The Great American Songbook: The Stories Behind the Standards [Paperback]

Charles Denison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2010

From Tin Pan Alley to Broadway and Hollywood, The Great American Songbook: The Stories Behind the Standards tells the stories of our most popular songs with humor, drama and insight. This is timeless music written in unique ways that is constantly being reinterpreted by each generation. Isaac Stern made this distinction between talent and genius: "A person possesses talent; genius possesses the person." This is a book about singers, musicians, lyricists and composers taking their talent into the atmosphere of immortality. They are fascinating, and they set the standards by which popular music is measured. They may not have lived easy lives, but their creativity drove them to new heights and they changed the face of American music forever.Music by a wide variety of artists is covered. Some chapters tell the story of just one song; others sketch the life stories of the artists. Music lovers will find new facts and deeper understanding about old friends in The Great American Songbook: The Stories Behind the Standards.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Chuck Denison is a writer, speaker, consultant and musician. During the day he works for the Presbyterian Church USA designing new models of ministry. As a jazz musician, he has played at the Indy Jazz Fest and many other venues. He has also been a poet, blues guitarist, merchant marine, cab driver, pastor, songwriter and folksinger.

Product Details

• Paperback: 111 pages
• Publisher: Robert Reed Publishers; First Edition edition (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931741425
• ISBN-13: 978-1931741422
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #961,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Much There, July 13, 2005

By 

Sheryl "Sher" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great American Songbook: The Stories Behind the Standards (Paperback)

I was really disappointed with the book. I am an aspiring performer, and have been doing a lot of research on the standards. I thought this book would same me a lot of time. The great american songbook includes hundreds of standards -- this book covers only about 30 of them. You can get all of this information on the internet. Save the $9+.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent giftbook for popular music buffs, December 9, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great American Songbook: The Stories Behind the Standards (Paperback)

The Great American Songbook is an anthology of entertaining true stories behind a medley of some of the most popular songs Hollywood, Broadway, and other favorite songs. Brief yet enjoyable and fascinating trivial about great singers, musicians, composers, and more fill this amazing, defly researched and entertaining collection, which includes tibits about such hits as "White Christmas", "Blue Moon", "Get Happy" and more. An excellent giftbook for popular music buffs.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review from a radio personality, September 12, 2004

By 

Charles Denison (Fishers, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great American Songbook: The Stories Behind the Standards (Paperback)

Chuck Denison
The Great American Songbook - The Stories Behind The Standards
Robert D Reed Publishers
ISBN 1-931741-42-5

As a music enthusiast and a radio programmer, this book is the perfect tool. I could not wait to tell some of the stories about the music I love so dearly on my radio show.

I am sure we have all wondered how the writers of our favorite tunes came up with the ideas, well Dr. Chuck Denison, writer, speaker, consultant and musician, did the research and presented it in an easy and fun to read format. It is only 111 pages and can be read in one setting and used in many ways.

Along with the stories comes some historical information about the greats that created the songs, such as how Duke Ellington met Bill Strayhorn; why Billy wrote "Take the A Train;" how John Hammond introduced Charlie Christian to a reluctant Benny Goodman and Charlie took the opportunity to amaze Goodman. Charlie could play anything on his guitar that Goodman could make up and play on his clarinet, but ..."when they reversed roles, with Goodman trying to echo Charlie's lines, well the "King of Swing" had some woodshedding to do."

Some of the stories included in the book are about: "Someone to Watch Over Me" George and Ira Gershwin; "Giant Steps" John Coltrane; "Ornithology" Charlie Parker, Benny Harris; "Kind of Blue" Miles Davis; "Strange Fruit" Abel Meeropol and Billie Holiday; "God Bless the Child" Billie Holiday; "Take Five" Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck, just to name a few.

Dr. Chuck Denison filled a gap in my library and gave me a very useful tool.

by Haybert King Houston

Jazz Now Interactive September 2004 Vol 14 No. 5