America's Songs

The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley

Philip Furia, Michael Lasser

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2006
• ISBN:
  9781135471996
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

America's Songs tells the stories behind the most beloved popular songs of the last century. We all have songs that have a special meaning in our lives; hearing them evokes a special time or place. Little wonder that these special songs have become enduring classics. Nothing brings the roarin '20s to life like Tea for Two or I'm just Wild About Harry; the Great Depression is evoked in all of its pain and misery in songs like Brother Can You Spare a Dime?; God Bless America revives the powerful hope that American democracy promised to the world during the dark days of World War II; Young at Heart evokes the postwar optimism of the '50s. And then there are the countless songs of love, new romance, and heartbreak: As Time Goes By, Always, Am I Blue...the list is endless.
Along with telling the stories behind these songs, America's Songs suggests, simply and succinctly, what makes a song great. The book illuminates the way each great song melds words and music - sentiment and melody - into a seamless whole. America's Songs also traces the fascinating but mysterious process of collaboration, the give-and-take between two craftsmen, a composer and a lyricist, as they combined their talents to create a song.
For anyone interested in the history of the songs that America loves, America's Songs will make for fascinating reading.

Index

A

Aarons, Alex, 79

Abbott, George, 149, 158, 159, 168, 198, 229, 241, 245, 246

Abie’s Irish Rose, 258

Academy Award (Best Song), 104, 152, 191, 210, 230, 244, 277, 278, 284

“Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive,” 191–192

Adamson, Harold, 93, 179

“Adelaide’s Lament,” 226

Adios Argentina, 192

Adler, Richard, 245, 246, 247, 248

Aeolian Hall (New York), 43

“After the Ball,” 58

“After You’ve Gone,” 20

Ager, Milt, 54, 55, 72

Ahlert, Fred, 96

Aida, 139

“Ain’t Misbehavin’,” 66–69

“Ain’t She Sweet?” 54–55

“Ain’t We Got Fun?” 56

Akst, Harry, 47, 48, 69, 70

“Alabamy Bound,” 44

Alda, Francis, 15

Alda, Robert, 226

Aleichem, Sholem, 279

“Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” xxviii, 2, 3, 4, 8, 35, 91, 182

Alexander’s Ragtime Band, 182

Algonquin Round Table, 37, 73

“Alice Blue Gown,” 23–24

“All Alone,” 37–38

“All by Myself,” 37

“All I Do Is Dream of You,” 235

“All in Fun,” 157

“All of Me,” 93–94

“All That Jazz,” 293

“All the Things You Are,” 156–157

“All Through the Night,” 117

Allegro, 219, 221

Allen, Fred, 75, 84

Allen, Gracie, 39

Allen, Lewis, 108

Allen, Steve, 246, 247

Allison, Joan, 172

“Almost Like Being in Love,” 212

“Alone Together,” 94, 140

“Always,” 44–45, 107

“Always True to You in My Fashion,” 217

“Am I Blue?” 69–70

American in Paris, An, 166, 234, 235

Americana, 99

Amphitryon,...