Let's Do It

The Birth of Pop

Bob Stanley

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9780571320264
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music History & Criticism

The prequel to Bob Stanley's universally acclaimed Yeah Yeah Yeah, Let's Do It is the only book that brings together all genres to tell the definitive story of the birth of Pop, from 1900 to the mid-fifties.

'An absolute landmark/joy/gossip-fest/door to Narnia: the history of pop music before rock'n'roll. Fascinating. I can't recommend it enough.'
CAITLIN MORAN

'An encyclopaedic introduction to the fascinating and often forgotten creators of Anglo-American hit music in the first half of the Twentieth Century.'
NEIL TENNANT

'A perfect guidebook, filled with smart thinking and the kind of communicable enthusiasm that sends you rushing to the nearest streaming service, eager to hear what all the fuss was about.'
ALEXIS PETRIDIS, GUARDIAN

Pop music didn't begin with the Beatles in 1963, or with Elvis in 1956, or even with the first seven-inch singles in 1949. There was a pre-history that went back to the first recorded music, right back to the turn of the century . . .

Who were the earliest record stars, and were they in any meaningful way 'pop stars'? Who were the likes of George Gershwin writing songs for? Why did swing, the hit sound for a decade or more, become almost invisible after the Second World War?

The prequel to Bob Stanley's Yeah Yeah Yeah, Let's Do It is the first book to tell the definitive story of the birth of pop, from the invention of the 78 rpm record at the end of the nineteenth century to the beginnings of rock and the modern pop age. Taking in superstars such as Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra alongside the unheralded songwriters and arrangers behind some of our most enduring songs, Stanley paints an aural portrait of pop music's formative years in stunning clarity, uncovering the silver threads and golden needles that bind the form together.

Bringing the eclectic, evolving world of early pop to life - from ragtime, blues and jazz to Broadway, country, crooning and beyond - Let's Do It is essential reading for all music lovers.

'Stanley has provided something invaluable to the growing numbers who get their music via streaming services: a guide to pop's back pages, where artists mostly remembered in sepia tones are brought into vivid colour by the author's enthusiastic sense of discovery.'
BILLY BRAGG, NEW STATESMAN

'Inspired.' THE TIMES
'Remarkable.' CLASSIC ROCK
'Exhilarating.' CAUGHT BY THE RIVER
'Essential.' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'A joyous read.' THE ECONOMIST
'Wholly entertaining.' MOJO
'Enthralling.' DAILY MAIL
'Great fun.' LITERARY REVIEW
'Colossal .' UNCUT
'A joy.' RECORD COLLECTOR
'A triumph.' LOUD & QUIET

Table of contents

• Landing Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Disclaimer text
• Contents
• Foreword by Lenny Kaye
• Introduction
• Prologue
• 1: 1900: Pop in the Beginning
• 2: Elite Syncopations: Scott Joplin and Ragtime
• 3: Songs for Sale: Tin Pan Alley
• 4: Doing What Comes Naturally: Irving Berlin
• 5: A Culture of Consolation: Music Hall and Musical Theatre
• 6: On the Other Side of a Big Black Cloud: World War I
• 7: A Conversation of Instruments: The Birth of Jazz
• 8: The Greatest Love of All: Louis Armstrong
• 9: The Blab of the Pave: Jerome Kern and Broadway
• 10: Let Me Entertain You: Al Jolson
• 11: I’m Gonna Do It If I Like It: The Jazz Age
• 12: In a Silent Way: Race Records
• 13: Invisible Airwaves Crackle with Life: Radio
• 14: Trying Hard to Recreate What Had Yet to Be Created: Hillbilly
• 15: Black and Tan Fantasy: Duke Ellington and the Cotton Club
• 16: Learn to Croon: Rudy Vallee and the Dawn of the Electric Era
• 17: All Hollywood and All Heaven: Talking Pictures
• 18: Ten Cents a Dance: The Great Depression
• 19: Nothing but Blue Skies: Bing Crosby
• 20: Industrial Light and Magic: The Movie Musical
• 21: Pardon My Pups: The Boswell Sisters
• 22: Make Those People Sway: British Dance Bands
• 23: Fascinating Rhythm: Fred Astaire and the Dance-Hall Boom
• 24: Eighty-Eight Key Smiles: Fats Waller and Friends
• 25: Tight Like That: The Age of Swing
• 26: Serenade in Blue: The Great American Songbook
• 27: The Winds Grow Colder: Judy Garland and Billie Holiday
• 28: Be Like the Kettle and Sing: Britain at War
• 29: Why Don’t You Do Right: America at War
• 30: Hot Licks with Vanilla: Glenn Miller
• 31: Someone to Watch Over Me: Vocal Refrains
• 32: We Had to Break Up the Band: Post-War Jazz
• 33: Call Me Irresponsible: Frank Sinatra
• 34: Saturday Night Fish Fry: Rhythm and Blues
• 35: California Suite: The Long-Player
• 36: It’s Mitch Miller’s World and We Just Live in It: The 45
• 37: Breaks a New Heart Every Day: Peggy Lee
• 38: Almost Like Praying: Post-War Broadway
• 39: Squeeze Me: Vocal Jazz
• 40: Experiments with Mice: British Big Bands
• 41: Revival: Trad Jazz and Folk
• 42: In a Restless World: Nat King Cole
• 43: Ports of Pleasure: Exotica
• 44: Sharks in Jets Clothing: Rock ’n’ Roll
• 45: The Summit: Frank, Dino and Sammy
• 46: TV Is the Thing: The Rise of Television
• 47: I Could Go on Singing: The Next Generation
• 48: The Strength of Strings: Film Soundtracks
• 49: What Kind of Fool Am I: Lionel Bart and Anthony Newley
• 50: Whipped Cream and Other Delights: Adventures in Beatleland
• 51: The Last Waltz: Tom Jones and the New Balladeers
• 52: Some Kind of Rapprochement: The 1970s
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgements
• Sources
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author
• By the Same Author
• Copyright