Classic American Popular Song: The Second Half-Century, 1950-2000

by Jenness; David

• ISBN13: 9780415970563
• ISBN10: 0415970563
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-11-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Classic American Popular Song: The Second Half-Century, 1950-2000addresses the question: "What happened to American popular song after 1950?" There are numerous books available on the so-called "Golden Age" of popular song, but none that follow the development of popular song styles in the second half of the 20th century. While 1950 is seen as the "end of an era," the tap of popular song creation hardly ran dry after that date. Many of the classic songwriters continued to work through the following decades: Porter was active until 1958; Rodgers until the later 1970s; Arlen until 1976. Some of the greatest lyricists of the classic era continued to do outstanding and successful work: Johnny Mercer and Dorothy Fields, for example, continued to produce lyrics through the early '70s. These works could be explained as simply the Golden Age's "last stand," a refusal of major figures to give in to a new reality. But then, how can we explain the outstanding careers of Frank Loesser, Cy Coleman, Jerry Herman,Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Fred Kander and John Ebb, Jule Styne, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, and several other major figures? Where did Stephen Sondheim come from? For anyone interested in the development of American popular song -- and its survival -- this book will make fascinating reading.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
1 Classic Pop at Midcentury	1	(44)
2 The Music Went Round and Round...	45	(22)
3 Late Flowering from Old Stock	67	(38)
4 Indian Summer of the Classic Popular Song	105	(42)
5 Restocking the Songbook	147	(58)
6 The Land Where the Good Songs Go	205	(38)
7 Other Voices in Popular Song	243	(38)
8 Sondheim and After	281	(48)
9 Classic American Popular Song at the End of the Twentieth Century	329	(12)
Permissions	341	(18)
General Index	359	(8)
Song Index	367	(14)
Songwriters' Index	381