Great American Songbook
The term Great American Songbook encompasses an unspecified number of outstanding songs in American popular music from the 1930s to the 1960s. They are part of the stylistically and chronologically extended Classic Pop or Traditional Pop (for which Grammy Awards are given), ie the "classic" pop music that is still unaffected by rock 'n' roll and starts in Tin Pan Alley . The term Great American Songbook expresses the view that this was the artistic climax of popular (sung) music creation in the USA.
The following composers / lyricists are considered the classic representatives of the Great American Songbook :
- Harold Arlen (" Over the Rainbow ", " Stormy Weather ")
- Irving Berlin (" White Christmas ", " Alexander's Ragtime Band ", " Blue Skies ")
- Hoagy Carmichael (" Stardust " with Mitchell Parish , " Georgia on My Mind " with Stuart Gorell and " The Nearness Of You " with Ned Washington )
- Duke Ellington (" In a Sentimental Mood ", " It Don't Mean A Thing ", " Satin Doll ", " Mood Indigo ")
- George and Ira Gershwin (" Someone to Watch Over Me ", " S 'Wonderful ", " Summertime ")
- Jerome Kern (" Look for the Silver Lining ", " Ol 'Man River ", " The Way You Look Tonight ", " All the Things You Are ", " The Song Is You ", " Smoke Gets in Your Eyes ")
- Henry Mancini (" Moon River ", " Days of Wine and Roses ")
- Johnny Mandel (" The Shadow of Your Smile ")
- Johnny Mercer (" One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) ")
- Cole Porter (" Night and Day ", " Love for Sale ", " I've Got You Under My Skin ", " It's De-Lovely ")
- Rodgers & Hammerstein (" Oh What a Beautiful Mornin ' ", "Shall We Dance?", " The Sound of Music ")
- Rodgers and Hart (" Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered ", " My Romance ", " Have You Met Miss Jones ", " My Funny Valentine ")
- Vincent Youmans (" Tea for Two ", "Hallelujah!" And " Time on My Hands ")
The songwriter duos were also very important
- Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen (" It Could Happen to You " and " But Beautiful ")
- Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen (" Darn That Dream " and " Polka Dots and Moonbeams ")
- Mort Dixon and Allie Wrubel (" Gone with the Wind " and " I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over ")
- Vernon Duke (" April in Paris " with Yip Harburg , " I Can't Get Started " with Ira Gershwin )
- Sammy Fain (" Alice in Wonderland " with Bob Hilliard , " Love Is a Many Splendored Thing " with Paul Francis Webster )
- Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh (" Don't Blame Me ", " I'm in the Mood for Love ")
- Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown (" Singin 'in the Rain ", " I'll Be Seeing You " with Richard Whiting )
- Mack Gordon and Harry Revel (" Time on My Hands ")
- Gus Kahn (" When Lights Are Low " with Ted Fiorito , " Chloe " with Neil Moret )
- Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young (" Dinah ")
- Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (" Three Little Words ")
- Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (" Almost Like Being in Love ", " Gigi ")
- Burton Lane (" How About You? " With Ralph Freed , " Old Devil Moon " with Yip Harburg )
- Frank Loesser ("On a Slow Boat to China", " Baby, It's Cold Outside ", " I Hear Music " with Burton Lane)
- Don Raye and Gene De Paul (" Star Eyes " and " You Don't Know What Love Is ")
- Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger (" Love Is Just Around the Corner ")
- Jule Styne (" Just in Time " with Betty Comden & Adolph Green , " I Fall in Love So Easily " with Sammy Cahn )
- Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz (" You and the Night and the Music ", "Dancing in the Dark")
- Fats Waller and Andy Razaf (" Ain't Misbehavin ' ", " Honeysuckle Rose ")
- Harry Warren (" Jeepers Creepers " with Johnny Mercer , " Chattanooga Choo Choo " with Mack Gordon )
- Victor Young and Ned Washington (" Stella by Starlight ")
- Bronislau Kaper (" On Green Dolphin Street " with Ned Washington )
The era of the Great American Songbook coincides with the predominance of radio as a mass medium and with the Golden Age of Hollywood of the studio system , which significantly favored the production conditions for the composers / lyricists and the marketing opportunities for their works. The songs were often written for Broadway or Hollywood musicals and are characterized by catchy melodies and sophisticated arrangements and texts that are tailored to the music. The influence of jazz is evident, but the swing genre is in the foreground. The works of the Great American Songbook have become standards; Because of their continued popularity and quality, they have been and are included in compilations by many singers, starting with Ella Fitzgerald's influential Sings the ... Songbook series on Verve Records from the 1950s and 1960s through Tony Bennett to the present day, like Queen Latifah and Rod Stewart .
The most important interpreters of the Great American Songbook include: Louis Armstrong , Fred Astaire , Tony Bennett , Betty Carter , Rosemary Clooney , Nat King Cole , Ray Conniff , Chris Connor , Bing Crosby , Blossom Dearie , Billy Eckstine , Percy Faith , Michael Feinstein , Ella Fitzgerald , Judy Garland , Billie Holiday , Shirley Horn , Lena Horne , Etta Jones , André Kostelanetz , Diana Krall , Al Jolson , Lester Lanin, Peggy Lee , Dean Martin , Carmen McRae , Mabel Mercer , Bette Midler , Liza Minnelli , Joni Mitchell , Carly Simon , Nina Simone , Frank Sinatra , Barbra Streisand , Mel Tormé , Rudy Vallée , Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington .
See also
literature
- Ken Bloom: The American Songbook - The Singers, the Songwriters, and the Songs - 100 Years of American Popular Music - The Stories of the Creators and Performers . New York City, Black Dog & Leventhal, 2005 ISBN 1-57912-448-8 )
- Philip Furia, Michael Lasser: America's Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley . Taylor & Francis, 2006
- Michael Lasser: America's Songs II: Songs from the 1890s to the Post-War Years. 2014
- Max Morath: The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Popular Standards . New York: Perigee Books, 2002
- Marvin E. Paymer, Don E. Post: Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs. 1999