by William H.A. Williams (1996)
The image of the Irish in the United States changed drastically over time, from that of hard-drinking, rioting Paddies to genial, patriotic working-class citizens. In 'Twas Only an Irishman's Dream, William H. A. Williams traces the change in this image through more than seven hundred pieces of sheet music - popular songs from the stage and for the parlor - to show how Americans' opinions of Ireland and the Irish went practically from one extreme to the other. Because sheet music was a commercial item it had to be acceptable to the broadest possible song-buying public. "Negotiations" about their image involved Irish songwriters, performers, and pressured groups, on the one hand, and non-Irish writers, publishers, and audiences, on the other. Williams ties the contents of song lyrics to the history of the Irish diaspora, suggesting how ethnic stereotypes are created and how they evolve within commercial popular culture.
Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff
A landmark study, based on thousands of music-related references mined by the authors from a variety of contemporaneous sources, especially African American community newspapers, Out of Sight examines musical personalities, issues, and events in context. It confronts the inescapable marketplace concessions musicians made to the period's prevailing racist sentiment. --from publisher description.
Todd Decker
"Who should sing Ol' man river? : the lives of an American song tells the almost eighty-year performance history of a great popular song. Examining over two hundred recorded and filmed versions of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's classic song, the book reveals the power of performers to remake one popular song into many different guises"--Provided by publisher.
Harvey Sheldon
"Harvey Sheldon music historian presents the Golden Age of Pop Music, collection of documented stories featuring big swing bands and the greatest pop stars and love songs of the 30's, 40's, 50's and classic gems from the early 60's. This was an era of incredible stars, fantastic voices, beautiful harmonies, and magical melodies. It was the music we'll always remember -- it was the Golden Age of Pop Music! This collection of historical biographies and history features the true legends of this era -- Al Jolson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, and Johnny Mathis, Vic Damone, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day, Nat King Cole, The Mills Brothers, Al Martino, to name a few. The big swing bands of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Ray Anthony, Les Brown, Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Billy May, Stan Kenton, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Neal Hefti and lots more. Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin, and the cast of Your Hit Parade. Many artists made their mark with pop standards, particularly interpreters like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Vie Damone, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis, Jr., Mel Tonne, Sarah Vaughan, Eydie Gorme, Andy Williams, Nancy Wilson, Jack Jones, Steve Lawrence, Billy Eckstine, Al Jolson, Nat King Cole, and Perry Como. Bring the nostalgia of the Golden Age Of Pop Music and the magical charisma of its performers and the history of authentic of The Golden Age of Pop Music!"--P. [4] of cover.
Leslie Woodhead
The music of John, Paul, George, and Ringo played a part in waking up an entire generation of Soviet youth, opening their eyes to seventy years of bland official culture and rigid authoritarianism. Soviet leaders had suppressed most Western popular music since the days of jazz, but the Beatles and the bands they inspired-both in the West and in Russia-battered down the walls of state culture. Leslie Woodhead's How The Beatles Rocked the Kremlin tells the unforgettable-and endearingly odd-story of Russians who discovered that all you need is Beatles. By stealth, by way of whispers, through the illicit late night broadcasts on Radio Luxembourg, the Soviet Beatles kids tuned in. "Bitles," they whispered, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah."