Stardust Melodies
The Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs
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Publisher Description
In Stardust 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"The American Popular Song is like a car full of clowns at the circus: from the outside it looks small and unassuming, yet you can't believe how much is contained inside," notes Friedwald in his introduction and, indeed, Tin Pan Alley and its environs have produced masterpieces that survive well beyond their time and context. While every reader will have their own list what better dinner conversation game? this dozen (chosen in conjunction with Friedwald's editor, Bob Gottlieb) should contain at least half of everyone's choices. But this is not a trivia book, and the joy of these short essays ruminative, but also filled with fascinating historical and social details is in their intelligence and their always evident love of the music itself. Friedwald (Sinatra!; The Good Life, with Tony Bennett) can surprise, as when he lists similarities between Kurt Weill and No l Coward (in his discussion of "Mack the Knife") or unearths the connections between Show Boat (which features "Old Man River") and British humorist P.G. Wodehouse. But he is at his best elucidating how a particular song works its magic. His history of Johnny Green's 1930 classic "Body and Soul" introduced by Gertrude Lawrence, made famous by the notorious Libby Holman and become a jazz standard when performed by Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker and Oscar Peterson is incisive, with illuminating details (he describes Tony Bennett's hand motions while singing). Friedwald performs similar feats with the other songs, including "As Time Goes By" (in which he praises Tiny Tim's late 1960s rendition), "The Saint Louis Blues," "I Got Rhythm" and "My Funny Valentine." In the end, the book is an important contribution not only to American musicology but also to the literature on popular culture.
