Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Vol. 1: Chart Detail & Encyclopedia, 1900-1949

Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Vol. 1: Chart Detail & Encyclopedia, 1900-1949 Review

This valuable reference work's principle feature is 600 monthly popularity charts that document January 1900 through December 1949. Gardner then displays these charts in a spreadsheet format so the reader can see how each song rose and fell during its period of popularity and how it compared with the other competing songs of its day. The remaining section contains a massive and comprehensive encyclopedia of all charted songs, including chart highlights, writers, shows, movies, records, and principal artists. An easy-to-read alphabetical index of song titles eliminates confusion from duplicated song titles or when a song re-charted as a revival or remake. Gardner's research reveals that music periodicals of the day tell a very different story from what has been, until now, recorded history. For example, contrary to popular belief, some enduring standards such as "St Louis Blues" and "Star Dust" never became big chart "hits," and some songs, enormously popular in their time, receive only scant mention in previously issued music history books and encyclopedias. Section 1: Alphabetical Index of Charted SongsSection 2: Monthly Top-20 Song ChartsSection 3: Semi-Monthly Top-20 Songs SpreadsheetsSection 4: Encyclopedia of Charted Songs>

American Popular Music: New Approaches to the Twentieth Century

American Popular Music: New Approaches to the Twentieth Century Review

Designed as a broad introductory survey, and written by experts in the field, this book examines the rise of American music over the past hundred years-the period in which that music came into its own and achieved unprecedented popularity. Beginning with a look at music as a business, eleven essays explore a variety of popular musical genres, including Tin Pan Alley, blues, jazz, country, gospel, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, folk, rap, and Mexican American corridos. Reading these essays, we come to see that the forms created by one group often appeal to, and are in turn influenced by, other groups-across lines of race, ethnicity, class, gender, region, and age.

The chapters speak to one another, arguing for the primacy of such concepts as minstrelsy, urbanization, hybridity, and crossover as the most powerful tools for understanding American popular music. Moving beyond outdated music-industry categories and misleading genre labels, while acknowledging the complexities of the market, the book recovers and reinforces the essential blackness of much popular music-even a presumably white form like country and western.

In addition to Rachel Rubin and Jeffrey Melnick, contributors include Reebee Garofalo, Geoffrey Jacques, Kip Lornell, Mark Anthony Neal, Millie Rahn, David Sanjek, James Smethurst, Elijah Wald, and Gail Hilson Woldu.