This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Paul Lazarus: Hi, this is Paul Lazarus. In the 1980s, I produced and hosted a radio series called Anything Goes, a celebration of the American musical theater. Now, the Broadway Podcast Network is bringing back these shows. Today, the conclusion of a three-part look at the career of Broadway composer-lyricist Maury Yeston.

[0:27] Maury Yeston: Yeston is perhaps best known for his remarkable score for Nine, the musical version of Fellini's famous movie, Eight and a Half. This program was originally broadcast in 1982.

[0:38] Paul Lazarus: Do you write a lot of pop songs?

[0:42] Maury Yeston: Yeah, I write every day in many areas, and absolutely so. I love the medium of song. I think songs are the hardest things to do, because you don't have the resources of an 80-piece orchestra. You have a single melodic line that has to float, and a single sentiment that has to be expressed, and come to some sort of closure or conclusiveness. It has to be, in a way, familiar and, in a way, fresh.

[1:20] Paul Lazarus: How did Dangling come to be written?

[1:23] Maury Yeston: It's not a personal song. I didn't write it for anyone. I think I was toying at the piano one day, and I played the opening piano figure, and the song just happened.

[1:50] ♪ Musical number: "Danglin’" — performed by David Lucas ♪

[5:03] Maury Yeston: A song for John was written, must have been as a response to the murder of John.

[5:21] Maury Yeston: That was absolutely a response, that's right. I mean, the news came over the air at eleven-something that night that John Lennon had been shot, and that he had died, and eight minutes later, I just, I guess, I'm neurotic in that direction. I think it has to do with the reason you write songs. I think I know why I write songs. I think that there are things in life that you just can't change, and that you just can't control. But you can go into a little room and construct your own little world, which you can possibly shape, change, control, and try to make it perfect. And a song is like that. I think that's why we do crossword puzzles. That's why we make perfect little constructions, why we make model airplanes.

It's because it's a small thing that we can put together, and we can control, and watch it run, and make it work the way we want it to work. And I can try to make perfect in song what perhaps I can't make perfect in life. And I simply went to the piano, and I wrote the song for John.

[6:30] Maury Yeston: The next day, I played it for a friend who said, gee, my friend Ritchie Havens would love to hear this song, and would you play it for him? John Lennon was very important to Ritchie Havens. And I met Ritchie and played him the song, and he said, gee, I'd love to sing it. And about a week later, we went into a recording studio, and I played the piano, and he sang it. And when we got around to the last section of it, there were a bunch of people in a neighboring office who were having a Christmas party. And we played them what we had, and we simply brought them into the studio. And just ordinary people, typists, secretaries, rubber barons, God knows, just came in and sang the end of the song with us.

[7:12] ♪ Musical number: "A Song for John" — performed by Ritchie Havens and others ♪

[10:52] Maury Yeston: There's a whole lot we learn from you, dear John.

[10:56] ♪ Musical number: "Give Peace a Chance" — performed by Unknown performer ♪

[20:10] ♪ Musical number: "The Moon" — performed by Unknown performer ♪

[21:52] Paul Lazarus: Welcome back to Anything Goes. Today, we conclude our three-part series with the talented composer-lyricist Maury Yeston.

[29:20] Maury Yeston: All music, and all great music, no matter what culture it comes from, the experience of listening to it and loving it compels me to believe that it creates life in its vitality, in its rhythm, it creates life in sound. And when one writes music, that's what one is trying to do. And listening to how anybody in the world made music come to life is a lesson, is a lecture on how you make your own music come to life.

[30:29] Paul Lazarus: You've been listening to Anything Goes with Paul Lazarus, and my guest today has been composer-lyricist Maury Yeston, whose score to NINE was a Tony Award winner this year. I hope you enjoy this program and all the many sides of Maury Yeston. Have a very good week and I'll see you next Sunday.

[31:00] ♪ Musical number: "For Liberté" — performed by Maury Yeston ♪

[32:06] Paul Lazarus: You've been listening to the conclusion of a three-part series devoted to talented composer-lyricist Maury Yeston. Associate producer Jeff Lunden. Anything Goes Backstage with Broadway's Best is produced and hosted by Paul Lazarus. For more information, visit anythinggoespl.com. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to rate and follow us. Thanks for listening.