Great men of American popular song : the history of the American popular song told through the lives, careers, achievements, and personalities of its foremost composers and lyricists--from William Billings of the Revolutionary War through Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Burt Bacharach / David Ewen.

Author/creator Ewen, David
Format Book
EditionRevised and enlarged edition.
Publication InfoEnglewood Cliffs, NJ : Prentice-Hall, [1972]
Descriptionx, 404 pages ; 25 cm
Subjects

Contents From fuguing tunes to martial tunes: William Billings -- Songs with sentiment: Henry Russell -- Songs of the blackface minstrel: Dan Emmett -- Songs of the negro, 1: Stephen Foster -- Songs of the negro, 2: James A. Bland -- Songs of the Civil War, 1: George Frederick Root -- Songs of the Civil War, 2: Henry Clay Work -- Songs of the sentimental nineties: Paul Dresser -- Songs from Tin Pan Alley: Harry von Tilzer -- Songs from vaudeville: Gus Edwards -- Songs from operetta: Victor Herbert -- Songs from musical comedy, 1: George M. Cohan -- Songs with syncopation: Irving Berlin -- Songs with the blues, 1: W.C. Handy -- Songs from musical comedy, 2: Jerome Kern (and P.G. Wodehouse and Otto Harbach) -- Songs of the 1920's, 1: Vincent Youmans -- Songs of the 1920's, 2: De Sylva, Brown, and Henderson -- Songs of the 1920's and 1930's, 1: Geoge and Ira Gershwin -- Songs of the 1920's and 1930's, 2: Rodgers and Hart -- Songs of the 1920's and 1930's, 3: Cole Porter -- Songs from the little revues: Arthur Schwartz (and Howard Dietz) -- Songs with social significance: Harold Rome -- Songs with the blues, 2: Harold Arlen (and E.Y. Harburg and Johnny Mercer) -- Songs from World War II: Frank Loesser -- Songs from musical plays, 1: Rodgers and Hammerstein -- Songs from musical plays, 2: Lerner and Loewe -- Songs from the movies, 1: Harry Warren (and Al Dubin) -- Songs from the movies, 2: James Van Heusen (and Sammy Cahn) -- Songs from the movies, 3: Henry Mancini -- Songs of protest: Bob Dylan -- Songs with the Nashville sound: Johnny Cash -- Songs of the 1960's and 1970's: Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
Abstract The American popular song has undergone as many changes and developments as America herself. Here David Ewen explores the whole history and evolution of American popular music from 1746 to the present day. Through the biographies, personal portraits, and critical evaluations of thirty of its leading creators, the reader is given a perspective on how the American popular song developed over the years and gains an insight into the birth and evolution of the media (theater, radio, television, movies, etc.) in which these songs came into being. Within the biographies, such basic styles as the national ballad, the war song, ragtime songs, the blues, show tunes, movie tunes, and the songs of protest are described, while more than passing notice is given to the changing song lyric and the men who brought about this change. The result is a crisply-written, exceedingly knowledgeable work of encyclopedic scope and range that discusses and explains the currents and crosscurrents in the evolution of American popular music.
LCCN 71037961
ISBN0133641821
ISBN9780133641820
Stock number$12.95

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk ML3551 .E83 1972 ✔ Available Place Hold