Stardust Melodies: The Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs

by Will Friedwald

Book Overview

In Stardust Melodies , Will Friedwald takes each of these legendary songs apart and puts it together again, with a staggering wealth of detail and unprecedented understanding. Each chapter gives us an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375420894
• ISBN13: 9780375420894
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Pantheon Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.2" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

You Gotta Love a Book whose First Line is "Lucy holds a saxophone."

Will Friedland is a great raconteur, and his prose flows like a jazz solo, going off on tangents, quoting from other tunes, but all of it illuminating his central themes. If you are interested in music, you can't help but turn the pages with delight, as you discover new gems, and see new facets on the ones you've liked all along. If you aren't a musician, the discussion of the musical form, the chords, and what key this or that performer plays it in, and what is therefore their high and low notes, could become dry indeed. That is the reaction I am only too familiar with any time I broach such subjects with L-7's. Still, if you are someone who truly enjoys music, but is not a musician, you could still enjoy this book; you would just have to skim over certain parts, as if it was written in a foreign language. Others might find the whole thing dreadfully boring--overkill, even. But those sorts of people should be avoided at all costs. Friedland has a great understanding of the role of jazz, slightly elevated, but still connected to popular music; at least it was in the days of the songs whose praises he sings here. What makes these tunes so great are not only the popular performances, but that they provide such a rich platform for improvisation. Jazz inspired the song writers, and the songs inspired countless variations and jazz choruses. The chapter on "I Got Rhythm" is a case in point. The song inspired countless others, based on its chords and bridge, from "Straighten Up and Fly Right" to "The Flintstones." Sometimes the vocalist is also a jazz musician, as in Louis Armstrong's version of "Stardust" where he sings and plays, or even, it could be argued, when Ella scats, giving many a horn player a run for his money. Will Friedland understands this interplay very well, and gives both musical forms their due. The choice of songs and song writers is pretty solid, but of course, there are always songs that you feel should have been squeezed in. No "Stella by Starlight"? And Jerome Kern could have been better represented by "All the Things You Are" or "The Song Is You." But he already covered "The Song Is You" in his excellent book about Frank Sinatra by that title. "Body and Soul," by Johnny Green, is of course a foregone conclusion. "Night and Day" by Cole Porter is a good choice, but Mr. Porter wrote so many excellent songs that settling on just one is difficult. "St. Louis Blues" is another foregone conclusion, and great that a blues is included. Not only is it a blues, but it also has a rhumba section--an early example of fusion? "My Funny Valentine" is a good choice for Rodgers and Hart, but what about "Have You Met Miss Jones?"? Of course, if you don't like his choices, then you are free to write your own book--but you would be hard pressed to pull together so much data, anecdotes, cultural observations, and emotions, and put them into a book that manages to encapsulate the whole era of the Great American Songbook in only 12 chapters. Brav

music lover's delight

Well written, without being pedantic, Stardust Melodies packs an awful lot of information. It has plenty of interesting vignettes. Guaranteed to make you go out searching for more versions of these classic songs. I liked it, and I am going to read more of Friedwald's writing.

The rich and fascinating tales of twelve songs

Did you know that Evelyn Walsh McLean, owner of the Hope Diamond and a backer of the production of 'Show Boat', was so aghast when its creators wanted to take 'Ol' Man River' out of the show during out-of-town tryouts that she bet them the Diamond that it would be the hit of the show? She didn't have to give up her gem, and this gem of a song was saved. Did you know that Stan Freberg recorded his own politically correct version of the song, retitling it 'Elderly Man River'? Or did you know that Herman Hupfeld, the writer of both the words and music for 'As Time Goes By' had only one other hit in his long career, and that was 'When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba'?This book is not just a collection of trivia about twelve popular American songs, but it is filled with such oddball facts as these. Will Friedwald starts each chapter with the story of how the song came to be writen, gives a neat analysis of the technical details of the song, and then describes the major recorded versions of each song. This is indeed a treasure trove of information about these songs, and if nothing else, reminds us of the long and rich history of American popular song.The twelve songs, each with its own chapter, are, in chronological order, 'Star Dust', 'The St. Louis Blues', 'Mack the Knife', 'Ol' Man River', 'Body and Soul', 'I Got Rhythm', 'As Time Goes By', 'Night and Day', 'Stormy Weather', 'Summertime', 'My Funny Valentine', and 'Lush Life.'

Great read for classic pop music lovers

The book is a terrific read and essentially covers the history of twelve classic American popular songs. The author's knowledge of American popular music is astounding and, accordingly, he presents the material in a cogent and entertaining manner. This book is a must for lovers of pre-rock popular music (well, "Mack the Knife" isn't really "pre-rock" but its style belongs to a slightly earlier era, in my opinion). Anyhow, the book is a real page-turner and any enthusiast of classic pop music can't go wrong.

Brilliant

Friedwald offers a fun-to-read look at 12 popular songs, which attempts to explain why these songs became standards. This includes a history of each song, a brief musicological dissection, a lyrical analysis and then a rundown of significant versions of the song, including vocals and instrumentals. All of the analysis is geared towards the layperson, so non-musicians, don't feel intimidated.Ironically, the reviewer below who quotes the adage "if you've got nothing nice to say, say nothing" goes on to excoriate Friedwald and his musical "disinclination" for rock music. I'm a fan of rock, soul, pop and jazz, and I actually enjoyed reading an opinionated, cheeky take on music from someone who doesn't dig current popular tastes.