Borney Bergantine

Last updated March 16, 2019

Borney Bergantine (October 3, 1909 – July 4, 1952) was the composer of "My Happiness," a music hit from the late 1940s that endures as an American love tune.

A composer is a musician who is an author of music in any form, including vocal music, instrumental music, electronic music, and music which combines multiple forms. A composer may create music in any music genre, including, for example, classical music, musical theatre, blues, folk music, jazz, and popular music. Composers often express their works in a written musical score using musical notation.

"My Happiness" is a pop music standard which was initially made famous in the mid-twentieth century. An unpublished version of the melody with different lyrics was written by Borney Bergantine in 1933.

Career

Bergantine was born October 3, 1909. His birth name, Biagio Bergantino, became Americanized over time, first to Barny, and finally to Borney Bergantine. He was the son of Italian immigrants Nicholas and Anna Bergantino who moved to Kansas City from New York City two years before he was born. Bergantine attended Central Business College and was a graduate of Manuel High School. He was active in Italian-American affairs as editor of The American Tribune, a newspaper devoted to the interests of that community.

Kansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city had an estimated population of 488,943 in 2017, making it the 37th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Kansas–Missouri state line. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a Missouri River port at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west. On June 1, 1850 the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.

The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States and thus also in the state of New York. With an estimated 2017 population of 8,622,698 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km²), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

Bergantine was blind in the right eye, the result of a play injury with a toy umbrella as a toddler. A fall in a tree while in Italy as a boy caused one of his legs not to thrive. The limp that developed was offset by a cane which Bergantine came to rely on to get around. He was married in 1935.

Bergantine was granted membership into ASCAP, the American Society of Composers and Publishers. Bergantine’s songwriting included other original works such as "Why Am I Losing You" and "Forever With You." These were recorded following the success of "My Happiness." Bergantine also collaborated locally to write "Watch Your Step," which became a national safety song.

Bergantine died July 4, 1952 at the age of 42. He was a lifelong Kansas City resident except for six years in Italy as a youngster. His last home, shared with his wife, Vita, and their two children, Patty and Billy, was at 4234 Grand Avenue North. "My Happiness," was played at Bergantine’s funeral.

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km² (116,350 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe.

"My Happiness"

Bergantine was orchestra leader of "The Happiness Boys", a Kansas City band of the 1930s. This was the time of the Great Depression. "My Happiness" was played by "The Happiness Boys" wherever they performed. It was several years before the song itself, which Bergantine wrote about 1931, was recorded on an independent label. "My Happiness" was selected for the flip side of a record for a hit song. It was recorded by Jon and Sondra Steele on Damon Records and released in January 1948. Bergantine shared musical credits with Betty Peterson. He was credited for melody. Peterson, the wife of music publisher Louis Blasco, was credited for lyrics.^[1] The flip side, which was "My Happiness," was the side people wanted to hear. The listening public fell in love with it. "My Happiness" swept the record stores. It became a top song, winding up No. 2 on the charts.

Great Depression 20th-century worldwide economic depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s, beginning in the United States. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations; in most countries it started in 1929 and lasted until the late-1930s. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how intensely the world's economy can decline.

An independent record label is a record label that operates without the funding of major record labels. Many artists begin their careers on independent labels.

The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78, 45, and 33¹⁄₃ rpm phonograph records, or cassettes, whether singles, extended plays (EPs), or long-playing (LP) records. The A-side usually featured the recording that the artist, record producer, or the record company intended to receive the initial promotional effort and then receive radio airplay, hopefully, to become a "hit" record. The B-side is a secondary recording that has a history of its own: some artists released B-sides that were considered as strong as the A-side and became hits in their own right. Others took the opposite approach: producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side.

"My Happiness" also has the fame of being the first song Elvis Presley ever recorded.^[2] Presley recorded the then five-year-old song at Sun Studios in Memphis on July 18, 1953—a year after Bergantine's death. Elvis's Sun recordings, made over a three-year period beginning with "My Happiness," were inducted into the US Congress National Recording Registry in 2002.

Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".

Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business. Reputedly the first rock and roll single, Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats' "Rocket 88" was recorded there in 1951 with song composer Ike Turner on keyboards, leading the studio to claim status as the birthplace of rock & roll. Blues and R&B artists like Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, Little Milton, B.B. King, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, and Rosco Gordon recorded there in the early 1950s.

The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording Preservation Board, whose members are appointed by the Librarian of Congress. The recordings preserved in the United States National Recording Registry form a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress.

Jon & Sondra Steele who recorded the first version remade the song in 1970 and it was produced by Paul Marshall, a former member of the psychedelic band of the 60s-the Strawberry Alarm Clock. The first cover was by the Pied Pipers which featured Jo Stafford.

Connie Francis successfully recorded "My Happiness" for MGM in 1959. "My Happiness" has been sung by many other artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Jim Reeves, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams and Pat Boone.

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References

↑ Colin Bratkovich (8 May 2014). Just Remember This. Xlibris Corporation. pp. 375–. ISBN 978-1-4836-4519-3. ^{[ self-published source ]}
↑ Bruce Pollock (18 March 2014). Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era. Routledge. pp. 251–. ISBN 978-1-135-46296-3.

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[Bratkovich2014-1] Colin Bratkovich (8 May 2014). Just Remember This. Xlibris Corporation. pp. 375–. ISBN 978-1-4836-4519-3. ^{[ self-published source ]}

[Pollock2014-2] Bruce Pollock (18 March 2014). Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era. Routledge. pp. 251–. ISBN 978-1-135-46296-3.

Borney Bergantine

Contents

Career

"My Happiness"

Related Research Articles

References