Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era - Softcover

Emerson, Ken

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143037773 ISBN 13: 9780143037774

Publisher: Penguin Group USA, 2006

Synopsis

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, after the shock of Elvis Presley and before the Beatles spearheaded the British Invasion, fourteen gifted young songwriters huddled in midtown Manhattan's legendary Brill Building and a warren of offices a bit farther uptown and composed some of the most beguiling and enduring entries in the Great American Songbook. "Always Magic in the Air" is the first thorough history of these renowned songwriters-tunesmiths who melded black, white, and Latino sounds, integrated audiences before America desegregated its schools, and brought a new social consciousness to pop music.

About this title

Review:

‘A magisterial study...scholarly and highly entertaining.' Daily Telegraph

'A loving and exhaustive examination...a stern corrective to anyone who thinks pop music began with the Beatles.' Observer Music Monthly

About the Author:

Ken Emerson, the author of Doo-Dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture and coauthor of Stephen Foster, a documentary film for the PBS series The American Experience, has written widely about popular music and culture since the 1960s. His articles and reviews have appeared in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to The Wall Street Journal. He is the former articles editor of The New York Times Magazine and op-ed editor of New York Newsday.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Group USA
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0143037773
• ISBN 13: 9780143037774
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 334