The Great Song Thesaurus [Hardcover]

Roger Lax (Author), Frederick Smith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195054083 | ISBN-13: 978-0195054088 | Publication Date: February 9, 1989 | Edition: 2

Since its publication in 1984, The Great Song Thesaurus has established itself as the definitive reference on the popular song. Ranging from the sixteenth century to the present day and covering virtually every type of popular song-- from Broadway show tunes and sea chanteys to television theme songs and advertising jingles--the Thesaurus presents accessible information on each song's composer, lyricist, year of greatest popularity, and, where appropriate, record sales, air play and Hit Parade rankings, and much more. This new edition updates the material up to 1987 and includes a new index of key lines. Organized for easy reference, the volume also enables readers to look up songs by alphabetical order; yearly chronology; composer or lyricist; key word, subject, or category; awards received; theatre, film, radio, or television score; and by the entertainer, college, political campaign, or commercial product with which a song is associated. An invaluable and thoroughly up-to-date reference for professionals and general readers alike, The Great Song Thesaurus is essential for anyone interested in popular music.
Outstanding Features
* Chronicles hit songs from 1558 through 1986
* Contains a new index of key lyric lines
* Names major American and British award-winning songs
* Gives theme songs of performers, universities, and political campaigns
* Lists more than 11,000 song titles, with lyricists, composers, dates of publication, and other vital facts
* Includes over 800 listings of songs used in musical theatre, film, radio, and television
* Indexes more than 5,500 contributing lyricists and songwriters
* Lists over 2,000 song titles by subject, key word, and category

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

"Great" is the operative word here. Originally published five years ago ( LJ 11/1/84), this thesaurus-almanac-index-encyclopedia smorgasbord of popular American and English song information quickly became a reference mainstay, and the revised second edition is another cornucopia. The arrangement is virtually identical to the original but coverage has been extended through 1986 and increased somewhat to 11,000 songs. Among its ten sections, most notable are the year-by-year inventory from 1558 to 1986 of significant songs, the listing of songs delineated by performance medium (theater, film, radio, and television); the thesaurus of songs by subject, key word, and category; and, especially, the 258-page alphabetically arranged song-title catalog listing composer, lyricist, year of popularity, and recording artists. A new addition is the key lyric line index, which extracts 3025 tag lyric lines and the songs from which they are taken. Expensive, but an important acquisition for all libraries.
- Barry Miller, Austin P.L., Tex.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"'Great' is the operative word here....An important acquisition for libraries."--Library Journal

"Those who have used the first edition of this superb reference book will be pleased that it has been updated a mere five years after its first appearance....Beautifully printed, nicely organized, carefully edited, and a joy to use."--American Reference Books Annual

"Students of the great corpus of English-language popular song literature could scarcely expect to find any reference tool more useful than the index at hand....The scope of songs included and the clarity of format combine to create an invaluable reference tool, one that should be a part of library collections of all sorts and sizes. The thesaurus will be particularly welcomed by any who have ever received a plaintive request for information on some song vaguely identified by only the most tenuous of data. The Great Song Thesaurus should stand as a cornerstone in the bibliography addressing popular music."--Sonneck Society Bulletin

"The review of the first edition of The Great Song Thesaurus characterized it as 'an invaluable source for any library with a popular music collection' and stated that it would 'also be extremely useful in general reference collections.' In view of the work's expanded coverage, wealth of information, and multiple types of access, the original recommendation can be strongly endorsed."--Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin

"In addition to being a valuable reference, this book makes great browsing; you can spend hours flipping from page to page, jogging your memory about this song or that song, and thinking up questions with which to stump your friends."--Show Music

Praise for the previous edition: "Listing more than 10,000 American and British popular songs by title, giving for each the year of greatest popularity, composer, lyricist, and often bits of history, this well-researched work is likely to become the first and only place most libraries will need to look for this information....An outstanding ready-reference tool."--Library Journal

"A unique and extremely useful reference book....Indispensable to both academic and public library collections of all sizes and levels."--Choice

"An invaluable source."--ALA Booklist

"An extremely valuable book, providing in one volume more information of its kind than any other book hitherto published."--Music Library Association Notes

"Students of the great corpus of English-language popular song literature could scarcely expect to find any reference tool more useful than the index at hand....The scope of songs included and the clarity of format combine to create an invaluable reference tool, one that should be part of library collections of all sorts and sizes. The thesaurus will be particularly welcomes by any who have ever received a plaintive request for information on some song vaguely indentified by only the most tenuous of data. The Great Song Thesaurus should stand as a cornerstone in the bibliography addressing popular music."--Douglas A. Lee, Vanderbilt University

Product Details

• Hardcover: 792 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (February 9, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195054083
• ISBN-13: 978-0195054088
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,185,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Great Song Thesaurus, September 28, 2010

By 

Francine Friedman (Nyack, New York USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Great Song Thesaurus (Hardcover)

This book is helpful to me as a musician and vocalist. In fact, I got more than I expected as the songs go back to the Renaissance.
However, caveat emptor...the book is VERY heavy.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Popular Song Thesaurus, March 28, 2007

By 

William H. Young "W. H. Young" (Lynchburg, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Great Song Thesaurus (Hardcover)

For those who want to know who wrote what when, this is a treasure. Unfortunately out of print, but used copies can be found. Nothing else quite like it exists, and essential for anyone seriously interested in American popular music.