Stardust Melodies: A Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs - Hardcover

Friedwald, Will

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375420894 ISBN 13: 9780375420894

Publisher: Pantheon Books, 2002

Synopsis

A leading expert on American music offers the behind-the-scenes history of twelve great standards of twentieth-century popular music, describing the circumstances under which it was written and originally performed, its musical and lyric content, and the performers who made them famous. 17,500 first printing.

About this title

About the Author:

Will Friedwald is the author of Jazz Singing: America’s Great Voices from Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond; Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer’s Art; The Warner Bros. Cartoons; and Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. One of the leading contemporary writers of liner notes for music albums, Friedwald lives in New York City.

From the Inside Flap:

rdust 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 extended history of one song—the circumstances under which it was written and first performed—and then explores its musical and lyric content. Drawing on his vast knowledge of records and the careers of performing artists, Friedwald tells us who was responsible for making these songs famous and discusses in depth the performers who have left their unique marks on them. He writes about variations in performance style, about both classic and obscure versions of the songs, about brilliantly original interpretations and ghastly travesties. And then there’s the completely unexpected, like Stan Freberg’s politically correct “Elderly Man River.”

This is a book for all lovers of American song to explore, argue with, and savor.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pantheon Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0375420894
• ISBN 13: 9780375420894
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 397