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THE SHORT TALK BULLETIN
The Masonic Service Association of the United States
Volume 82 Number 12
December, 2004

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Bro. Robert Morris is Secretary Emeritus of Manchester Lodge in Manchester-by-the-Sea and a member of the Trowel staff, a publication of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. This STB is taken from the Trowel- Winter2001.

Editor

He was a composer, lyricist, producer and publisher, but always called himself simply a songwriter. He was indeed that, but inside his head sounded the countless melodies he was able to create out of the everyday sounds of his adopted homeland. He could not only create melody out of human emotion and pathos, but also from the very din and discord of every possible daily activity. He could turn the gnashing, clashing, creaking, banging street noise into unforgettable melodies.

Irving Berlin (born Israel Baline) was born on May 11, 1888, in a town in the Russian hinterlands of Jewish parents. His father was Cantor in a local synagogue where young "Izzy" got his first musical exposure. In Russia the Jews were an unwelcome people and always had to live under restrictive conditions. After Czar Alexander II was murdered in 1881, conditions for the Jews under the new Czar Alexander III, got worse and they were constantly hounded. Their villages were burned by the Czar's troops, and "Izzy's" first memories were of his home going up in flames set by the troops. His father had a relative in America, and the family was finally able to secure passage to the "Promised Land" of America. After a convoluted trip they finally arrived in New York City in 1888.

The Balines had come from the farming fields of Russia to New York city where the father had secured living quarters for the family in a crowded tenement on the lower east side of Manhattan. On the way into New York harbor their ship passed the newly dedicated Statue of Liberty and arrived at the recently established Immigrant Center on Ellis Island. It might seem as if Emma Lazarus' poem on the Statue of Liberty "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses" implied that it was inviting the teeming masses of Europe’s crowded cities to take up residence on the vast expanses of the American plains. In the Balines' case however, it seemed as if her poem had been turned on its head ---they had moved from the wide open spaces of the Russian countryside to the crowded tenements of New York City.

Izzy's father was unable to get a job as Cantor in New York and finally found employment as a kosher meat inspector. It did not last long though and while Izzy was still in grade school, his father died leaving his mother and her several children to fend for themselves. They took various menial jobs and Izzy at first sold newspapers on the street and sang on street comers. At age 16 he became a singing waiter in one of Manhattan's many saloons His musical exposure and background now came to the fore, and he began composing his own songs reflecting the environment in which he found himself. He became a self taught piano player but was only able to play on the black keys, thus limiting himself considerably. A new invention, however, now appeared on the scene whereby a piano could be outfitted with a lever which shifted the keys giving the piano player a wider range of notes without having to learn more about how to technically play a piano. His piano playing still sounded like that of a piano tuner and his formal musical education remained non--existent, or at least, extremely limited. His music and the melodies in his head were unlimited melodic and appealing, and had the power to rouse the audiences. During his lifetime, he wrote over a thousand songs, many of which will be with us for all time.

In 1907, when he was still a teenager he published his first piece Marie from Sunny Italy and at the same time adopted his new name Irving Berlin. In 1911, he almost achieved overnight fame when he published Alexander's Ragtime Band-"Come on and hear, come on and hear, Alexander's Ragtime Band-it's the best band in the land." It became an immediate sensation, was played everywhere, and there are still reports around that as the Titanic was sinking in 1912, the ship's band was playing Alexander's Ragtime Band.

Berlin's background had instilled in him a deep sense of the value of tolerance and charity. When only 22 years old, he became a Mason, being Raised to the 3rd Degree in Munn Lodge No. 190 in New York City on June 3, 1910. In 1910, he also became a Scottish Rite 32° Mason and joined the Shrine the following year.

 In 1912, he married Dorothy Goetz and honeymooned in Cuba. Tragedy, however, soon struck. His wife contracted typhoid fever and died only 5 months after their wedding. The popular song When I Lost You was an indication of his loss. By 1917, the United States had entered World War I, and Berlin was drafted into the Army for the duration. He was sent to Camp Upton on Long Island, NY. Up until now, Berlin had been a night owl, often working until the wee hours of the morning composing his unceasing songs and music for Broadway shows. He rarely got to bed before daybreak, slept until the afternoon and then repeated the whole process allover again.

The Army, though, was a sea change for Berlin. It was a disciplined organization with no leeway for nonconformists. When Reveille sounded at daybreak, soldiers arose simultaneously, stood in formation together, ate in the messhall together and trained in unison all day long. When Taps sounded at bedtime, every one was in his bed and had no trouble sleeping; Berlin couldn't lay awake, he was dog tired.

Berlin had trouble adjusting to this new lifestyle, but most of all he absolutely hated being forced to get up at such an unearthly hour, which had heretofore been bedtime for him. Having already been introduced Broadway productions, he now conceived the idea of organizing an all-Army show. With his commander's approval, he did just that, and began work on the famous all-Army production Yip! Yip! Yaphank. Its most famous song was Oh, How I Hate to Get up in the Morning wherein the hero of the production (himself) vowed to murder the bugler who was causing so much misery for the troops. The show and its theme song were a huge success and Berlin donated all its proceeds to charity. His adjustment to Army life was complete and he was promoted to Sergeant.

After the War was over, Berlin was discharged from the Army in 1919 and went back to producing Broadway shows, opening his own theater-The Music Box. In the early twenties he had met and fallen in love with Ellin Mackay, daughter of millionaire Clarence Mackay. The popular songs of his recent, shows, All Alone, Remember, and Always were all written for her. The Mackays were strict Roman Catholics and when Clarence found out that she was going to marry a Russian Jew, he disowned her. Berlin and Ellin were married for over 60 years and never changed their religions. As a further indication of Berlin's tolerance and compassion, and after Clarence lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929, Berlin loaned him over two million dollars, and the Mackays were eventually reconciled. Further examples of Berlin’s beliefs were the themes of some of his productions. The 1933 production of As Thousands Cheer featured the famous Easter Parade, and in 1942 the movie Holiday Inn, featured I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas. These Christian themes-written by a Jew-could not but demonstrate his recognition and acceptance of the values of other people's beliefs.

In 1938, on the twentieth anniversary of the end of World War I, Berlin released his immortal God Bless America for the popular singer Kate Smith to sing on her radio show. The song was an immediate success to the extent that an abortive movement among pacifists wanted it to replace what they termed the militaristic Star Spangled Banner as the country's National Anthem. All royalties from God Bless America went to the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts and the Campfire Girls.

The Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, brought the United States into World War II, with its largest mobilization effort in history. Rethinking his World War I production, Berlin now produced another all-Army show entitled This is the Army featuring This is the Army, Mr. Jones and again Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning. The production was entirely staffed by active duty soldiers except for Berlin himself, who as the star of the show, appeared in his World War I uniform. It was a huge success and went on tour of the country and to the various fighting fronts overseas. At that time the Army was still segregated, but Berlin insisted that the entire cast, both white and black, be housed and transported together, and that no segregation, whatever, be permitted in any of their activities.

In 1952 President Truman declined to run for another tern and Dwight D. Eisenhower began his campaign for President. On February 8, 1952, at a GOP fund-raiser in Madison Square Garden, New York City, the popular actor, Clark Gable, introduced Irving Berlin to the audience who sang his newly composed "I like Ike... why, ~en Harry Truman says 'I like Ike' ."  

Berlin's activities now began to decline, but he was not entirely out of business. In 1962 at age 74, he produced his final Broadway show Mr. President. The new President, John F. Kennedy and his wife attended the opening night's performance. Tributes came, not only from his audiences, but also from fellow artists. Fellow composer Jerome Kern said, "Irving Berlin has no place in American music; he is American music" and commenting on Berlin's thin reedy voice, actor and singer Bing Crosby said, "You have to hug him to hear him." Berlin now began to spend his life in semi-seclusion and did not even attend a 100th birthday celebration at Carnegie Hall held in his honor in 1988. His wife, Ellin, died on July 29 and he himself died the following year on September 22, 1989, at the age of 101. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York. Berlin was survived by his three daughters, nine grandchildren and six great-grand-children. The Berlins had been married for over 62 years, and he had been a Mason for over 79 years. He himself said that he became a Mason "because I knew Masonry would stimulate my ability to harmonize with my fellow men." Irving Berlin has been gone for only a dozen years, so most of today's adults, of whatever age, still affectionately remember him and what he meant to American contemporary music. All Americans and peoples the world over are indeed the beneficiaries of this truly remarkable man and Mason.