Adler and Ross–Their All Too Brief Years in the Sun

Richard Adler and Jerry Ross were a great team in the world of Broadway composers and lyricists. Let us explain why we use plural.

Some composers are destined to work alone, such as Irving Berlin and Cole Porter (both of whom wrote music and lyrics). Other composers worked best when they worked with a lyricist as a partner; Richard Rodgers had successful collaborations with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II.

Jerry Ross

But in a unique pairing, Richard Adler and Jerry Ross decided to work together, even though both were composers and lyricists. According to Adler’s obituary in The Guardian, he met Frank Loesser, who introduced him to Jerry Ross. “Each man had been looking for a partner and, at their first meeting, they immediately hit it off.” Their first big song together was “Rags to Riches,” a popular song recorded by Tony Bennett in 1953. The song had been published by Loesser’s publishing company, Frank Music.

In their first outing on Broadway, they wrote songs for a revue, John Murray Anderson’s Almanac in 1953. In 1954, the team of Adler and Ross collaborated with George Abbott (libretto) to create one of Broadway’s classic shows from its Golden Era, The Pajama Game.

About one year later, their second show, Damn Yankees, opened to rave reviews on Broadway; but in November 1955, Ross passed away from

Richard Adler

complications related to lung disease. He was only 29. Adler never partnered with anyone else and never enjoyed another successful Broadway run. Clearly, the two men sparked something in each other when they worked together, something that was missing when Adler worked alone. What a loss!

We would characterize their music as popular music that was very much in tune with the public’s mood in the 1950’s. We would say that their writing was similar to the compositions written by Irving Berlin when he started his career writing for Broadway revues. When we look at their two big shows, we notice a big difference between them: The Pajama Game is filled with exuberance, busting out with joy, while Damn Yankees is more quietly manipulative. Both won Best Musical Tony’s in the year produced; both are excellent book musicals (where the music contributes to the dramatic effect).

What strikes us in the funny bone is the irony that the score filled with great tunes (The Pajama Game) is not as dramatic on the stage as the other score (Damn Yankees). We will explain further once we get to the second show.

We know it is not fair to tease you, but we need to keep you coming back for more posts.

We are going to conclude this post with a clip of Tony Bennett singing their first big hit song, “Rags to Riches.”

Stay tuned for our next post; we will start to explore The Pajama Game with you.