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 From THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK: "The fashionable world he describes in his songs was literally the life he led."
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    Stories about Cole Porter's life are often as creative as the songs he wrote. When he enrolled in prep school at the age of 14, his mother told the school that he was 12, perhaps to make him seem more precocious, as his biographer Charles Schwartz suggests. Fictions such as this followed Porter throughout his life. Most notorious, perhaps, was his claim that he served in the French Foreign Legion during World War I. Porter did spend part of the war in Paris -- entertaining friends, writing songs, and working for a relief agency. According to Schwartz, no evidence places him near any military engagements.
Hollywood did little to dispel the Porter myths; NIGHT AND DAY, a popular 1946 film biography starring Cary Grant as Porter, was, in the words of Schwartz, "a tissue of fabrications neatly wrapped in technicolor and Hollywood gloss and lavishly bound together by a bejeweled string of over a dozen Porter classics." Porter found the fabrication amusing. "Considering the numerous fibs about himself that Cole had foisted on an unsuspecting public for decades," allowed Schwartz, "one could hardly expect a Hollywood film biography to come any closer to the truth." It is clearly no fiction, however, that Cole Porter was one of the most influential and popular of American songwriters. He composed dozens of musical scores for the stage and screen, and his lyrics are considered the height of wit and finesse. Attested Didier Deutch of PULSE!, he "set new standards of invention and craftsmanship and forever changed popular songwriting." He brought innovation and creativity to popular music, which had long been marked by formulas, and gave musical audiences something new as well. "At their best, Cole's songs blended fresh, witty, urbane lyrics and highly singable melodies into a sparkling, irresistible combination. Cole's lyrics in particular were models of ingenuity and sophistication. They ... helped to spell the downfall of the mundane June-moon-croon approach that had been prevalent in popular music for so long. Once the public had gotten to appreciate the special brand of genius that set Cole's lyrics apart from those of his competition, it was largely unwilling to settle for the prosaic any longer." Although Porter spent his life in the world's most glamorous cities, he was born in Peru, Indiana, on June 9, 1891. His father was a druggist, but his mother was the daughter of a self-made millionaire, and the young man grew up in luxury. His very indulgent mother saw to it that he was raised with social graces and refinement, which necessitated violin and piano lessons. She encouraged him to compose, self-publishing "Bobolink Waltz," which Porter wrote when he was 11. As a teenager, he was sent to the Worcester Academy in Massachusetts where he wrote songs for amateur shows. He continued to do so as a student at Yale University, where he wrote songs for the dramatic club, sang with and conducted the glee club, and -- as a cheerleader -- wrote football songs. Porter graduated from Yale in 1913 and, at his grandfather's insistence, enrolled in Harvard University's law school. Hardly interested in the law, Porter switched during his second year to the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in order to study music. But this lasted only as long as law school had. Though not studying music, Porter nevertheless continued to produce music, as well as spend his time with a very elite social set. Through friends he built contacts with a number of people connected to the theater and launched his career on Broadway. Still, the appearance of his songs on the professional stage was hardly auspicious. In 1915 and 1916 he contributed songs to two Broadway shows, "Hands Up" and "Miss Information," and wrote another, "See America First." The shows were all failures. As the United States entered World War I, Porter left for France and continued to lead the high life to which he had become accustomed in the United States. On December 18, 1919, he solidified his place in the social world by marrying Linda Lee Thomas, a wealthy divorcee. Throughout their marriage, Porter and his wife enjoyed an emotionally strong relationship, though platonic, as Porter was gay. Living off their formidable combined incomes, they traveled in the loftiest social circles, building a reputation for fashionable parties across Europe. Between, and for that matter, during parties, Porter continued to write songs and hone his style. His companions loved his work, even if Broadway audiences did not. He again attempted a formal study of music, briefly taking classes in orchestration and counterpoint at Paris' Schola Cantorum. He contributed songs to "Hitchy-koo of 1919," a Broadway revue, and though the show was a flop, one of Porter's songs, "Old-fashioned Garden," became a hit. The tune was highly sentimental, nothing like the polished, clever treasures with which he entertained his friends and for which he would later become famous. Nonetheless, the public loved "Garden" and bought the sheet music in droves. Porter contributed to more revues, had some work performed on the London stage, and even composed a ballet, "Within the Quota." Though well received by some, none of these efforts were hits. In 1924 he wrote for another Broadway revue, "The Greenwich Village Follies." This time the show was a hit -- but none of his songs were. continue to page 2
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