From the 1940s through the 1960s, lyricist
Ray Gilbert wrote songs made famous by pop vocalists and Disney features, and translated many of
Antonio Carlos Jobim's songs into English. Some of the many
Jobim songs
Gilbert translated include "Dindi," "Amor em Paz" ("Once I Loved"), "Samba Torto" ("Pardon My English"), "Por Causa de Você" ("Don't Ever Go Away"), "Esperança Perdida" ("I Was Just One More for You"), and "Inútil Paisagem" ("Useless Landscape"). In addition to
Jobim's songs,
Gilbert also translated songwriter
Osvaldo Farres and "Mexico's
Cole Porter,"
Agustín Lara. Besides his translations, some of
Gilbert's most famous songs are "Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue-Bonnet," sung by
the Andrews Sisters, "A Ballad in Blue," sung by
Andy Russell (both for a 1946 Disney features), "And Roses and Roses" (1965), "The Face I Love" (1966), and "You Belong to My Heart." His songs are heard in the 1940s Disney productions The Three Caballeros (1944), Song of the South (1946), and Make Mine Music, and in the films The Gay Ranchero (1948), Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), and Mr. Imperium (1951).
Gilbert's lyrics have also been performed and recorded by
Bing Crosby with
Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra,
Jackie Wilson,
Julie London,
Nat "King" Cole,
Perry Como, and many more. Over the years,
Gilbert collaborated with several composers, including
Hoagy Carmichael (the duo had a hit with 1943's "Drip Drop"),
Kid Ory (who co-wrote "Muskrat Ramble"), Jett Powers (teamed up with
Gilbert in 1958 on the rocker "Go Girls Go" and its B-side ballad "Teenage Quarrel"), and
Lew Pollack. ~ Joslyn Layne