Classic American Popular Song: The Second Half-Century, 1950-2000

By David Jenness, Donald Velsey, Don Velsey

Book Overview

Classic American Popular Song: The Second Half-Century, 1950-2000 addresses the question: What happened to American popular song after 1950? There are numerous books available on the so-called Golden Age of popular song, but none that follow the development of popular song styles in the second half of the 20th century. While 1950 is seen as the end of an era, the tap of popular song creation hardly ran dry after that date. Many of the classic songwriters continued to work through the following decades: Porter was active until 1958; Rodgers until the later 1970s; Arlen until 1976. Some of the greatest lyricists of the classic era continued to do outstanding and successful work: Johnny Mercer and Dorothy Fields, for example, continued to produce lyrics through the early '70s. These works could be explained as simply the Golden Age's last stand, a refusal of major figures to give in to a new reality. But then, how can we explain the outstanding careers of Frank Loesser, Cy Coleman, Jerry Herman, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Fred Kander and John Ebb, Jule Styne, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, and several other major figures? Where did Stephen Sondheim come from? For anyone interested in the development of American popular song -- and its survival -- this book will make fascinating reading.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415970563
• ISBN13: 9780415970563
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent

The book which is a kind of a sequel to an epochmaking book by Alec Wilder is simply indispensable to anyone who is interested in the field. It is both intelligent and entertaining, as a book on popular music should be. Highly recommended.

A college-level survey of what happened to American popular music post 1950

Classic American Popular Song: The Second Half-century, 1950-2000 is a college-level survey of what happened to American popular music post 1950: it continues the story of classic songwriters from Porter and Rodgers to Johnny Mercer and Fred Kander, exploring the ongoing (and sometimes surprising) popularity of their works over the decades and considering both the quality of pop song after 1950 and the efforts of writers who worked in an established yet fading musical style. From traditions maintained in popular song to the evolution of American song styles, colleges will find this a fine addition.