Customer Reviews

The American Songbook: The Singers, Songwriters & The Songs

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Ken Bloom's superb The American Songbook has the unique quality of service to two distinct audiences. Readers of a certain age will enjoy hours of pleasure recalling the music of their lives and responding to the inevitable impulse to listen to records they haven't played for years. Young people like those in my university musical theater courses will encounter the music and the people who made it- in their historical contexts- and will be led maze-like to new experiences as they seek out films and recordings in libraries and nostalgia bins. And not least, The American Songbook will help extend the great contributions of Bloom's subjects into the new century."

When I first picked up "The American Songbook" at my local B&N it was a thrilling experience. The photographs and layout looked great and it seemed that the ground covered was extremely generous and, at first superficial glance, the text well written. But as it turned out after the book was purchased and I was able to sit down comfortably to really read it, things turned out to be much less than desired.

As usual with modern published books the editing job is simply atrocious: mis-spelled words all over the place, repeated paragraphs, inconsistent dates for events, etc.

While the author does warn that his opinions are just that, his opinions, it still grates the nerves to find such opinions so thoughtless and/or uninformed: "In the 1960s (writing about music on television, page 199) production values were deployed and rock-lite tunes were featured on NBC's Hullaballoo and its ABC clone, Shindig." Actually Shindig came before Hullaballoo and with performances from the likes of The Rolling Stones, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, etc. there was certainly nothing "rock-lite" about it.

What is even more annoying is the author's condescending attitude towards rock music altogether. It is not that I feel that Mr. Bloom's book should have given any special consideration to rock music. He makes it clear at the beginning that his work will deal basically with the classic American songbook. Nothing wrong with that. But why is it so often in American art criticism that in order for something to be praised, something else has to be put down? What is the need for a statement like this, "In February 1964, the U.S. was invaded once again invaded by the British... If anyone doubted that rock-and-roll was here to stay, they were horribly, horribly mistaken". If a critic's tastes are that exclusive, how valid can the rest of his or her value judgments be?

Even when the author seems to be praising those of the post-World Wars generation, it is usually done left-handed: "(Hal) David's strength is the straight-ahead ballad, but without the wordplay associated with Harburg, the wittiness of Porter, or the emotional pull of Berlin." Sheesh, what do you have left then?

Or how about "It's telling that Bacharach and David's number one interpreter, Dionne Warwick, possessed a powerful voice and strong sense of rhythmic drive, but like most singers of her time, paid little attention to specific lyrics". Why thank you, Mr. Bloom, I think...

OK, so maybe popular music's move away from Berlin, Porter, Arlen, Fields, et.al. was exacerbated by the advent of rock and roll. But can anyone truly say that was the only reason? Irving Berlin gave the world great songs for almost 40 years. But let's face it; at mid-century the well understandably could not help but start to dry up a little.

I have no problem enjoying the tunes of the first half of the 20th century and I have no difficulty enjoying the songs of the second half. Yes, I am from the baby-boomer generation but so what? Even Leonard Bernstein praised The Beatles. So, Mr. Bloom, what is your problem?

This is a superb "dipper-inner"! If you are into the songs that have become American standards, you will find in this book a wealth of entertainment. The photos are chosen for interest and the anecdotal material--gossipy, behind-the-scenes stories about singers and songwriters--is fascinating. The book is pretty darn comprehensive with short pieces on the more obsucre songwriters and singers and in depth pieces on the greatest American singers and songwriters of the 20s,30s,40s and 50s. The index is thorough and very useful.

Allen Johsnon, Jr. - Kid's writer and jazz guitarist

This book is a good addition to the literature of American traditional popular music in the 1930s, `40s, and `50s. (Although it goes back to the 19th century and forward to the 1960s, the emphasis is on the 1940s and `50s, with pretty good coverage of the 1930s.) Since my musical interest is primarily in the late 1940s and early `50s, this book is a welcome addition to my library.


The biggest deficiency of the book is that some artists which deserve inclusion are not well covered, or not covered at all. Patti Page, for example, was a major vocalist in the genre, but there is not an article, or even an index entry. (There is at least one picture of her, however.) She was certainly more important than, say, Connee Boswell, who was covered in an article.


One of the best things about the book is its biographical coverage of songwriters who are not as well-known as they should be. Anyone who is interested in this kind of music knows "Secret Love" and "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," for example, but few of us are familiar with the name of Paul Francis Webster, who wrote the lyrics for both songs and a host of others. This book has biographical articles on Webster and many other songwriters who deserve to be better known.


The book does not get more than 4 stars because of its omissions; it gets 4 stars because what it does, I like. I'm glad I have the book but I think it could have been better if the author had done a better job of deciding who should be included.

The information in this book provides a reasonable overview of the people and music highlighted, and the photos are terrific. HOWEVER...I was very disappointed to discover that this beautiful book is filled with LOTS of typos, incorrect and missing photo descriptions, and stupid mistakes such as a completely incorrect inset of songs attributed to George Gershwin, and no listing of the ones he did write. These errors are inexcusable and the fact that they weren't corrected before publication cheapens the work and makes it very clear that the publisher had no interest in creating a quality product.

This is a large and beautiful coffee table type book that cover the great singers, the big bands, and the song writers of that great era in music, the great American songbook. It is a very enjoyable book, with lots of pictures and facts. A couple of complaints: in the singers section, the author lists Louie Prima & Keely Smith and Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme under a two page chapter entitled Husband & Wife Teams. I'm sorry, but Steve & Eydie deserve, at the very least, their own chapter together, if not individually. They have been very successful and talented singers, both individually and together for more than 50 years...they deserve more respect. Same with Keely Smith. Great singer, great voice, deserved her own chapter. Louie Prima deserved his own chapter under Big Bands. And finally, no chapter on Buddy Clark? His career was cut tragically short in a plane crash, but he had a fine voice and was quite popular in the late '40's. If you're going to have a chapter on Russ Columbo (whose career was also tragically cut short) you have to do the same with Buddy Clark. You will enjoy this book very much, despite these complaints.

I bought this book to contribute to the music education of my 13 year old drummer grandson, who happens to love jazz, big band and American standards. This book was just perfect. Beautiful pictures, well written biographys of the American music greats. Wonderful tidbits and background on everyone in the American popular music business, from the singers, band leaders, songs, and songwriters. Very fun, entertaining, and educational.

Book is loaded with excellent pictures and gives good insight to composers and singers who helped to make up the "great american songbook"

Already having Ken Bloom's other book, BROADWAY MUSICALS, I found this to be a great companion piece. Being a huge fan and collector of things relating to the history of the American Musical Teatre, I found AMERICAN SONGBOOK to be another treasure trove of information, beautifully laid out with lots of great pictures and reproductions of sheet music, which I especially enjoyed. This more than makes up for the already mentioned typos and misinformation. My only disappointment, from the vantage point of American Musicals, is the absence of Stephen Sondheim. I understand that by the nature of the beast, some composers are going to be left out. The irony is, while Sondheim is one of the major forces in musical theatre here and abroad, both as a composer and lyricist, he would be the first to agree that he did not intend to write "popular" music. But I still found his absence sad in the context of the whole picture. After all, numerous singers, including a few that are given chapters to in this book, have recorded Sondheim...including countless versions of "Send In the Clowns".

...In all honesty, you have to think about what this book is trying to cover. It's really about the 'standards' era of popular music and those who composed in the genre, as well as those who performed in it.

Inevitably with such a wide scope it cannot cover every aspect of the period. But author Ken Bloom has done a good job of making his book representative of all that took place during those years.

As a music enthusiast, would be author and one time presenter I find myself reaching for the book pretty frequently to read up on a particular artiste or songwriter. it's usually the first place I start. If I want more in depth information I will look out one of the biographies. otherwise this book suits me fine!

Drew. Drew Savage is the author of The Deceivers. He is a standards era enthusiast and has been a guest presenter for the BBC.

Also recommended:

Broadway Sheet Music Hits
Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz: 3 volumes (New Grove Dictionary of Jazz)