Editing Fred Ebb (section)

==Background==

He worked during the early 1950s bronzing baby shoes, as a trucker's assistant, and was also employed in a department store credit office and at a hosiery company. He graduated from [[New York University]] with a bachelor's degree in [[English Literature]], and also earned his master's degree in English from [[Columbia University]].<ref name=jesse>McKinley, Jesse.[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/arts/fred-ebb-76-lyricist-behind-cabaret-and-other-hits-dies.html "Fred Ebb, 76, Lyricist Behind 'Cabaret' and Other Hits, Dies"] ''The New York Times'', September 13, 2004.</ref>

One of his early collaborators was [[Philip Springer]], and a song they wrote together ("I Never Loved Him Anyhow") was recorded by [[Carmen McRae]] in 1956.<ref>[http://www.carmenmcraediscography.com/50s.html "Carmen McRae Discography"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426073211/http://www.carmenmcraediscography.com/50s.html |date=2009-04-26 }} carmenmcraediscography.com, generated on August 22, 2006, accessed August 21, 2011. The song was registered for copyright and recorded by McRae under the title "Never Loved Him Anyhow".</ref> Another song Ebb wrote with Springer was "Heartbroken" (1953), which was recorded by [[Judy Garland]], the mother of his future protégée, [[Liza Minnelli]]. Other Springer-Ebb tunes include "Nevertheless I Never Lost the Blues". "Don't Forget", which he wrote with Norman Leyden, was recorded by singer [[Eddy Arnold]] in 1954.<ref>"Full Notes on Arnold's Top Records", ''Billboard'', January 15, 1955, special Eddy Arnold section, p. 28.</ref>

On his first theatrical writing job, he co-wrote the lyrics for the musical revue ''Baker's Dozen'' in 1951.<ref>"‘Baker's Dozen’ to Open March 8", ''The New York Times'', February 26, 1951, p. 32.</ref> He wrote songs with Norman Martin for the Off-Broadway revue ''Put It in Writing'' (1962).<ref>[http://www.lortel.org/Archives/Production/1169 ''Put It in Writing''] lortel.org, retrieved January 21, 2019</ref> He also worked with composer Paul Klein from the early 1950s onward,<ref>A few of their songs from U.S. Copyright Catalog registrations: "Chummley the Camel" (1951), "Little Toy Song" (1951), "Live" (1951), "I Got Your Number" (1953), "Return to Sender" (1953), "Varsity, U.S.A" (1953), "Alone Again" (1954), "Lovin' Around" (1954).</ref> contributing songs to the cabaret revue ''Isn't America Fun'' (1959)<ref>"Isn't American Fun?" (advertisement), ''The New York Times'', April 5, 1959, p. X4.</ref> and the Broadway revue ''[[From A to Z]]'' (1960), directed by [[Christopher Hewett]].

Fred Ebb was the voice of the "Little Blue Man", on Betty Johnson's novelty song from 1958, repeating the words: "I Rov You... to Bits".

With Klein, Ebb wrote his first book musical, ''Morning Sun''. Originally, [[Bob Fosse]] was attached as director. Fosse eventually withdrew from the project, and the show ran for 6 performances Off-Broadway in October 1963.<ref>[http://www.lortel.org/Archives/Production/3702 ''Morning Sun''] lortel.org, retrieved January 21, 2019</ref><ref>[https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/fred-ebb/ "Fred Ebb Biography"] masterworksbroadway.com, retrieved January 21, 2019</ref>