On the Sunny Side of the Street: The Life and Lyrics of Dorothy Fields

When the Smithsonian issued a recording in honor of Dorothy Fields, the 22 selections that boasted her lyrics included "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "I'm in the Mood For Love," "Never Gonna Dance," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Big Spender," and "If My Friends Could See Me Now." Even those few titles reveal (1) how many familiar lyrics she wrote, (2) how long a time period she was artistically active, (3) for how many media she wrote. Her first datable work is from1926, her last from 1973. A remarkable woman in what was after all a man's craft. Equally fascinating were her co-workers: Jimmy McHugh, Jerome Kern, Arthur Schwartz, Sigmund Romberg. And they are all here in Deborah Grace Winer's (Schirmer Books, 1997). I did enjoy this book immensely and found it easy reading. What I missed was a sense of the personality around which this book is centered. Read about Dorothy Parker, for example, and you have a sense of what drove this artist. No such feeling comes from this book, in which the author has taken an objective view of the life and times of Fields and made little attempt to get "under the skin," so to speak. Perhaps I ask for the impossible since the author was not privy to any personal writings of her subject. But there are always friends who could have been mined for such information. Dorothy also tends to get a little lost for pages at a time as the personalities of other luminaries of the time are discussed. As fascinating as they all are, our interest wanders too often from the main character. Still I give this book 5 stars for what it does and not subtract for what I personally think it lacks. The illustrations are quite good, by the way, and the inclusion of many of her lyrics is a good thing.

While a book by Deborah Grace Winer reads as smoothly as a beach novel, it also offers enough information for the reader to come away knowing and caring about the subject. "On The Sunny Side of the Street: The Life and Lyrics of Dorothy Fields", is no different, except her song lyrics tell as much about Ms. Fields as does the book. This was a savvy, sexy lady, a 1920's well-bred lady who could get away with writing-- "I've never mussed the crease in your blue serge pants. I never get the chance. This is a fine romance." Reading the lyrics themselves is one of the best things about this book. As familiar as they are, many hidden gems of wit and craftsmanwhip are discovered. Learning the stories about these songs came to be written, and why, and with whom, is all gravy. The meat is in the perfection: Could you get more precise about a relationship than, "Close As Pages In A Book"? More poignant than "Remind Me"? Fields was the only female lyricist who reached the plateau right up front with all those guys -- Hart, Hammerstein, Mercer, Porter. Her songs are catchy, colloquial, and cut to the bone. Dorothy Fields wrote with 18 collaborators, but her biggest hits came with Jimmy McHugh, Jerome Kern, and Cy Coleman. For the 1973 Broadway show, "SeeSaw", music by Cy Coleman, Ms. Fields wrote in, "Nobody Does It Like Me": "If there's a wrong way to do it, A right way to screw it up, Nobody does it like me." The song is perfect for the character singing it, but not for Ms. Fields. When she had a lyric to write, Dorothy Fields didn't screw it up. Nobody wrote it like her, right on the money. -Elizabeth Ahlfors