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Popular Songwriters
and
The Great American Songbook
Who Wrote the Greatest Pop Songs?
Henry and George -- A GUIDE TO GEORGE GERSHWIN
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Who Wrote the Greatest Pop Songs?
I am tired of all the hype about today's songs by media hounds?
These columnists and reporters like to sniff everywhere searching for the scent of today's music scene and often drool over the "importance" of today's music stars. Many of these singers are either screamers or mumblers. Often they are both! In many cases, their singing just isn't very good. They have no individual style or sophistication. Naturally there are exceptions, such as singers like Harry Connick Jr., Linda Eder, Diana Krall, and Michael Feinstein. Then there's the Grand Master of Pop Singers: Tony Bennett. He continues to shine his considerable talents on songs from the Great American Songbook of Irving Berlin, the Gershwin brothers, Cole Porter and many others.
Contrary to what so many critics and columnists write today, it is not the rock megastars from the recent past who were the greatest songwriters and singers. Certainly they had talent and were influential in the latter half of the 20th century.
But it was the earlier songwriters before the rock era began who set the foundation for the greatest popular songs of the 20th Century.
And these songwriters make up what has come to be known as
And who are these talented songwriters and
when were their songs written?The majority of these great songs were written
between the 1920s and 1950s.Naturally there were songs written before that time that were also popular, like George M. Cohan's "Give My Regards To Broadway" and Irving Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band."
See 100 Essential SongsWhen compiling my list, I decided to keep it to
20 songwriters and 20 singers.One of them is the late Jay Livingston who co-wrote most of his songs with the late Ray Evans. They received three Oscars for their songs:
"Buttons and Bows" (1948)
"Mona Lisa" (1950)
"Que Sera, Sera (What Will Be, Will Be)(1956)When I met the him many years ago, he was kind enough to sign my copy of the sheet music to "Mona Lisa" -- his signature is in the top left corner of this sheet music cover:
These are the songwriters I consider the best of their kind, listed in alphabetical order with one of their many memorable songs:
Top Songwriters and Lyricists
- Harold Arlen -- "Stormy Weather"
- Irving Berlin -- "White Christmas"
- Sammy Cahn -- "All The Way"
- Hoagy Carmichael -- "Star Dust"
- Duke Ellington -- "Mood Indigo"
- Dorothy Fields --"The Way You Look Tonight"
- George Gershwin -- "They Can't Take That Away From Me"
- Ira Gershwin -- "Our Love is Here to Stay"
- Oscar Hammerstein II -- "Ol' Man River"
- Lorenz Hart -- "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"
- Jerome Kern -- "All the Things You Are"
- Jay Livingston -- "Mona Lisa"
- Henry Mancini -- "Two for the Road"
- Johnny Mercer -- "Accentuate The Positive"
- Cole Porter -- "Night And Day"
- Richard Rodgers -- "You'll Never Walk Alone"
- Arthur Schwartz -- "Something to Remember You By"
- James Van Heusen -- "Swinging on a Star"
- Harry Warren -- "Lullaby of Broadway"
- Victor Young -- "Stella by Starlight"
Top Singers from the Past
- Louis Armstrong
- Fred Astaire
- Rosemary Clooney
- Nat King Cole
- Perry Como
- Bing Crosby
- Doris Day
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Judy Garland
- Dick Haymes
- Billie Holiday
- Howard Keel
- Peggy Lee
- Jane Powell
- Dinah Shore
- Frank Sinatra
- Jo Stafford
- Mel Torme
- Sarah Vaughan
- Joe Williams
During the decades from the 1920s to 1960s, these songwriters and singers are the ones who should be celebrated.
Why? Because they were the best at what they did.
They wrote and performed songs about living life to the fullest,
the joys and the sorrows. Songs like the poignant "I'll Be Seeing You" during World War II, or "You Belong To Me," the melancholy hit that was playing on jukeboxes in 1952.The older pop songs still evoke deep emotional responses from listeners of all ages, even in today's cold and cynical world.
So, let's continue to celebrate these great vintage songwriters, songs and singers from the past.
Roger Hall
President, The Tune Lovers Society
It is now known as The Great Boston Molasses Flood.
During the months of March, April and May in 2009
there were a series about it titled:STOUGHTON READS TOGETHER
The book for this series is Stephen Puleo's fascinating best-seller,
Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919
(Beacon Press, Boston, 2004)Most of the programs were held at the Stoughton Public Library,
84 Park Street, Stoughton, Massachusetts.
One of these programs took place on Thursday, March 26, 2009,
presented by Roger Hall, a local music historian,
singer and author, whose topic was:"Runnin' Wild: Molasses and Music Merriment"
Mr. Hall is a singer and author of several books on popular songs:
Remembering Radio: Great Songwriters and Singers
His program used popular songs to trace the years
of the Dark Tide book. The program included vintage recordings from that era, including a rare recording of Scott Joplin playing his popular "Maple Leaf Rag"; George Gershwin playing his first hit song, "Swanee" (also sung by Al Jolson); "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" (a popular song from 1919) and "Charleston" (the dance craze of the 1920s);
plus other music.
To contact Mr. Hall about scheduling a music lecture or workshop,
write to:
For further information about the book series,
see these links:
This is a Free Web Survey
sponsored by
The Tune Lovers Society
To read about the 2009 event, go to:
The lists for this annual event are available at these links:
National Carry A Tune Week 2008
National Carry A Tune Week 2007
National Carry A Tune Week 2006
National Carry A Tune Week 2005
National Carry A Tune Week 2001 - 2004
See the list of composers and songwriters from the past chosen for the
Watch a video of a cute dachshund pup named Henry
as he runs around accompanied by
a wonderful George Gershwin song.Click on this link to watch the video
and hear pianist George Gershwin playing his song for
A GUIDE TO GEORGE GERSHWIN
CONTENTS:
I. Chronology, 1898-1937
II. Comments from Contemporaries (Merle Armitage, Paul Whiteman, Jerome Kern, Arnold Schoenberg, Serge Koussevitzky, and Ira Gershwin)
III. Gershwin's Music and Web Survey ("I Got Rhythm": The Genius of George Gershwin/ Gershwin on Radio/ List of Movie Music/ "Music, By George" - Web Survey)
IV. Top 40 Gershwin Songs
V. Recommended Books, Recordings and Videotapes/ Two Gershwin Radio Tributes/About the Author
"Two Gershwin Radio Tributes":
Includes songs by Fred & Adele Astaire, Michael Feinstein, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bobby Short. George Gershwin himself is heard on a 1932 radio broadcast, playing four of his own compositions. Also, Gerhswin is heard playing on several piano rolls.
To order the reference book with accompanying CDR,
A Guide to George Gershwin,
go to the
Most people have heard about the rise to stardom
of Elvis Presley in 1956 and later.
Do you know who actually wrote his first
hit movie song, "Love Me Tender"?
To find out, go to:
But what songs by other singers were popular in those days?
For lists of 50 hits and CDs for each of these years,
click on these links:
Christmas Hits by Gene, Bing and Elvis
If you have comments or
have a CD of music by a vintage songwriter for review,
write to:
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