BLOG-- TIME OUT FOR NOW

BLOG --TIME OUT FOR NOW It has been immensely rewarding to create the 82 posts of some of the greatest songs from The Great American Songbook or Classic American Popular Song traditions. The pageview responses from Latvia have often been twice the total of all 3 English speaking countries Canada, the USA and Great Britain. Who would have predicted that ? However, I feel it is important for me to concentrate on completing some original research focused on what ordinary listeners believe what is great about the " The Great American Songbook." There have been several ground breaking studies providing detailed analyses of the defining characteristics of the Classic American Popular Song Tradition. I have extensively cited two essential studies on a number of my earlier posts. The most detailed and comprehensive survey of the songs written between 1900 and 1950 was conducted by " Alec Wilder in AMERICAN POPULAR SONG The Great Innovators 1900-1950.( Oxford University Press 1972." This period is often referred to as The Golden Age of American Popular Song when Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin,Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Harold Arlen were identified as having the most influence on the flowering of the " Songbook" tradition. Wilder examined over 17,000 individual songs deposited for copyright in the 1900-1950 time period. The breadth of his analysis cannot be questioned although he described his focus was on" the singing line" or melody and attributes such as intensity, unexpectedness, originality,, sinuosity of phrase, clarity, naturalness, control, unclutteredness, sophistication and honest sentiment. Those are a lot of terms that may have relevance but one person's view of " sinuosity of phrase" may be another persons "too simplistic a melodic line.." Since artistic terms are essentially arbitrary, any attempt to have a group of listeners use those rather ambiguous terms to rate a group of songs would soon result in disarray. Wilder was passionate about his subject, he was knowledgeable, he worked in the industry as a composer, lyricist and arranger and even had Frank Sinatra conduct a number of his smaller concert pieces, much to Wilder's acclaim. His book has been almost a daily reference for me for over forty years and he always made a distinction between " good" songs as opposed to " hit" songs, popular but without merit according to his criteria. , " David Jenness and Don Velsey's CLASSIC AMERICAN POPULAR SONG The Second Half- Century 1950-2000 (Routledge Press, 2006.) acknowledge a huge debt to Wilder. They also provide a broader set of criteria as to what makes a great song as opposed to an hit song that may not have any distinctive stylistic characteristics. Harmonic elements are given a more detailed examination as well as the combined effect of combining words with music. Jenness and Velsey examined over 4,000 songs written after 1950, gave some consideration of 1800 and finally selected1200 songs for analysis withmusical or text illustrations for 130 songs. Unlike Wilder, these authors have found that the classic popular song tradition had not died and continues to flourish. Since 1950, a number of excellent songs have been written by such composers like Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Johnny Mandel, Stephan Sondheim, Henry Mancini, Burton Lane, Harry Warren, Johnny Mercer, Jimmy Van Heusen, Jules Styne and Broadway composer Frank Loesser as well as Lerner and Loewe. The authors also believe that there is still public appreciation of the maturity and sophistication of American popular songs which stand in sharp contrast to the cacophony and illiteracy inherent in much of todays " pop music" offerings. Phillip Furia's "The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America's Great Lyricists" ( Oxford Press, 1992) covers the songbook tradition focusing on the lyrics, the oft forgotten component of what constitutes a song-words performed by a singer. These 3 sources indicate what expert musicologists and literary analysts have written about what they believe are the hallmarks of a great popular song. THey are eminently qualified to make their detailed assessments and provide their own rationale or criteria for song writing excellence. QUESTION: Has anyone asked the listening public why they feel that a certain song is great? They may not have the technical expertise like those we have just cited. However, they are consumers and they will have their own opinions and personal tastes. I have conducted some initial focus group survey work which I now want to summarize and share with interested " Songbook" devotees. Max Weissengruber

I'M GLAD THERE IS YOU- A STRONG BALLAD BY JIMMY DORSEY

I'm Glad There Is You- A Strong Ballad By Jimmy Dorsey:  Jimmy Dorsey was an instrumentalist and bandleader who was not as prominent as his brother, trombonist Tommy Dorsey. However, in 1941, Dorsey wrote a splendid ballad " I'm Glad There is You" with poignant lyrics by Paul Madeira.  Alec Wilder points out Dorsey's use of repeated notes ( a particular sore point Wilder continually points out in his book " American Popular Song: The Great Innovators 1900-1950." Wilder even posthumously chastises George Gershwin for his tendency to use repeated notes as a hallmark of his compositional style. Wilder did acknowledge that repeated notes do create a rhythmic tension that can be quite effective in certain songs.
For the most part, Dorsey's melody moves continually forward while the lyrics positively conclude that " More Than Ever, I'm Glad There Is You."

Natalie Cole has a very fine live version of the song. It provides an excellent example of what is so distinctive and attractive about classic American popular song interpretations.. The singing is , first of all , natural, unforced with interpretation of the lyrics a major vocal priority. Then there is the ability to slightly alter a few notes which, in some cases, may even be an improvement on the original melody. .Sinatra, Fitzgerald and Bennett will often alter a note or melodic line to add their particular interpretation of a song. In a way, they become partners in the creative process that started with the creation of the song in question. Natalie Cole's interpretation of the lyrics artfully convey what Paul Madeira provided with his original lyrics. The arrangement combines strings, brass and woodwinds as well as a chorus of singers but they work in unison never impeding but only augmenting Natalie's own deeply felt interpretation.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                


LINK:  http://youtu.be/t1bWhkjx-Hg

DAY IN- DAY OUT- A RHYTHMIC GEM

Day In-  Day Out- A Rhythmic Gem:  In 1939, pianist Rube Bloom wrote a relentlessly swinging song called  " Day In- Day Out."  Alec Wilder had occasion to write an arrangement for a song like no other he had heard before. H went on to describe a " Melodic line that soared and moved across the page in a lovely brush stroke. It never knotted it self up in cleverness or pretentiousness. And it had, remarkable for any any pop song, passion."  The operative word was " passion"since the song does achieve what Wilder also said " great emotional intensity. The lyrics by Johnny Mercer support s the melody matching the emphatic placement of notes that never relent . Mercer's exotic images  " That same old voodoo follows me about" " When I awake I get up with a tingle, one possibility in view, that possibility of may be seeing you" and finally " Then I kiss your lips and the pounding becomes an ocean's roar, a  thousand drums." are all artfully fitted to the unrelenting intensity of the music which increases with each repetition of the main melody.

There is a particularly fine version performed by Frank Sinatra in a television program that opens with Sinatr surrounded by a bewildering array of drums and exotic percussion instruments. Nelson Riddle's arrangemnt maintains the passion inherent in the song itself and the drums are front and center throughout.
All the elements that make for a great song and performance are in place. The melody perfectly matched by Mercer's lyrics, the arrangement that never relents in its pulsating character, Sinatra's obvious enjoyment in belting out one of his characteristic " swingers" and Riddle's perfect setting for such a an intense songwriting collaboration.


LINK: http://youtu.be/ZdzMPQXK3D8

AMERICAN POPULAR SONG- STEPHAN FOSTER - WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

American Popular Song-Stephan Foster - Where It All Began:  Stephan Foster has been properly identified as the Father of American Music. Born in 1826 and died in 1864, Foster wrote  lovely ballads with striking melodic characteristics ( Beautiful Dreamer, My Old Kentucky Home ,Old Folks at Home and Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair. He also wrote songs in a  style that Alec Wilder has described as " A peculiarly native quality borrowed from Negro music and his unique sensitivity and ability to transmute it into the forms and requirements of white popular song." Songs like " Oh Susannah, De Camptown Races, and Old Black Joe, are still sung 150 years later.

I am focusing on the ballads which have such a natural melodic charm, sometimes described as" pure" melodies, or also as " A singing line", a feature of  songs included  in The Great American Songbook tradition.
In particular, I have a very personal reason for talking about " I Dream of Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair."  My father, a fine singer and guitarist was born in Austria and brought with him to Canada, a fondness for Shubert lieder , songs that demonstrated Shubert's supreme mastery of elegant melodies. Once in Canada, he learned some of Foster's ballads and was particularly fond of " I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair." For my father, making the transition from Shubert to Stephan Foster was effortless because of the supreme melodic styles of both composers.( As an aside, Stephan Sondheim who knows more about American Popular song traditions than anyone alive describes Jerome Kern as the American Shubert because of his own ability to create fine melodies like " Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and " Look For the Silver Lining.")

Both the music and lyrics for" I Dream of Jeannie"  were created by Stephan Foster.  I am somewhat emotionally overcome remembering the then strong, clear tenor voice of my father as he sang his favorite Foster song as I accompanied him on old Heintzmann upright piano purchased for $50 dollars in 1943.
I offer two versions , one instrumental: violinist Isaac Stern with orchestra that lets you hear the flowing melodic contour of the song without lyrics.

LINK  STERN:
http://youtu.be/qiFWsNVw-sY

The second is by Kate Smith, a beloved American singer and a personal favorite of Irving Berlin.

LINK  SMITH:
Smith Link: http://youtu.be/emI-Gu6aI5w