The Voices That are Gone: Themes in Nineteenth-Century American Popular Song

Book Description

In this unique and readable study, Jon Finson views the mores and values of nineteenth-century Americans as they appear in their popular songs. The author sets forth lyricists' and composers' notions of courtship, technology, death, African Americans, Native Americans, and European ethnicity
by grouping songs topically. He goes on to explore the interaction between musical style and lyrics within each topic. The lyrics and changing musical styles present a vivid portrait of nineteenth-century America. The composers discussed in the book range from Henry Russell ("Woodman, Spare That
Tree"), Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna"), and Dan Emmett ("I Wish I Was in Dixie's Land"), to George M. Cohan and Maude Nugent ("Sweet Rosie O'Grady"), and Gussie Lord Davis ("In the Baggage Coach Ahead"). Readers will recognize songs like "Pop Goes the Weasel," "The Yellow Rose of Texas," "The
Fountain in the Park," "After the Ball," "A Bicycle Built for Two," and many others which gain significance by being placed in the larger context of American history.

American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950

Average customer rating:

Gershwin Pretentious Gimme a Break! Bach Must be Zues on Pluto
4 1/2* Excellent Ref. Book for the Musically Inclined
proves that the worthiest critic is the practitioner
FOR THOSE WHO LOVE AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC
I like Mr. Wilder's analysis

American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950
Alec Wilder
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195014456

Book Description

When Alec Wilder's American Popular Song first appeared, it was almost universally hailed--from The New York Times to The New Yorker to Down Beat--as the definitive account of the classic era of American popular music. It has since become the standard work of the great songwriters who dominated popular music in the United States for half a century. Now Wilder's classic is available again, with a new introduction by Gene Lees. Uniquely analytical yet engagingly informal, American Popular Song focuses on the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic qualities that distinguish American popular music and have made it an authentic art form. Wilder traces the roots of the American style to the ragtime music of the 1890s, shows how it was incorporated into mainstream popular music after 1900, and then surveys the careers of every major songwriter from World War I to 1950. Wilder devotes desparate chapters to such greats as Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, and Harold Arlen. Illustrated with over seven hundred musical examples, Wilder's sensitive analyses of the most distinctive, creative, and original songs of this period reveal unexpected beauties in songs long forgotten and delightful subtleties in many familiar standards. The result is a definitive treatment of a strangely unsung and uniquely American art.

Customer Reviews:

Gershwin Pretentious Gimme a Break! Bach Must be Zues on Pluto.......2006-03-14

Richard Rogers The Greatest Composer Of His Time?Let's get clear folks Espically you low brows who call porgy and bess Pretentious,Rogers "Might" be The Greatest Songwriter(NOT COMPOSER-There,s A big distinction)of his time(personally i pick Porter then Gershwin Then Arlen for Bluesiness And Sexiness-and ground zero is the blues sorry Gang not the vieniese waltz that Rogers was so fond of)depending on what lyricist he worked with(his most heart felt ones are with Hart).He might have had the Greatest fund of pure melody then any one-Granted.But there is an slickness And Artificial & Superficial Aspect to much Of his Work That over time looses it power,and certainly appeal.Mabe this under the surface aspect to Rogers Work Is Reflective Of The Fact That As A Person, He Was A Complete SOB- an autocratic homophobic womanizing self serving A hole.Not One Of Rogers "Serious" Works Like Ellingtons Can Hold A Candel To Gershwins.Europeans Take Gershwins Greatness as a composer Musican & Pianist(another area where no one including Rogers in the pop field{as well as classical}of that time could compete with George)as a matter of course(Americans and american critics should do the same and put to bed this stupid debate of GG Songwriter? or Composer?-and get with the fact that the closest thing America has produced to the level of anything like a Mozart is called GERSHWIN-PERIOD-just look at the high level gifts he had in abbudance as an innovater- melody,Harmony,rhythm,pianist,theatre & Drama.And the two most rare,originality & Humor-gimme a break Rogers or any one else for that matter can't even compare or compete.It Seems It's even A Gift To begin to Grasp And Appriciate the enormity of G.G's Genius.Levant Got It,When He Was Consigned By George On A Train Road Trip To The Lower Berth(Talent)to Georges Upper Berth(Genius)Levant's Words And Appraisal.Koussivitsky Got It "he's a genius to great to be real"His Exact words.Ravel Certainly got it it's well documented,hell his piano concertos were directly inspired by Gershwin's Own.Hambitzer-Gershwins only beloved music-piano teacher got it as early as 1912 when he wrote his sister with the words "The Boy Is A Genius Without A doubt",And Yet He Still Get's Snubbed and slighted by Envious low-brow & High-brow Snobs alike.Just Look As one of the reviews opines below(to be Read Snidley."i can't stand Porgy & Bess & American In Paris,They Are So Pretentious"all I can say Is BLOW ME!Certainly you are entitled to your(mis- informed)opinions(diversity Is The Spice of Life)But be honest as to why you don't like Porgy Before invoking the "P" word as Your Decree(and defense)against This Masterwork-and what is the honest answer?you don't get it,it's over your head,you have lazy ears,it doesen't fit with your world view which prefers charming "Rogers" Bon Bons-it intimidates you,you are envious-pick one or all of the above.Again Evauluating and grasping the true aspect and significance(and moving beyond all the pedigogical brainwashing and propaganda)of G.G.is an Art In Itself.And The Point Needs To Be RAMMED Home Time And Again.And I Here To Ram It.The GREENess of the Heart Chakra Makes many uncomfortable(Genius Has That Effect on those that don't want to be ennobeled or inspired by it-(And If Ever There Was a Pop Genius It's Gershwin-Two choices With Genius-you can let it wash over you and grow as a result or project upon it all your own petty offenses opinions And Predjudices).Gershwin and Porgy Pretentious? Overated? hell i guess That leaves Bach Right Out.The use of the word Pretentious is just an example of these soclaly engineered(thank you Edward Bernaise You A-hole) downloadable"buzz"words and or phrases("COOL" being the Prime One)For Fuzzy Thinkers Who's Minds are not their own and indulge and defend a Kind Of pervasive UN-critical thinking that is really just a laziness of mind and heart,(a lack of feelings based connectedness & desire for TRUTH seeking within and without)the same kind of automatic pre conditoned cognative dissonant Parrot like responses can be found in other areas as well I.e. "you think Oswald didn't act alone? that sounds like a CONSPIRACY THEORY",or this one "You're a Vegan?,How Do You Get Your PROTEIN?"And The Gem Below "Porgy & Bess Strikes Me As Artifical And PRETENTIOUS" Back to the Gist and Thrust of my thesis,Rogers was Green With Envy Over Porgy as were most of the worlds other composers and songwriters of the time.Rogers tried to compete with Gershwin with the likes of "Victory At Sea" & "Slaughter on tenth ave",which are wonderfull pieces of fluff in their own way,and get ocasional hearings over the CONSTANT and Steady programing of the Gershwin Staples World Wide(Rhap in blue,the Concerto in F,A In P,Preludes,Cuban Overture,2nd Rhap,I got Rhythm V's And Porgy).Pretentiuous Is When You Try For The Big Gesture And Fall Flat On Your Face(George Never Fell On His Face On This Score Quite The Opposite-and time and time again,He Pulled It Off Marvelously-And All Without A Net).From This Stand Point the "serious" Rogers fare is More Guilty Of Pretention And Cloyingness And Insincerity then any thing George Ever Wrote.The Jurys in,like it or not,Gershwins Music Is The Epitome Of Brillance Timelessness,Sincerity,Originality And Honesty.As For Mr Wilder's(with his two minor song hits for posterity And numerous-some actually quite good-quirky Jazzy lyrical Chamber pieces-a kind of American Hindemith-though no Gershwin Or Copland Barber Or Ives-)estimation of Songwriters After 1950 as all being amateurs(what a Curmudgeon)I got News for him in his astral home(where he's still writing for angelic brass and woodwinds i hear)-That's where the "BLUES"(Rock & Pop & R&B) went.All inspired Artists should get on with their work,be Courageous, And Fudge The OPINIONS Of ALL OTHERS-and listen ONLY! to the dictates and demands of their Hearts-the true home of the Creator.Peace.And While Your At It Keep It All Joyfull And Fun-George Did,he Never Made A Distinction Between His Serious And Pop hats -wearing both without judgment or justifacation,and that's why he is the worlds supreme crossover GENIUS!At a time when that was possible,let the pundits whimper on while Gershwin continues to Bang,and thereby doing his part to continue to keep the world from ending.

4 1/2* Excellent Ref. Book for the Musically Inclined.......2002-12-05

Yes, the man is opinionated, and one may argue with some of his more controversial and unsparing critiques. His analyses are grounded in a thorough understanding of music, and he does not retreat from criticizing the most popular. I think that the whole topic is perhaps more subjective than Wilder lets on, but at least he's forthright about his opinions, and provides hundreds of musical annotations to illustrate his views. I'll also agree with the reviewer who criticizes Wilder's view that post-50's popular music was written by "amateurs." Still, this is widely regarded as a must-have for the student of popular music, and it's an excellent, albeit somewhat technical critique of popular music's "golden age." Recommended!

proves that the worthiest critic is the practitioner.......2001-08-31

Lord knows there is a place for criticism in music. The problem is that too often the most ill-qualified, wrongest people practice it, and are rewarded with the bully pulpit of widely read publication and nice paychecks to boot. Alec Wilder is a "right" person, if ever there was one. He's no outsider or "wannabe". His insights on the procedures and content on the songwriting of his brethren come from his own long, hard struggle with the form. And he did it VERY well, giving his observations yet more credence. He has the courage of his convictions, putting a hard critical ear to the work of his peers, betters, "worsers"---whoever, while owning up to his prejudices and acknowledging that it is, after all, only his opinion. I'm glad he covered the people he did, and only disappointed and perplexed that he passed on Strayhorn (I suppose because his work was outside the theater/movie/pop song orbit of the others). I would have appreciated his insights. Such skill, courage, and honesty in criticism is at the very least a breath of fresh air.

Neither music lovers, nor especially fellow composers should take Wilder's words as the gospel, though, as I feel he'd be the first to implore. It's hard enough to compose and ignore the criticism in one's one head, let alone hear the muse over the strains of a duet. Another thing to consider in placing importance on even as eloquent and well-formed criticisms as these is Wilder's harrowing self-doubt about his OWN composing, and general worth (which comes through loud and clear in his autobiographical "Letters I Never Sent") And listeners should follow their own ears and hearts. Take Wilder's survey for what it is, very high quality opinion.

As for MY opinion, the only thing that leaves a bad taste in this and similar books (Copland's survey 20th century composers, for a much more egregious example) is a certain elitism cutting through that, at its worst, is downright snotty. According to the preface (by Gene Lees, a talented man and friend of good music, but himself no stranger to the banshee wail of the conservatively cranky)Wilder stated that "after 1955, the amateurs took over". I can understand the horror Wilder and other gifted musicians, weaned on European and even jazz traditions, felt when rock's arrival landed a knockout blow to their careers and values. But it wasn't and isn't all garbage---the best of it is as valid as anything. Perhaps its greatest virtue is that it doesn't take itself that seriously as "art". If nothing else, it loosened us all up a bit. Wilder's cynicism, however justified in his mind, peeks through these pages a bit, although not so much as to be harmful. It's just frustrating and a bit of a bore. I so want to believe that so rare a musical wit felt affection, not disdain toward the the race he wrote about and for. So with these things in mind, enjoy and learn as I have from a very valuable piece of writing.

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC.......2001-08-06

ALEC WILDER himself a composer has written what is generally considered the bible of AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC.More than thirty years have gone by since the first édition of this book and it remains fresh.Like many i am proud to say that this book was really for me what i needed to start digging into the history of many songs before the rock era.From BERLIN and KERN to the often forgotten greats like DONALDSON and McHUGH they are all there and mister WILDER knows what he is talking about;he had talked to many writers and composers who were at the time of the first édition still with us.Personal opinions are of course a matter of taste;we are for example not obliged to believe everything he says.Most of the time mister WILDER is right:EXAMPLE:he believes that RICHARD RODGERS was perhaps the most gifted composer of his time.Few can really disagree with that.In fact,there is only one major problem with this book,if you don't read music it won't be too enjoyable for you,because there are many examples with sheet music to proves the points he wants to make.Everyone who has an interest in the history of AMERICAN popular music should buy that book.

I like Mr. Wilder's analysis.......2000-06-14

I agree with Mr. Wilder about Gershwin. While Gershwin undoubtedly wrote many great songs I find that he can also be very overrated. "Porgy and Bess" and "An American in Paris" have several pieces which I think are grandiose and pretentious. I cannot stand listening to those two musicals. The music seems to not quite be "pop" and not quite "operatic". The music in those two works also sound as if Gershwin is straining to sound important but somehow sounds artificial and shallow. I much prefer the gentler and timeless music written by Richard Rodgers and Jerome Kern. I also like Arlen whose music is always hip.

Average customer rating:

Intellectually Dishonest, Factually Inaccurate
Respectful effort
This book seems very impressive, but at the in is totally not
Great book
Tango the Art History of Love

Tango: The Art History of Love
Robert Farris Thompson
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

The Tao of Tango
Kiss and Tango : Looking for Love in Buenos Aires
Tango!: The Dance, the Song, the Story
Flash of the Spirit: African & Afro-American Art & Philosophy
Tango: The Structure of the Dance Vol.1

ASIN: 1400095794
Release Date: 2006-12-05

Book Description

In this generously illustrated book, world-renowned Yale art historian Robert Farris Thompson gives us the definitive account of tango, "the fabulous dance of the past hundred years–and the most beautiful, in the opinion of Martha Graham.”

Thompson traces tango’s evolution in the nineteenth century under European, Andalusian-Gaucho, and African influences through its representations by Hollywood and dramatizations in dance halls throughout the world. He shows us tango not only as brilliant choreography but also as text, music, art, and philosophy of life. Passionately argued and unparalleled in its research, its synthesis, and its depth of understanding, Tango: The Art History of Love is a monumental achievement.

Customer Reviews:

Intellectually Dishonest, Factually Inaccurate.......2007-07-05

Although Thompson's book has a veneer of academic research, it is merely an attempt to promote the position advocated in his other books: Thompson alleges that much, if not most, of the elements of culture for which (mostly European) white societies are credited was "stolen" (that is, copied without credit) from black (in most cases, African) societies.

In "Tango", Thompson, a professor of African art (he has no qualifications either in dance or in Latin American culture) makes two arguments: a general, deductive one and a specific, inductive one.

His deductive argument is essentially "white men can't jump". That is, he reasons from effect and concludes that tango must have been stolen from blacks because it is improvised, and everyone knows that white people can't improvise. White people must have structure. That's why, Thompson says, just as classical music is "white" music and jazz is "black" music, ballroom and ballet are "white" dances, and tango is a "black" dance.

Thompson's inductive argument is based, in large part, on a list of people he has compiled, and who he claims are variously the world's greatest tango dancers, singers, composers and musicians. All of the people on Thompson's list are black. Thus, he alleges, he has "proved" that tango was co-opted from blacks.

Assuming that Thompson's list of the "greatest" has some validity, that would not prove that white people stole the tango from the individuals he selected, much less from any other blacks who didn't make his list.

If Thompson's argument were correct, that would also mean that golf was stolen by the Scottish from African-Americans, because Tiger Woods is black. (I suppose that's his next book.)

In addition to numerous factual inaccuracies, Thompson credits various performers with originating something, and then charges the famous Argentines who introduced and developed the moves with having merely copied them. There is no evidence supporting his allegations other than Thompson's argument by fiat. His proof consists of "because I said so".

Finally, some of Thompson's arguments are just plain fatuous. In interviews, he's stated that there is something called the "break" in tango. And, Thompson says, everybody knows who invented break dancing! In addition to the patent obtuseness of this remark, Thompson also misses the point that, since tango predates break dancing, he's really putting forth an argument that blacks stole break dancing from tango dancers.

Similarly, Thompson points out that tango dancers move counterclockwise around the dance floor. And everybody knows that in African culture, moving around counterclockwise is a way of obtaining a long life! Thompson ignores the fact that all ballroom dances move counterclockwise, including those he has labeled "white" (e.g., waltz and foxtrot).

Those of Thompson's arguments that aren't completely backwards or based on false statements are non sequiturs. As an example, he mentions that some Argentines tie red ribbons to the harnesses of their horses. Lo and behold, red is a color considered to have mystical properties in Africa. Therefore, there is an unacknowledged connection between African superstition and Argentine culture. And - here it comes - this is somehow taken as evidence that the tango was also stolen from Africa. Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

The fact that the Chinese consider red to have special powers, as do Jewish cabbalists, is ignored, as is the fact that, even if some aspect of African superstition had made its way to Argentina, this does not provide any evidence that any other aspect of Argentine culture, such as the tango, also came from Africa.

Unfortunately, Thompson's Yale affiliation has afforded him a soapbox and an unmerited presumption of accuracy in his work. If you want an accurate history of tango, you would do better to refer to one of the so-called "coffee table" books, such as the one by Collier. They may be glossy, but at least they tell the truth.

Respectful effort.......2007-06-11

I was so excited about reading the book... But even the first few pages brought nothing but disappointment... Writing manner is very heavy, in addition to overwhelming, almost encyclopedic compendium of facts. As the result - reading very quickly becomes boring. It seems the author is more concerned about telling the reader everything he knows on the subject, instead of creating an engaging narrative. I respect and admire Mr. Thompson's knowledge, but I can't bring myself to finish reading his book. Not such a great choice for a tango enthusiast, rather a specialist.

This book seems very impressive, but at the in is totally not.......2007-03-25

The book starts off by claiming that many aspects of Tango come from African roots. However, looking into all of the claims he made in this book and finding out much of the author says is incorrect you quickly start to judge the his creditabilty. That and the Author is a well known to be bias about everything African. I would not reccomend this book because all it will do is cause more confusion of the History of Tango.

Great book.......2007-02-12

I found the book wonderful. It is especially good on the influences of other cultures on the development of tango in Argentina -- Spain, Africa, Cuba -- all nicely fleshed out. A terrific read.

Tango the Art History of Love.......2006-07-20

A must read for anyone serious about Tango and the history of the dance.

Average customer rating:

Tango Fishing?
An odd little book

Paper Tangos (Public Planet)
Julie Taylor , and Julie Taylor
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Tango and the Political Economy of Passion: From Exoticism to Decolonization (Institutional Structures of Feeling)
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Stigmas of the Tamil Stage: An Ethnography of Special Drama Artists in South India

ASIN: 0822321912

Book Description

Tango. A multidimensional expression of Argentine identity, one that speaks to that nation’s sense of disorientation, loss, and terror. Yet the tango mesmerizes dancers and audiences alike throughout the world. In Paper Tangos, Julie Taylorâa classically trained dancer and anthropologistâexamines the poetics of the tango while describing her own quest to dance this most dramatic of paired dances.
Taylor, born in the United States, has lived much of her adult life in Latin America. She has spent years studying the tango in Buenos Aires, dancing during and after the terror of military dictatorships. This book is at once an account of a life lived crossing the borders of two distinct and complex cultures and an exploration of the conflicting meanings of tango for women who love the poetry of its movement yet feel uneasy with the roles it bestows on the male and female dancers. Drawing parallels among the violences of the Argentine Junta, the play with power inherent in tango dancing, and her own experiences with violence both inside and outside the intriguing tango culture, Taylor weaves the line between engaging memoir and insightful cultural critique. Within the contexts of tango’s creative birth and contemporary presentations, this book welcomes us directly into the tango subculture and reveals the ways that personal, political, and historical violence operate in our lives.
The book’s experimental design includes photographs on every page, which form a flip-book sequence of a tango. Not simply a book for tango dancers and fans, Paper Tangos will reward students of Latin American studies, cultural studies, anthropology, feminist studies, dance studies, and the art of critical memoir.

Customer Reviews:

Tango Fishing?.......2005-11-11

Did the reviewer and I read the same book, see the same flipbook inside? Thanks to him (and I'm sure he's a him), this book isn't out of print, which I think it soon will be, as the Argentine tango becomes more and more popular, for many of the reasons Taylor describes. It's a dance for the times, and the times require presence and balance, if there are to be any more times. I thought it was a lovely book, that I will reread, as complicated and as poetic as the tango I am only just beginning to learn. I'll bet he hasn't been trout-fishing either, a close relative -- two disciplines of mind and body that require deep attention and grace.

An odd little book.......2000-11-04

An odd little book about a former ballet dancer dancing tango in Buenos Aires. The author describes herself as blonde and beautiful. She marries and divorces an Argentine man, but it's all in the background of her consuming tango obsession. With disjoint time and amost hallucinatory digressions into the emotions brought to the surface by tango, this reads a bit like "Trout Fishing in America" if it were tango instead of trout. There is a flip book built into the pages where a tango turns first into a violent attack and then into sheets of falling paper. This low-tech animation wordlessly caputures the themes in the text.

Average customer rating:

Great Resource
A book of biographies

American Big Bands
William F. Lee
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way
The Big Band Almanac (Da Capo Paperback)
Dialogues in Swing: Intimate Conversations With the Stars of the Big Band Era
The Big Bands
The Uncrowned King of Swing: Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz

ASIN: 0634080547

Book Description

This ultimate guide to big bands includes hundreds of entries spanning the history of this American musical style. Each entry contains the band name, its leader, essential personnel, the years it existed, tops hits, and a brief description of the band.

Customer Reviews:

Great Resource.......2007-05-14

As a brief reference guide to any and all of the big bands, this book can't be beat. I own several similar books by other authors, but as a summary bio, this is the best!

A book of biographies.......2006-04-15

After a few pages of interesting quotes by the big names in big band (both conductors and singers,) Dr. Taylor commences with over 350 pages of biographies and timelines for each decade of big band, beginning with the early 1900s. This is a wonderful reference for any music lover. The timelines give the stories of the musicians a new dimension. With the decline of 'classic' big bands, the sections on the 60s through the 90s don't have as much information, but they do discuss 'ghost bands' and the future of big bands.

Pennies from Heaven: The American Popular Music Business in the Twentieth Century

Average customer rating:

Good
great retrospective look.
An Awesome Work of Scholarship

Pennies from Heaven: The American Popular Music Business in the Twentieth Century
Russell Sanjek , and David Sanjek
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Production & Operations | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0306807068

Customer Reviews:

Good.......2006-05-20

Like every other thing that's around us the music industry has a history, and the music industry has a dark and hidden history filled with events that are better left unsaid. Not in this book, it presents the history of music from the first recorded piece up to the MP3 digital era of this century. Good structure and revealing information will not let you drop this book out of your hands, it's captivating content and insightful advice about the industry are things that you just cannot miss when searching for information about this area

great retrospective look........2006-05-16

If you're interested in the past of the largest entertainment industry, this is the book for you. I think that by reading this and learning from the past, I am more prepared to become a successful leader in the music industry of the future. I recommend "The Music Business: How YOU can make $500,000 "or more" a year in the music industry by Doing it Yourself!" by Ty Cohen in addition to this book. It's like they were meant for each other.

An Awesome Work of Scholarship.......2001-02-25

Okay, by no stretch of the imagination is this light reading. But there is nothing else like this book out there; nothing else gives you such a thorough picture of how the business of music in the 20th century has affected what we hear and buy and listen to.

The whole century is here: how the ASCAP/BMI battle raged for years and influenced everything from swing recordings to attitudes about rock and roll; how records and juke boxes and radio and movies changed the way writers made money; how recording artists "became" composers. And yes, here's one more way in which the Beatles changed the face of popular music.

In some ways the book can be disheartening for those who always figured that the world of popular music was a true capitalist meritocracy. But as the battle over napster and the net rages, it's interesting to see how the gulf between writers, performers, and the public has ALWAYS been a horrible morass of money, power, laws, unwritten rules, and manipulation.

Amazon.com

Ken Emerson's thickly textured narrative features an affectionate examination of American music's diverse strands as well as a perceptive portrait of the nation's first great songwriter. Stephen Foster (1826-64) was born in Pittsburgh and visited the South only briefly, yet songs like "My Old Kentucky Home" and "Oh! Susanna" drew on black Southern culture to create a uniquely American form of popular music. The author is clear-sighted about the complex blend of racism and genuine compassion that infused Foster's "blackface" compositions.

Customer Reviews:

Doo-Dah...Do wah?.......2001-02-28

I guess I'm the type person referenced in the one guy's review where he stated that those people who are looking for a Point A to Point Z type of biography will be disappointed with the book "Doo-Dah : Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture." Since a Point A to Point Z biography of Stephen Foster was/is exactly what I sought, I've found reading this particular book (in which music plays the lead role and Foster is sadly oftentimes little more than a secondary player) an endurance contest! Don't get me wrong: it's a well written book; just not what I was hoping for.

Doo Dah is the BEST BIOGRAPHY OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!.......1998-04-12

If you haven't read Doo Dah, buy it today!!!! Doo Dah was the best book that I have ever read in my entire life. Unfortunately, the book is not as good as the writer is handsome, and if it was it would be on the best seller list, and I know because he is my uncle. So, show your support of American culture and buy this stupendous biography, by the Master writer, the all time best, the one and only Ken Emerson.

Bow-wow!.......1997-10-16

This is another boonie dog book review from Wolfie and Kansas. Ken Emerson's book "Doo-dah! Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture" is well-written and informative. This is a "life and times" book, rather than a narrowly focused biography. However, the times of Stephen Foster, and the social and cultural history which Emerson discusses, are, like Foster's music, generally more interesting than the sometimes racist and alcoholic Foster himself.

Our one complaint about "Doo-dah!" is the short shrift Mr. Emerson gives to one of Stephen Foster's biggest hits in 1857, a song entitled "Old Dog Tray". We would have like to have learned more about this song. Foster's minstrel songs were performed by white men in blackface. Was "Old Dog Tray" performed by humans in dogface?

Cole Porter: A Biography
Average customer rating:

Good, but not great.

Night and Day this is the one Cole biography to read

A Memorable Biography of a Brilliant Artist

READ IT!

A Ride Down Memory Lane

Cole Porter: A Biography
William Mcbrien
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Everybody Was So Young: Gerald and Sara Murphy: A Lost Generation Love Story

De-Lovely

Cole Porter: A Biography (Da Capo Paperback)

De-Lovely

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter, Vol. 1

ASIN: 0394582357
Release Date: 1998-10-06

Amazon.com

It's not quite as witty as a Porter song (who could equal the incomparable Cole?), but this thorough biography honors the Broadway musical's worldliest, most intelligent composer by taking him seriously. Voluminous research buttresses William McBrien's portrait of a charmed life scarred by tragedy. Born in 1891, Porter left his wealthy family in Indiana to thoroughly enjoy himself at Yale University in Connecticut, where his sassy songs gave the Midwestern outsider social clout. Although exclusively homosexual, Porter was nonetheless devoted to the wealthy widow he married in 1919, and McBrien's narrative of their 1920s travels through Europe captures the glamorous sheen of their life together. Porter had some early success with shows like Fifty Million Frenchmen, but his sustained run of hits began in 1932 with Gay Divorce, continuing through the '50s and Kiss Me Kate. The author liberally quotes from Porter's deliciously naughty lyrics, reminding us how corny most show tunes seem when compared to "Love for Sale" or "Anything Goes." McBrien's painful account of the ghastly aftermath of a 1937 riding accident, which left Porter in pain that ended only with his death in 1964, reveals a quiet, uncomplaining stoic whose substance matched his dazzling style. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

The most richly told biography we have had of one of the most important and beguiling composer/lyricists of the century--the incomparable Cole Porter, whose songs were the essence of wit and sophistication and whose life was marked by tragedy, courage, sorrow, and secrecy.
        McBrien reveals the private Porter: his privileged Indiana youth (he composed his first song at ten). He went East to boarding school and to Yale, where he wrote the football anthems "Hail to Yale" and "Bull Dog," and show after show in which many of his classmates appeared--among them, Archibald MacLeish, Gerald Murphy, Dean Acheson, and Averell Harriman. Then a brief, unhappy stint at Harvard Law School. Off to Paris at twenty-six, and in crisis joining the French Foreign Legion during the First World War. Two years later, Cole Porter had his first Broadway hit.
        William McBrien's biography, the result of ten years of work and bursting with stories and scenes of Porter's life, takes us beyond the patina of Porter's very public career, beyond the high and low aristocratic worlds of Venice (Porter with Elsa Maxwell in 1923 together put Venice back on the map as the place to be), beyond the opulent parties and costume balls on two continents he not only attended but threw himself--and made into an art form. McBrien takes us into Porter's seemingly conventional marriage to reveal his complicated emotional life--the lost, privileged man who had a wild, irrepressible talent to amuse but at first find couldn't find his voice; the man who married "the most beautiful woman in the world," the very social, very southern Linda Lee Thomas, but who preferred his own sex. He had long relationships as well as frequent dalliances with many men but for thirty-five years maintained a loving marriage to the woman he truly adored.
        We see the supremely gifted Porter who created twenty musicals on Broadway (Anything Goes, DuBarry Was a Lady, Gay Divorce, Born to Dance), writing for such stars as Ethel Merman, Fred Astaire, Mary Martin, Bert Lahr, and Bea Lilly; and who gave Hollywood Fifty Million Frenchmen, The Gay Divorcee, Rosalie, Broadway Melody of 1940, Night and Day, High Society, Silk Stockings, Can-Can, and Kiss Me, Kate.
        Porter was "the top" and lived at the top, but his life was catastrophically transformed after a near-fatal horseback-riding accident. The thirty-one operations during the next eighteen years brought on increasing pain, and the growing paralysis that darkened his life was never hinted at publicly nor in his work.
        Interweaving the life and the music, McBrien shows us a man whose genius as a composer flowered in deceptively simple melodies that were thought to be completely modern but today are considered ingenious, complicated, and steeped in the nineteenth-century tradition of lieder; a composer whose craft concealed complicated solutions to musical problems while it enchanted his audiences. And we come to understand how Porter's doubts and desires, longings and infatuations, insinuated their way into the heart of his incomparable words and music.

Customer Reviews:

Good, but not great........2006-02-20

I suppose the challenge of reading a biography is slogging through the parts of the person's life in which you have little interest. As a musical theatre performer, I was most interested in the chapters devoted to the genesis of Porter's shows - to me, these were the most interesting, and seemingly well researched. The rest of it, particularly his early life, did not quite spark my interest. I did find the ending chapters - dealing with Cole's descent into melancholy and illness - to be touching. I did gain some insight into the glamorous world of Mr. Porter's time - quite the polar opposite to the Great Depression and WWII. In the sense that I admire books that give me a glimpse into a world different from my own, I liked it.

Night and Day this is the one Cole biography to read.......2004-08-19

Night and Day this is the best biography of the great Cole Porter (1891-1964). Porter was the scion of a wealthy family from Peru, Indiana. As a lad he excelled in music making and
graduated with a degree from Yale University. After a year of Law School at Harvard the travel loving Porter journeyed to Paris. He wed Linda Lee Thomas a wealthy woman several years his senior. Porter was gay and the marriage to Linda was sexless. The couple did love one another and Porter was never the same following Linda's death in 1954.
Porter wrote one fabulous musical after another for over 40 years. He lived in luxury with staff to attend his every need. He had a wide circle of friends from among the cultural and literary elite but was an aloof, fastidious, secretive man. Porter was a hard man to know and this biography is about as close as we will ever get to the inner core of the composer.
Porter was a genius in the witty line, the fetching tune and had the ability to make Broadway take notice during his fabulous career.
His life was placid but painful following his fall from a horse and the amputation of a leg. He was alcoholic and probably took durgs.
McBrien is an English professor who has written a well cratede book rich in anecdote. The book is well illustrated with photos from the Porter legacy. Several of Cole's famed lyrics are recorded to the delight of the reader.
With the new movie on Cole Porter this is a good supplement to the film. Well recommended.

A Memorable Biography of a Brilliant Artist.......2004-06-11

Cole Porter (1891-1964) determinedly created the image of an extremely wealthy man who traveled the world, played with the rich and famous, and now and then wrote a Broadway show or two for the pure pleasure of it. But although he was in some respects a shallow man who lived largely for personal pleasure, he was also a very driven and complex one, a man whose fame on the stage did not come easily and who faced a series of horrific hurdles in his private life.

Porter risked his grandfather's ire--and the family fortune he controlled--by settling on a career in music, and while he earned early fame at Yale through his compositions, his first Broadway venture, See America First, was a humiliating fiasco. Homosexual in an era when it was flatly unacceptable, he would marry to retain respectability and forge a remarkable emotional (if completely platonic) relationship with wife Linda Lee Thomas--even while conducting a series of same-sex affairs that would prove frustratingly superficial. Near the height of his career, a horseback riding accident would leave him crippled and in physical agony for the rest of his life, and the pressures of pain and keeping up appearances would plunge him into fits of depression that seemed to border on the psychotic.

Biographer William McBrien is meticulous in his research and his recreation of Porter's very high society, and in other hands such a weight of knowledge might plunge a book into absolute impenetrability--but although McBrien sometimes errs by flooding the reader with inconsequential detail, by and large he keeps a fine balance on his very difficult subject, tracing the arc of Porter's life from Indiana to Yale to New York to Europe to Hollywood, tracing the arc of his career from the humiliating fiasco of Porter's first Broadway show "See America First" to the brilliance of such successes as "Anything Goes" and "Kiss Me Kate."

In the process McBrien not only seems to capture Porter, but an entire era as well--a world of sharp sophistication when terms like "star" and "toast of two continents" and "gentlemen" still had meaning, when the "have-nots" danced to the tempo of the "haves" and the wealthy went slumming for a thrill. Filled with numerous photographs and large chunks of Porter's memorable lyrics, this is one biography that truly does its subject justice.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

READ IT!.......2003-01-11

WILLIAM McBRIEN has done it;he has given all the PORTER fans of this world the biography they were waiting for for thirty-four years.What this book gives us is an accurate account of the composer's life including his well known homosexuality, even if he married for respectability.PORTER's early years were quite different when compare with the other composers of his generation;he had a millionnaire grandfather and a rather aloof father with whom he didn't really communicate.He led a rather easy going life until he finally decided at the age of 37 to let his talent bloom on BROADWAY.There is considerable irony to the fact that from his riding accident in 1937,that man who had everything suffered a great deal until his death in 1964.You end up knowing what was this thing called love.

A Ride Down Memory Lane.......2002-06-27

I was more curious about Cole Porter's life because I, too, am in love with the lyrics and music he created. Songs like ANYTHING GOES, YOU'RE THE TOP, I LOVE PARIS to name a few are classics to no end. I like a book that takes me back in time, but I'd prefer a good story. I was a bit disappointed how the book became too informational with naming of who's who and who did what vs. a classic story. There are definitely stories behind the stories that would be much more interesting...so, I suppose we have to use our imagination. This book is a great resource to anyone studying about Cole Porter. I had no idea about his horse accident which really put a damper on his lifestyle. He was quite the world traveler in the 20s & 30s which is quite an accomplishment in those days. He definitely had a way with words...but if you read this...complement it with a CD of the COLE PORTER Songbook. It took me a while to get through this because it IS a book that you can put down & keep on your coffee table for a long time (before you pick it up again).

American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock 'n' Roll Empire

Average customer rating:

The definitive historical and critical study of Bandstand
A Must Read For Any Oldies Fan
DUH! I know Dick hosted AB many years ago!
Musical "Philadelphia Story" Retold in "Bandstand" Bio
Tough to get through

American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock 'n' Roll Empire
John Jackson
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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TV-a-Go-Go: Rock on TV from American Bandstand to American Idol
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Saturday Night Fever

ASIN: 0195093232

Book Description

"I don't make culture, I sell it" Dick Clark once remarked. Indeed, the man who reigned as host of American Bandstand for nearly four decades may not have invented rock 'n' roll, but he sold it to the American public better than anyone before or since. Before Clark, rock 'n' roll was the step child of radio--which took to playing records as a cost-saving measure after television siphoned off radios most lucrative sponsors. But it was network television--and specifically Clarks Bandstand--that ultimately legitimized what was then viewed by most adults as vulgar, low-class music, broadcasting a sanitized vision of rock 'n' roll straight into Americas living rooms five afternoons a week. Here is the first book to tell the full story of what happened in front of--and behind--the cameras on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, providing both a history of this landmark show and of the changing styles of rock 'n' roll over four decades. Based on extensive interviews with music business figures, recording stars, and Clark himself, and featuring dozens of rare or never before published photographs, this is a riveting and uncensored account of a show that managed to survive countless revolutions in popular music. Jackson describes Bandstands humble beginnings in Philadelphias blue collar south side, the sex scandal that scuttled the first host of Bandstand and enabled Clark to launch his career, the glory days when an appearance on Bandstand was one of the most prized gigs in the music business and when teenagers lined up for blocks hoping to enter the studio, and memorable Bandstand appearances by rock 'n' roll royalty from Chubby Checker and Frankie Avalon, to Jerry Lee Lewis and Jefferson Airplane, to Pink Floyd and Madonna. Here as well is a candid look at the backstage financial maneuvering that allowed Clark to launch a video and entertainment empire worth nearly $200 million dollars today. Voted Most Likely To Sell The Brooklyn Bridge by his high school classmates, Clark emerges as a cunning business impresario determined to make millions. Readers learn how Clark decided which eager young singers would appear on the show, how he managed to survive a 1959 Congressional payola investigation that destroyed the careers of many other popular disc jockeys, how much money he earned from his personal financial investments in many of the songs played on Bandstand, and his importance to ABC in its fledgling days as a national television network. As entertaining as it is eye-opening, Dick Clark's American Bandstand will bring back a flood of memories to everyone who lived through that era. It will fascinate everyone interested in popular American culture or in rock 'n' roll history.

Customer Reviews:

The definitive historical and critical study of Bandstand.......2006-05-14

Jackson's book is published by a top-flight academic press, and that should warn off readers hoping for a snappy, picture-laden bit of nostalgic hagiography (for that, see Dick Clark's own book, coauthored with Fred Bronson, replete with pictures and even, as the cover declares, a "Nifty Dance Poster Inside!"). What Jackson gives us is a deeply researched, thoughtful, and judicious history of the show and its implications. There are numerous divergences from common wisdom here-- most notable is Jackson's read on the so-called "integration" of Bandstand, which he treats with nuance and sophistication. References to obscure tunes and performers indicate that Jackson is surely one of those legendary record-collector enthusiasts; it shows in his footnotes but not, blessedly, in the text itself. Instead, the book gives us a closely observed history of the pop music business and one of its most important institutions.

A Must Read For Any Oldies Fan.......2001-07-05

This is the ultimate book on one of the early major Rock n Roll shows. Every detail you could possibly want to know about American Bandstand is in here. From the early days in Philadelphia, to the Dick Clark payola scandal, to the move to California, this book covers it. It also discuss the discrimination that existed, and how the regulars became celebrities. I really enjoyed and would recomend it to any fan of the fifties and sixties

DUH! I know Dick hosted AB many years ago!.......2000-11-15

I don't even watch "American Bandstand," and I know nothing about Dick Clark except:

1. That he hosted the show,

2. That 's also notorious for his "Pyramid" duo, which had been short-lived but is till aired here in New York,

3. And that on every New Years' Eve, he comes to New York to do I-bet-you-know-what.

Musical "Philadelphia Story" Retold in "Bandstand" Bio.......2000-10-07

In his history of Dick Clark and "American Bandstand," John Jackson had his choice of several stories. He could tell of Clark's ascension to the "Bandstand" podium at a strategic time, hooking Clark, his host network (ABC), and host city (Philadelphia) to pop culture prominence. Jackson could chronicle the city's fast-moving music scene, the teen singers, disc jockeys, and businessmen (Clark among them) who exploited the new music. Finally, he could tell the show's own 32-year story, as "Bandstand" led, followed, then rehashed youth culture.

Despite factual errors (putting "All You Need Is Love" on "Sgt. Pepper" shows as much Beatle knowledge as Jackson claimed Clark had) and unneeded 60s-70s rehash, Jackson's biography adddresses its subjects accurately and engagingly. Jackson sees Clark not as money-grubbing villain but driven, opportunistic businessman who "within the bounds of propriety - followed the dollar wherever it took him."

Clark fought to cult!ivate, keep, and wield a pleasant national image to his advantage. Jackson succeeds most in showing how that image served, even saved Clark's career. Clark's soft-spoken, "nice guy" image eased the transition from the scandalous, tragic tenure of original "Bandstand" host Bob Horn. It softened and widened (some said, despite Clark's objections, "whitened") rock and roll's ease into daily life and the youth buying power enjoining it. Mostly, it masked the clear-eyed, hard-charging figure who not only stood up to federal regulators and network bosses, but parlayed his "Bandstand" success into music-related (torn by 1959-60's "payola" scandal, covered in depth here despite little Clark participation), then rebuilt into complete media-based success.

Fans of early rock will enjoy Jackson's musical side trips. He looks at the "Bandstand" dancers' quick fame, the synergy and rivalry between the show, Philadelphia promoters, and disc jockeys, the rise of small record labels whi!ch (with Clark's involvement throughout) recorded national hits (Jackson tells fresh versions of the making of "At The Hop" and "The Twist"), and, finally, Clark's move to California which closed Philly music dominance (and, to believe Jackson, did little for "Bandstand," either). Figures like musician Charlie Gracie, producer Tony Mammarella, and songwriters Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe, today unknown outside Philadelphia music, are remembered either as villain or victim. The last chapters, describing Clark's adjusting the "Bandstand" image to changing musical times, are among the book's most intriguing.

The result makes "American Bandstand" unflinching, unfawning yet high-minded critique that Clark, generally no friend of critics, could support. The epilogue essays Clark's motivations, how he achieved and maintained fame and riches yet still promotes, produces, and hosts. Jackson concludes that it's what Clark enjoys doing and does best. That, and the dearth of harsh word!s for Clark by anyone in the book, makes this an incisive, fun read for pop culture fans.

Tough to get through.......1999-12-28

This is a very tough book to read as the author seems only to list endless, meaningless, facts without organizing them in to an interesting narrative. The role American Bandstand and Dick Clark played in the early days of television and rock 'n roll is a very interesting story. Unfortuneately this book fails to tell it an enjoyable way. Also, the author seems to have an unjustified vendetta against Clark.

Rhythm Is Our Business: Jimmie Lunceford and the Harlem Express (Jazz Perspectives)

Average customer rating:

Learn All About The Band With The Bounce
LUNCEFORD'S REPUTATION RESURRECTED!

Rhythm Is Our Business: Jimmie Lunceford and the Harlem Express (Jazz Perspectives)
Eddy Determeyer
Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0472115537

Book Description

In the 1930s, swing music reigned, and the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra was the hottest and hippest attraction on the black dance circuits. Known for its impeccable appearance and infectious rhythms, Lunceford’s group was able to out-swing and outdraw any band. For ten consecutive years, they were the best-loved attraction at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater. The group’s hit recordings sold in the hundreds of thousands, and Jimmie Lunceford’s band rivaled Ellington’s for popularity in the African American community.

Jimmie Lunceford was also an innovator, elevating big-band showmanship to an art and introducing such novel instruments as the electric guitar and bass. The band’s arrangements, written by Sy Oliver, Edwin Wilcox, Gerald Wilson, Billy Moore, Jr., and Tadd Dameron, were daring and forward looking, influencing generations of big-band writers.

Rhythm Is Our Business traces the development of the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra from its infant days as a high school band in Memphis to its record-breaking tours across the United States, Canada, and Europe. The book also unveils Lunceford’s romantic yet ill-fated involvement with Yolande Du Bois, daughter of famous writer and opinion leader W.E.B. Du Bois. And by reconstructing Lunceford’s last day, the book offers a glimpse into the mysteries surrounding the leader's untimely death. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the history and legacy of swing.

Eddy Determeyer has been a freelance music journalist for more than three decades. In 1984 Determeyer wrote a seven-part series on Jimmie Lunceford for the Dutch Jazz Nu magazine. Determeyer has written thousands of articles on music for a variety of Dutch publications and is the author ofseveral books. He currently produces the Holiday for Hipsters radio show for Dutch public radio

Customer Reviews:

Learn All About The Band With The Bounce.......2007-01-24

For more than a decade, from the mid-1930s until the late 1940s, Jimmie Lunceford's Orchestra (aka: the Harlem Express) was acknowledged as one of the leading jazz bands of the swing era. The group was famous for its rhythmic precision and "bounce," its rich sonority, its discipline and its impeccable showmanship. Musically, the Harlem Express did it all: toured the USA and Sweden, played radio gigs, clubs and dances, cut dozens of hit records. . . . Socially and politically, the Harlem Express dismantled racial barriers; Lunceford was one of the first black bandleaders to hire white musicians and composers, and his group played for black, white and desegregated audiences without discrimination. Jimmie Lunceford's band was highly regarded by musicians, critics and audiences, all of whom were stunned when Lunceford died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 45. As a tribute to their leader, the band tried to stay together, but the effort was short-lived; the group just wasn't the same without the leader who had molded and guided them for so long. When Lunceford died, the heart and soul of the Harlem Express died with him.

Rhythm is Our Business is Eddy Determeyer's painstakingly researched chronicle of the rise, peak and collapse of Lunceford's orchestra. Determeyer gathered his material from nearly five dozen interviews, and more than four dozen journals, newspapers and books. In addition to the endnotes and bibliography, Determeyer includes an extensive discography of the Harlem Express's recordings.

Determeyer traces Lunceford's early years in Oklahoma City and Denver and his college years at Fisk University. He recounts Lunceford's brief career as a high school music teacher in Memphis and describes how Lunceford and his students transformed themselves from a local sensation to a top-notch band based in New York City. Determeyer reveals the financial and personal tensions that arose within the group and discusses the personnel changes that gradually altered the band's character and style. He offers intimate details about cooperation and competition between the New York jazz bands, and about the struggles between the musicians' union, radio stations and recording companies. Perhaps most intriguingly, Determeyer reconstructs the details of Lunceford's last day and puts forward his theory regarding the leader's untimely demise.

Readers interested in the histories of the Harlem Express and the mid-twentieth century jazz scene (particularly in New York City) will find this book highly satisfying. Those who want to learn about Jimmie Lunceford himself will such information sparse. This lack of detail is not Determeyer's fault. Lunceford was an intensely private man who was barely known by anyone, including those who lived and worked with him for nearly twenty years. Determeyer probably has uncovered just about anything that ever will be known about Jimmie Lunceford, the quiet, clean-cut, clean-living man who loved music, sports and aviation and had once loved W.E.B Dubois's daughter. Aside from those few personal details, the story of the Harlem Express is also, for the most part, the story of Jimmie Lunceford. Rhythm Is Our Business is a well researched, finely written book. Readers interested in jazz history will certainly want to add this volume to their collections.

LUNCEFORD'S REPUTATION RESURRECTED!.......2007-01-22

Although regarded as one of the greatest swing bands, Lunceford's orch somehow slipped through the cracks between the 40s and today. Lunceford's early death in 1947 age 45 years effectively ended the band - and his music is too often forgotten or relegated to a back seat when the swing era is assesed.
Eddy Determeyer has done a fine job in exploring Lunceford's life and times. He puts the "Harlem Express" into context, offering many insights into the man, music and surrounding circumstances. Drawing upon previously unpublished interviews (many of which were conducted by the author) as well as 'common' sources and his own analysis, Determeyer produced a very readable book that fleshes out this amazing man and his music. Highly recommended.

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