Customer Reviews

Harold Arlen Rediscovered

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The trouble with this "rediscovered" series of songbooks by composers from the Golden Age of The Great American Songbook -- people like Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Kern, Berlin and, here, Harold Arlen -- is that for every gem they're known for, there were dozens of mediocre songs that never made it. Most of these men were writing for short-lived Broadway shows, and even today only a handful of songs from a show are memorable. (In the case of Andrew Lloyd Webber, we're lucky to get one per show.) There are a few shows, like WEST SIDE STORY and GYPSY, where every single song is brilliant.

In the case of this "rediscovered" Harold Arlen, there's an awful lot of so-so songs to wade through to stumble upon a previously unknown gem. Of course, archaeology is sometimes its own reward and the gems along the way are certainly well worth the digging.

From an historical point of view, ALL these "rediscovered" collections are worth it. These men shaped American music for several decades. (Sad, isn't it, that out of the entire history of mankind the great popular music is from a period of only about four decades!)

So for the serious student of The Great American Songbook, this collection is recommended. For the casual musician, most of the good stuff is in The Harold Arlen Songbook.