ALWAYS MAGIC IN THE AIR: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era - Softcover

Emerson, Ken

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841157287 ISBN 13: 9781841157283

Publisher: William The 4th, 2006

Synopsis

Just as THE LAST PARTY caught Britpop in the 90s, and EASY RIDERS and RAGING BULL portrayed Hollywood in the 70s, so THE BRILL BUILDING SOUND brilliantly captures the sweet, baby-boom music scene of New York in the 60s. The sound is still with us today: 'On Broadway', 'Walk on By', 'Leader of the Pack', '(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman', 'You've Lost that Loving Feeling'. Back in the sixties it was known as the 'Brill Building Sound'. Based at 1619 Broadway, just off Time Square, the Brill Building was a shabby office block populated by young musicians and composers: Burt Bacharach and Hal David; Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller; Carole King and Gerry Goffin; Neil Sedaka. They were brought together by Don Kirshner in 1958. Kirshner felt there was a real need for songwriters in the booming rock market, and to that end he hired eighteen to sit at their cubicles and churn out love songs for the teenage masses. These writers defined the music of the baby boomer generation and their songs informed the political awakening of a whole decade. Most of the songwriters were Jewish, raised in Brooklyn, influenced as teenagers by the leftwing politics and the civil rights movement in the racially integrated borough. Inspired by black music some of their finest songs were written for Areatha Franklin, Dionne Warwick. The rise of Latino culture also affected their music. They added new elements to their music as most of them were classically trained. Through this blend a new identity was formed which changed a whole generation. Through their story, Ken Emerson re creates the era of social change and the rise of youth culture. Impeccably researched, including exclusive interviews with all the main participants, 'The Brill Building Sound' is a riveting chapter in American popular culture.

About this title

Product Description:

Just as ‘The Last Party’ caught Britpop in the 90s, and ‘Easy Riders’ and ‘Raging Bull’ portrayed Hollywood in the 70s, so ‘Always Magic in the Air’ brilliantly captures the sweet, baby-boom music scene of New York in the 60s.

‘Always Magic in the Air’ is a family portrait of fourteen remarkable young songwriters who, huddled in midtown Manhattan's Brill Building and in 1650 Broadway during the late 1950s and early '60s, created some of rock 'n' roll's first entries great classics – songs like Elvis Presley's 'Jailhouse Rock', Dionne Warwick's 'Walk On By' and the Righteous Brothers' 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield, and many others, melded black, white and Latino sounds before multiculturalism became a concept, integrated audiences before American desegregated its schools, and brought a new social consciousness to pop music.

Impeccably researched, including exclusive interviews with all the main participants, ‘Always Magic in the Air’ is a riveting chapter in American popular culture, evoking a period when fear and frivolity, sputniks and hula-hoops simultaneously girdled the globe. Ken Emerson describes the world that made these songwriters, the world they in turn made in their music, and the impact on their careers, partnerships and marriages when the Beatles, Dylan and drugs ripped those worlds asunder. The stories behind their songs make the 'golden oldies' we take for grated sounds brand new and more moving and eloquent than we ever suspected.

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 this edition

• Publisher: William The 4th
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1841157287
• ISBN 13: 9781841157283
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352