Music in the USA: A Documentary Companion [Hardcover] Review

"Music in the USA" is essential for the student, professor, or enthusiast. Never before has such an array of primary source documents been collected into a single volume. Easy to browse, "Music in the USA" makes for a fantastic research tool as well as a great read for pure enjoyment- one can easily read up on any segment of American musical culture throughout our history. As a student, I highly recommend picking up this book. I have used it many times in my studies, and will surely reference it in my continuing pursuit into the music industry.

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Product Description:
Music in the USA: A Documentary Companion charts a path through American music and musical life using as guides the words of composers, performers, writers and the rest of us ordinary folks who sing, dance, and listen. The anthology of primary sources contains about 160 selections from 1540 to 2000. Sometimes the sources are classics in the literature around American music, for example, the Preface to the Bay Psalm Book, excerpts from Slave Songs of the United States, and Charles Ives extolling Emerson. But many other selections offer uncommon sources, including a satirical story about a Yankee music teacher; various columns from 19th-century German American newspapers; the memoirs of a 19th-century diva; Lottie Joplin remembering her husband Scott; a little-known reflection of Copland about Stravinsky;an interview with Muddy Waters from the Chicago Defender; a letter from Woody Guthrie on the "spunkfire" attitude of a folk song; a press release from the Country Music Association;and the Congressional testimony around "Napster.""Sidebar" entries occasionally bring a topic or an idea into the present, acknowledging the extent to which revivals of many kinds of music play a role in American contemporary culture. This book focuses on the connections between theory and practice to enrich our understanding of the diversity of American musical experiences.Designed especially to accompany college courses which survey American music as a whole, the book is also relevant to courses in American history and American Studies.

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The American Songbook: The Singers, Songwriters & The Songs [Hardcover] Review

"Ken Bloom's superb The American Songbook has the unique quality of service to two distinct audiences. Readers of a certain age will enjoy hours of pleasure recalling the music of their lives and responding to the inevitable impulse to listen to records they haven't played for years. Young people like those in my university musical theater courses will encounter the music and the people who made it- in their historical contexts- and will be led maze-like to new experiences as they seek out films and recordings in libraries and nostalgia bins. And not least, The American Songbook will help extend the great contributions of Bloom's subjects into the new century."

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Product Description:
Presented in the striking format of Ken Bloom's successful Broadway Musicals, this rich visual history of popular song covers all of the prominent figures behind the music, in front of the bandstand, and on top of the piano. "The Singers" includes Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Barbara Cook, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, and dozens more; " The Songwriters" features Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Dorothy Fields, Stephen Foster, Richard Rodgers, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, and a host of others; a lively section discusses the Big Bands; and a decade-by-decade insert puts the entire history of popular music in perspective through words and pictures.

Each one of the more than 200 listings in the book features the artist's personal and professional history, great songs, and important contributions, plus photos (many rare), record covers, anecdotes, quotes, and more. Sidebars and features throughout cover topics of interest-everything from Arrangers, Vocal Groups, and Keepers of the Flame to Tin Pan Alley, Parodists, and Classical Crossovers-making this the most thorough survey of its kind. Throughout, all of the great songs are discussed-literally hundreds of songs, from "Stardust" to "My Funny Valentine" to "White Christmas." Illustrated biographies, discographies, chronologies, and indices make The American Songbook a full-fledged reference as well as a pictorial feast.

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Goodbye: In Search Of Gordon Jenkins [Hardcover] Review

. . . is what I told the author by e-mail:

Dear Mr. Jenkins,

I just finished Goodbye, and I wanted you to know how glad I am you wrote it. I got it through Rick Apt; it is a copy you signed.

I love your father's music and have for a long time, but I had little idea just how comprehensive his talent was. Your book deepened my admiration for his work. I'll appreciate it even more now.

As someone who makes a living as an editor, I have pretty high
standards. Your writing is clear, your passion is evident, your style is rewarding on many levels, and the book is whole: nothing need be added or taken away, as I see it.

Beyond that, as a dilettante baritone in a few big band style ensembles, I've got a new, higher standard to shoot for just knowing what a man like Gordon Jenkins expected of others. And when I sing a ballad, I'll damn sure never trust a leader who keeps his eye on the band instead of me.

Thank you for writing a great book about a great man.

Yours truly,

Bill Fisher

(By the way, the author was gracious enough to reply to my e-mail--a class act.)

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