The poets of Tin Pan Alley : a history of America's great lyricists / Philip Furia.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Furia, Philip, 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American poetry--20th century--History and criticism.

American poetry.

Songs, English--United States--History and criticism.

Songs, English.

Popular literature--United States--History and criticism.

Popular literature.

Popular culture--United States--History--20th century.

Popular culture.

Popular music--United States--History and criticism.

Popular music.

Lyric poetry--History and criticism.

Lyric poetry.

Lyricists--United States.

Lyricists.

Physical Description:

x, 322 p.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 1992.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

From the turn of the century to the 1960s, the songwriters of Tin Pan Alley dominated American music. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart--even today these giants remain household names, their musicals regularly revived, their methods and styles analyzed and imitated, and their songs the bedrock of jazz and cabaret. In The Poets of Tin Pan Alley Philip Furia offers a unique new perspective on these great songwriters, showing how their poetic lyrics were as important as their brilliant music in shaping a golden age of American popular song. Furia writes with great perception and understanding as he explores the deft rhymes, inventive imagery, and witty solutions these songwriters used to breathe new life into rigidly established genres. He devotes full chapters to all the greats, including Irving Berlin, Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Oscar Hammerstain II, Howard Dietz, E.Y. Harburg, Dorothy Fields, Leo Robin, and Johnny Mercer. Furia also offers a comprehensive survey of other lyricists who wrote for the sheet-music industry, Broadway, Hollywood, and Harlem nightclub revues. This was the era that produced The New Yorker, Don Marquis, Dorothy Parker, and E.B. White--and Furia places the lyrics firmly in this fascinating historical context. In these pages, the lyrics emerge as an important element of American modernism, as the lyricists, like the great modernist poets, took the American vernacular and made it sing.

Contents:

Intro

Preface

Contents

1. Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah Love: Alley Standards

2. After the Ball: Early Alley

3. Ragged Meter Man: Irving Berlin

4. Ragged and Funny: Lyricists of the 1920s

5. Funny Valentine: Lorenz Hart

6. 'S Wonderful: Ira Gershwin

7. The Tinpantithesis of Poetry: Cole Porter

8. Conventional Dithers: Oscar Hammerstein

9. Paper Moons: Howard Dietz and Yip Harburg

10. Fine Romances: Dorothy Fields and Leo Robin

11. Hip, Hooray, and Ballyhoo: Hollywood Lyricists

12. Swingy Harlem Tunes: Jazz Lyricists

13. Midnight Sun: Johnny Mercer

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-290) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-028190-1

1-280-52618-1

0-19-802288-3

1-4294-0747-6

OCLC:

476014884