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There Was a Fire
There Was a Fire
by
Ben Sidran
There Was a Fire:
Jews, Music and the American Dream
"An extraordinary tour de force, weaving cultural, political, musical and economic history. Part textbook, part family history, Sidran is a warm, funny, and authoritative guide in this thrilling, adventurous social history of popular music. A must-read for all music-lovers."
—Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain...more
Jews, Music and the American Dream
"An extraordinary tour de force, weaving cultural, political, musical and economic history. Part textbook, part family history, Sidran is a warm, funny, and authoritative guide in this thrilling, adventurous social history of popular music. A must-read for all music-lovers."
—Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain...more
Published
2012
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A good survey of the music, but I noticed many small and sometimes not so small errors about Judaism, history, and even music that undercut the author's authority. If I'm questioning things I know a little bit about, it's hard to be confident that I'm getting correct information about things I don't know about. A very sloppily edited book. Like other music history survey books I've read - I'm thinking specifically about Ned Sublette's books about Cuba and New Orleans,as well as Jeff Chang's book...more
Author Ben Sidran has made a brilliant contribution to our understanding of American popular music and Jazz. He artfully explains the cultural history and the immigrant experience of American Jews and how those factors influenced the many songwriters, musicians, promoters, theatre owners, record company owners, A&R men and others who played an enormous role in the creation of our music. There's a heavy emphasis (rightfully so) on the Great American Songbook (Gershwin, Kern, Rogers et al). Am...more
on page 60
Jews, Music and the American Dream
An outstanding book abour American Music, which, to a very surprising degree is Jewish music.
Gets bogged down a bit at certain places, but the flow is very good and the information is intriguing.
An outstanding book abour American Music, which, to a very surprising degree is Jewish music.
Gets bogged down a bit at certain places, but the flow is very good and the information is intriguing.
Chock full of great stories about Americana and legendary music contributors. Makes for great dinner conversation. Read it three times and took away a little more each one.
Apr 05, 2013
Vicki Cline
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1on-hold,
other-nonfiction
May 21, 2012
Jeff Kirschenbaum
marked it as to-read
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![Ben Sidran: A Life in the Music [With CD]](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347805747m/354388.jpg "Ben Sidran: A Life in the Music [With CD]")
