Liverpool has nurtured within its cultured embrace many
poets and lyricists whose creative talents have echoed across the ages. But has
anyone ever aspired to better such immortal lines as
“When the stars
make you drool, just like pasta fazool”
Those of you who have any memories of the 1950’s will have
instantly placed these fine words as part of Dean Martin’s enduring hit That’s
Amore.
John Lennon once penned something suggesting that all Paul
McCartney ever did was Yesterday. That might have been an undeserved
barb from JL, but in the case of That’s Amore lyricist Jack Brooks it
wouldn’t be too unkind to say that this song was his one and only claim to
fame. Suffice it to say that his second most successful song was Ole
Buttermilk Sky, which whilst long since forgotten was co-written with the
great Hoagy Carmichael. If his hits were few he could certainly pick excellent
collaborators as the co-author of That’s Amore was Harry Warren (You
Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby, September in the Rain, Chattanooga Choo-Choo).
That’s Amore has been described as “a parody of popular Neapolitan
organ grinder music” so it isn’t a great surprise that Harry Warren’s real
name was Salvatore Antonio Guaranga. Brooks also penned a theme tune for the TV Western series Wagon Train and was nominated three times for the Oscar for Best Song.
If we are to believe Dean Martin’s one-time comic duo
partner Jerry Lewis, the song came about because after the two split Lewis felt
sorry for Martin and gave Brooks and Warren $30,000 to come up with a hit for
him.
Jack Brooks was born in Liverpool on 14th
February 1912. He emigrated to the USA aged 4 in October 1916 along with his
mother Fanny (née Bernstein) and his five brothers and sisters. They sailed on
the Red Star Line vessel S.S.Kroonland. (When launched in 1902 it was
the largest steamship built in the USA and in 1903 became the first ship to
issue a radio distress signal whilst at sea.) The immigration records show the
family’s Liverpool address as 19 Clarence Street, Liverpool. The 1911 Gore's Directory shows this address as "Barnett Bernstein, tailor".
He died in Los Angeles on 8th November 1971 aged
59.
