Ralph Blane

As the composer half of “Martin and Blane”, Ralph Blane has had one of the most successful songwriting teams from late Tin Pan Alley. Blane has created the timeless melodies such standards as “Buckle Down, Winsocki”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Girls Were Made To Take Care of Boys” were created on. Adding to the Blane legacy is an Oscar-nominated career in Hollywood musicals, most notably the remarkable score for Meet Me In St. Louis and a long association with Broadway Productions.

Ralph Blane was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma on July 26, 1914. After studying music with Estell Liebling and attending Northwestern University, Blane moved to New York where he appeared as a vocalist in the Broadway Musical Hooray for What? and then as one-fourth of a vocal quartet The Martins, which he formulated with his close friend Hugh Martin. He and The Martins would go on to perform in several night clubs and appear on Fred Allen’s radio show: “The Fred Allen Show”.

Other highlights from Martin and Blane catalog include “Buckle Down, Winsocki”, “Shady Lady Bird”, “Everytime”, “The Three B’s”, “That’s How I Love the Blues”, “What Do You Think I Am?”, “Just a Little Joint With A Jukebox”, “Love”, “Brazilian Boogie”, “The Joint Is Really JumpinҔ, “The Trolley Song” (nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song in 1945), “The Boy Next Door”, “Connecticut (Is the Place For Me)”, “An Occasional Man”, “Venezia”, “I Don’t Know What I Want”, “Pass That Peace Pipe (nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song in 1948) and “You Are For Loving”.

Blane also collaborated with Harry Warren (“The Stanley Steamer”, “Someone Like You”, “My Dream Is Yours”), Harold Arlen (“My Blue Heaven”) and Roger Edens. As a composer, Blane’s Serious Music catalog includes “Duty, Honor, Country”, with a musical setting at General MacArthur’s Speech.

Blane has written scores for Broadway Productions including Best Foot Forward and Three Wishes For Jamie. He has also co-written vocal arrangements for the Broadway productions of Too Many Girls, Dubarry Was a Lady, Louisiana Purchase, Pal Joey, Cabin in the Sky, Very Warm for May and Stars in Your Eyes. While his most remarkable film score is the already mentioned Meet Me In St. Louis, Blane has also contributed to the films My Blue Heaven, Athena, The Girl Most Likely and The French Line. Blane also wrote the television score for Quillow and the Giant.