that he worked his way up from the business end of things, eventually becoming Matt Monro’s agent. It was only at this point that Black really got going as a lyricist, supplying the words for some of Monro’s hits. He struck gold in Hollywood with title songs for movies like Diamonds are Forever and Born Free (for which he became the first British songwriter to win an Oscar). As Monro’s career went the way of the bottle, Black’s contInued to thrive. He turned to musical theatre and came up trumps again, providing lyrics to a range of shows, from the playful razzmatazz of Billy to the grandiose comic-tragedy of Sunset Boulevard.

James Inverne manages to fill out the biographical outline with some great showbiz stories. In fact at times he seems determined to name-drop the entire contents of Who’s Who on Black’s behalf. But all the famous names do underline Black’s remarkable ability to collaborate with all kinds of people. There aren’t many other lyricists who could have taken on an assignment like Bombay Dreams, working alongside the Bollywood composer A.R.Rahman. On paper, they make the oddest of odd couples: Black, the old pro with a Tin Pan Alley work ethic and Rahman, a deeply spiritual and devout Muslim. If things weren’t going well Rahman would walk out of a writing session to pray to Allah for inspiration. When Black got stuck, he’d nip down the local curry house and scan the menu (“I’ve already written ‘its my chapati and I’ll cry if I want to’”). But somehow the partnership worked and produced a highly original West End score.

If there is a criticism of this biography it’s that sometimes the backstage drama overshadows the drama in the lyrics. With so many great songs to choose from, there’s plenty to gain from a little analysis. Take Tell Me on a Sunday, which is one of Black’s best works. It’s full of those observational truths that say an awful lot without saying much at all. There’s the beautifully plaintive “Nothing Like It Ever Was”, where the heroine starts an affair with a married man:

Married man,
Always looking at your watch.
I wanted to
Spend more time than twelve ‘til two
Loving you.

You can immediately picture the scene: a furtive lunchtime meeting with one eye on the clock, the married man sneaking back to the office in time for the sake of keeping up appearances. It’s a whole story in an anecdote and a model in the art of compression. And, where most lyricists would struggle with anything other than a regular 4/4 beat, Black manages to rest his words effortlessly on an awkward 5/8 time signature.

It’s that kind of easy-going artiness, coupled with a very British sense of modesty, that’s kept Don Black at the top of the songwriting game for over four decades. This biography is a celebratory reminder that Black never really goes out of style.