Don Kirshner - The Man with the Golden Ear: How He Changed the Face of Rock and Roll [Hardcover]

Rich Podolsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2012

(Book). In 1958, long before he created and hosted Don Kirshner's Rock Concert , the most dynamic rock-and-roll series in television history, before he developed the Monkees and created the Archies, Don Kirshner was a 23-year-old kid with just a dream in his pocket. Five years later he was the prince of pop music. He did it by building Aldon Music, a song publishing firm, from scratch. This is about how he did it with teenage discoveries Bobby Darin, Carole King, Neil Sedaka, and more. By 1960, at the ripe old age of 25, Kirshner had built the most powerful publishing house in the business, leading Time magazine to call him "the Man with the Golden Ear." In five short years he coaxed and guided his teenage prodigies to write more than 200 hits. And they weren't just hits, as it turned out, but standards including "On Broadway," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Up on the Roof," "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do," "I Love How You Love Me," "Who Put the Bomp," and "The Locomotion" songs that have become the soundtrack of a generation. "We weren't trying to write standards," said one songwriter. "We were just trying to please Donnie."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

RICH PODOLSKY, an established reporter and writer since the 1970s, has been a staff writer for CBS, and has written for TV Guide, ESPN, the Philadelphia Daily News, the Palm Beach Post, and the Wilmington News Journal. His passion for the music of the '60s led him to Don Kirshner and the amazing teenage songwriters he discovered.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard (March 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1458416704
• ISBN-13: 978-1458416704
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #616,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book rocks. March 11, 2012

By Mimi Alford

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Admitting love and ignorance at the same time is embarrassing but I am willing to do it. I love Rich Podolsky's outstanding biography of "Don Kirshner, The Man with the Golden Ear" because in every chapter Podolsky has taught me something new about the songs that captured me so long ago. I can see my record player. It looks like a small square gray and red suitcase. There it is, open on the floor with a stack of 45's on the fat spindle and I am dancing around my bedroom in a dreamy state...a young teenage girl. Even today, I remember all the lyrics and I pretend that I can sing along as I take a morning walk, plugged into my iPod. What I didn't know anything about until I read Podolsky's book was the business of making music - how these songs that I have cherished for so long came to exist. In telling the stories of how Kirshner's passion, determination and sometimes downright luck brought so many amazing young singers and writers together into the world of the Brill Building, Podolsky has written a book that is lively, informative and fun to read. I could feel the magic...even without turning my iPod on.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars DON KIRSHNER/THE GOLDEN EAR March 27, 2012

By Ken Rappaport

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

WOW-I COULD'NT WAIT TO GET HOME EVERYDAY TO FINISH THE BOOK. IT WAS SO INFORMATIVE
GROWING UP IN BROOKLYN MAKES ME PROUD TO KNOW THAT THESE SINGER-SONGWRITERS WERE FROM COMMUNITIES JUST A FEW MILES FROM WHERE I LIVED. DON KIRSHNER WAS AMAZING BRINGING CAROLE KING/GERRRY GOFFIN, NEIL SEDAKA/HOWARD GREENFIELD, BARRY MANN/CYBTHIA WEIL AND OTHERS WITH 200 CHARTED HITS...UNREAL. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO IS A MUSIC BUFF 1958-1963. CHEERS TO RICH PODOLSKY,THE AUTHOR.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Huge Fan March 17, 2012

By jmg

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book was great! A bit embarrassed, I will admit that I did not know who Don Kirshner was, or that he indeed changed the face of rock and roll. But that is the very point - You do not need any knowledge of Don Kirshner to love the book and appreciate all he did to foster the best songwriters in the last 100 years to produce their and the very best. And the result is so many songs that people of all ages love - songs that have stood the test of time. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?, Loco-Motion, Splish Splash, You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'. I certainly did know or at least had heard of many of the characters in the book including Neil Sedaka, Bobby Darin, and Carole King to name a few. I loved hearing the history of the writing, recording, and releases some of the best known songs of all time. Songs lyrics written in 5 minutes on a napkin in a diner? Great stuff. I also really enjoyed the author's additions of personal notes of his successes, struggles, and sometime failures of attaining interviews with the musical geniuses that you will come to love and admire through reading the book. I cannot encourage you enough to branch out and read something a little different. I am sure you will love it as much as I did.