Songwriter Arthur Hamilton (“Cry Me a River”), 98, has died, it was announced on June 4. The son of songwriter Jack Stern, Hamilton was a trained musician who, by the 1940s, was working for a music publishing company. He befriended Jack Webb and wrote songs for his 1953 movie Pete Kelly’s Blues (look for Jayne Mansfield in a pre-fame bit part!). His "Sing A Rainbow" and "He Needs Me" were sung by Peggy Lee, and in 1956 Julie London (Mrs. Jack Webb) sang it in The Girl Can’t Help It (more Jaynie!), and it became a much-recorded hit (I love the song, though the “plebian/me ‘n’” rhyme makes my teeth hurt). His many other songs included “Any Questions,” “Bouquet of Blues,” “About the Blues,” “Time for August,” and “Any Friend of Al's.” Hamilton was on the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and a member of the board of the ASCAP Foundation.
Julie London, singing “Cry me a River” in The Girl Can’t Help It: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAAq2O9bjKM
