What do you think?
Rate this book
The American Songbook: The Singers, Songwriters & The Songs
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.
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.
- GenresMusicNonfictionBiography
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 17, 2005
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 7, 2013
Fantastic encyclopedia of singers and songwriters of the Great American Songbook. I love the full color pictures! The writing isn't dull or text-book-ish, but very easy to follow and full of insight. I was a little bugged that Ken Bloom didn't include Vic Damone in the list of singers. Frank Sinatra himself said that Vic Damone had "the best set of pipes in the business." Other than that, it is an essential guide for American Popular music.
August 28, 2020
An interesting compilation, with concise biographies of many of the singers, bands, and songwriters from the nineteenth century through the 1960s. Some listings also include a “Career Highlights” listing as well as a listing of songs recorded. For a book purporting to address the history of music, it seems a strange choice not to include similar information for each entry.
Although the lavishly illustrated book provides at least a general overview of the history of the Great American Songbook, there are some strange omissions, such as songwriter/musician Bobby Troup [mentioned only in the short biography of his wife, Julie London] who wrote such hits as “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” and “You’re Looking at Me,” both recorded by [among others] Nat King Cole. Also omitted: lyricist Dorothy Fields, who penned such standards as “On the Sunny Side of the Street ” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” both recorded by [among others] Ella Fitzgerald as well as “The Way You Look Tonight,” recorded by many singers, including Peggy Lee.
For readers interested in the Great American Songbook’s influential songs and standards, there is much to appreciate here in this overview of its history as seen through some of the singers, big bands, and songwriters of these popular and enduring songs.
Although the lavishly illustrated book provides at least a general overview of the history of the Great American Songbook, there are some strange omissions, such as songwriter/musician Bobby Troup [mentioned only in the short biography of his wife, Julie London] who wrote such hits as “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” and “You’re Looking at Me,” both recorded by [among others] Nat King Cole. Also omitted: lyricist Dorothy Fields, who penned such standards as “On the Sunny Side of the Street ” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” both recorded by [among others] Ella Fitzgerald as well as “The Way You Look Tonight,” recorded by many singers, including Peggy Lee.
For readers interested in the Great American Songbook’s influential songs and standards, there is much to appreciate here in this overview of its history as seen through some of the singers, big bands, and songwriters of these popular and enduring songs.
March 26, 2017
Really excellent collection of material, but 4 stars due to the horrible editing of this book; missing pictures, misprints, misspellings, sentences getting cut off in page turns, silly typing mistakes, etc. Like every paper I ever submitted in college, this book looks like no one read it book after the author finished typing it.
June 21, 2012
A really interesting tour through a fascinating part of our nation's entertainment history. As I was reading, I was wishing I could have heard recordings of some of the more obscure gems mentioned in this book. The book also made me wonder how much of our current song history will survive into the coming decades. Will anyone in the future care to write or read a book about the music of the past 20 or 30 years? I'm not so sure ....
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews