Reading Lyrics: More Than 1,000 of the Twentieth Century's Finest Song Lyrics (signed)

Gottlieb, Robert; & Robert Kimball, Robert Lissauer [INSCRIBED to ]

ISBN 10: 0375400818 / ISBN 13: 9780375400810

Published by Pantheon Books, New York, 2000

About this Item

New York: Pantheon Books, 2000. INSCRIBED to contributor Robert Lissauer [who provides incisive commentary to the book]. INSCRIBED / SIGNED by the CO-AUTHOR, Robert Kimball, directly on the title page. The inscription reads: "This copy of READING LYRICS is inscribed to Melinda and Bob Lissauer with the Affection of Robert Kimball." Besides his contributions to this book, Robert Lissauer, songwriter, Broadway producer, and music publisher, authored the 1.2 million word classic music reference book, LISSAUER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC IN AMERICA. Laid is a printed slip: "This book is sent to you with the compliments of the Author." SIGNED copies, especially PRESENTATION copies are SCARCE. Fine condition. Sharp corners. Square and tight. Pages are fresh, crisp, clean and unmarked. 2000. First printing with "First Edition" so stated and complete number row (246897531) on the copyright page. Bound in the original pale gray boards with a silver-stamped black cloth spine. From the publisher: "A comprehensive anthology bringing together more than one thousand of the best American and English song lyrics of the twentieth century; an extraordinary celebration of a unique art form and an indispensable reference work and history that celebrates one of the twentieth century's most enduring and cherished legacies. READING LYRICS begins with the first masters of the colloquial phrase, including George M. Cohan (Give My Regards to Broadway), P. G. Wodehouse (Till the Clouds Roll By), and Irving Berlin, whose versatility and career span the period from Alexander's Ragtime Band to Annie Get Your Gun and beyond. The Broadway musical emerges as a distinct dramatic form in the 1920s and 1930s, its evolution propelled by a trio of lyricists -- Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, and Lorenz Hart -- whose explorations of the psychological and emotional nuances of falling in and out of love have lost none of their wit and sophistication. Their songs, including Night and Day, The Man I Love, and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, have become standards performed and recorded by generation after generation of singers. The lure of Broadway and Hollywood and the performing genius of such artists as Al Jolson, Fred Astaire, Ethel Waters, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and Ethel Merman inspired a remarkable array of talented writers, including Dorothy Fields (A Fine Romance, I Can't Give You Anything but Love), Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls), Oscar Hammerstein II (from the groundbreaking Show Boat of 1927 through his extraordinary collaboration with Richard Rodgers), Johnny Mercer, Yip Harburg, Andy Razaf, Noël Coward, and Stephen Sondheim. READING LYRICS also celebrates the work of dozens of superb craftsmen whose songs remain known, but who today are themselves less known -- writers like Haven Gillespie (whose Santa Claus Is Coming to Town may be the most widely recorded song of its era); Herman Hupfeld (not only the composer/lyricist of As Time Goes By but also of Are You Makin' Any Money? and When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba); the great light versifier Ogden Nash (Speak Low, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, and, yes, The Sea-Gull and the Ea-Gull); Don Raye (Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Mister Five by Five, and, of course, Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet); Bobby Troup (Route 66); Billy Strayhorn (not only for the omnipresent Lush Life but for Something to Live For and A Lonely Coed); Peggy Lee (not only a superb singer but also an original and appealing lyricist); and the unique Dave Frishberg (I'm Hip, Peel Me a Grape, Van Lingo Mungo). The lyricists are presented chronologically, each introduced by a succinct biography and the incisive commentary of Robert Gottlieb and Robert Kimball.". INSCRIBED / SIGNED by the AUTHOR. First Printing of the First Edition. Hardcover. Fine condition/No dust jacket. Illus. by NOT a library discard. xxvi, 706pp. Great Packaging, Fast Shipping. Seller Inventory # 029616

Bibliographic Details

Title: Reading Lyrics: More Than 1,000 of the ...

Publisher: Pantheon Books, New York

Publication Date: 2000

Binding: Hardcover

Illustrator: NOT a library discard

Condition: Fine condition

Dust Jacket Condition: No dust jacket

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: First Printing of the First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

A comprehensive anthology bringing together more than one thousand of the best American and English song lyrics of the twentieth century; an extraordinary celebration of a unique art form and an indispensable reference work and history that celebrates one of the twentieth century’s most enduring and cherished legacies.
 
Reading Lyrics begins with the first masters of the colloquial phrase, including George M. Cohan (“Give My Regards to Broadway”), P. G. Wodehouse (“Till the Clouds Roll By”), and Irving Berlin, whose versatility and career span the period from “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” to “Annie Get Your Gun” and beyond. The Broadway musical emerges as a distinct dramatic form in the 1920s and 1930s, its evolution propelled by a trio of lyricists—Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, and Lorenz Hart—whose explorations of the psychological and emotional nuances of falling in and out of love have lost none of their wit and sophistication. Their songs, including “Night and Day,” “The Man I Love,” and “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” have become standards performed and recorded by generation after generation of singers. The lure of Broadway and Hollywood and the performing genius of such artists as Al Jolson, Fred Astaire, Ethel Waters, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and Ethel Merman inspired a remarkable array of talented writers, including Dorothy Fields (“A Fine Romance,” “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love”), Frank Loesser (“Guys and Dolls”), Oscar Hammerstein II (from the groundbreaking “Show Boat” of 1927 through his extraordinary collaboration with Richard Rodgers), Johnny Mercer, Yip Harburg, Andy Razaf, Noël Coward, and Stephen Sondheim.
 
Reading Lyrics also celebrates the work of dozens of superb craftsmen whose songs remain known, but who today are themselves less known—writers like Haven Gillespie (whose “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” may be the most widely recorded song of its era); Herman Hupfeld (not only the composer/lyricist of “As Time Goes By” but also of “Are You Makin’ Any Money?” and “When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba”); the great light versifier Ogden Nash (“Speak Low,” “I’m a Stranger Here Myself,” and, yes, “The Sea-Gull and the Ea-Gull”); Don Raye (“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Mister Five by Five,” and, of course, “Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet”); Bobby Troup (“Route 66”); Billy Strayhorn (not only for the omnipresent “Lush Life” but for “Something to Live For” and “A Lonely Coed”); Peggy Lee (not only a superb singer but also an original and appealing lyricist); and the unique Dave Frishberg (“I’m Hip,” “Peel Me a Grape,” “Van Lingo Mungo”).
 
The lyricists are presented chronologically, each introduced by a succinct biography and the incisive commentary of Robert Gottlieb and Robert Kimball.

About the Author:

ROBERT GOTTLIEB is the former Editor-in-Chief of Alfred A. Knopf and of The New Yorker. He is the dance critic for the New York Observer and author of George Balanchine: The Ballet Maker. He has previously edited Reading Jazz, Reading Lyrics (with Robert Kimball), the Everyman's Library edition of The Collected Stories of Rudyard Kipling, and The Journals of John Cheever.

ROBERT KIMBALL is the editor of The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter, The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin, and The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart and is the co-editor of The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin.