Hello again everyone, today I have chosen to research The Great American Songbook.

The Great American Songbook is a collection of the most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century. It contains the most popular and enduring songs from the 1920s through 1950s that were created for Broadway Theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musical film (What Is The Great American Songbook? 2016). The American Songbook Foundation classifies the included song genres as “American Standards”, and the included years capture the eras of musical theatre, modern song, and jazz as learned in class.

There isn’t really a consensus on what to include in the Great American Songbook collection, and many publishers have released their version of a Great American Songbook. The songs included are those that were most popular between the 1920s through 1950s. One thing that made a song popular in this era was the reproducibility of it, as music was often sold as sheets for performers. These standards have been recorded and performed by many artists, each putting their own interpretation into the song.

This module’s readings were about early Latin music in America, musical theatre, jazz, and the evolution of popular song. Musical theatre is a huge part of why the Great American Songbook came to be, as it was a very popular form of entertainment during this era. Theatre orchestras were starting to sound more like a symphony orchestra, as opposed to swing music, which likely heightened their perceived level of prestige. In the 1950s musical theatre was considered to be the most prestigious entertainment one could attend. It was during this time that Rodgers & Hammerstein teamed up to create the musical Oklahoma! which was considered to be one of the first dramatically credible musicals. This piece also revolutionized musicals in a way, because before Oklahoma! people generally remembered the songs, but after they began to remember more of the storyline and production.

Modern Jazz in the 1940s through 1950s also took a turn because it became more of a listening music than a dancing one, due to slowed down tempos. The readings most related to the song I have chosen are about the evolution of popular song interpretation, in which singers personalize their performance through emotion. This performance style also brought on the emergence of solo artists as opposed to bands. Artists would reconceive songs by changing the rhythm, tempo, or instrumentation included to help mold the song into their own personal performance style. This is also considered to be the age of “American standards”, which basically stands for songs that hold their popularity well after they are released. If you are reading this and think “how could they do that and have the song still be recognized as a standard?” then please listen to the performances below to get a better understanding.

The song I am choosing to discuss is Heart and Soul, music written by Hoagy Carmicheal and lyrics by Frank Loesser in 1938. This song meets the general criteria for inclusion in the Great American Songbook because it is a jazz song from the 1930s that has been performed and recorded by many artists over the years, all the way up to Train’s Play That Song in 2016. This song is one that many people recognize upon hearing, but the majority don’t know about the creation of it. The song generally fits within the jazz genre, and taking a look at the lyrics it is a song about falling in love. An example of these lyrics is when the artist sings  “Heart and soul, I fell in love with you, heart and soul, the way a fool would do, madly”.

The first performance I chose is by Bea Wain and Larry Clinton in 1939. In the beginning the focus in this performance is on the female singer, she simply stands at the microphone and all the attention goes to her vocal skills. Her style embodies romance and elegance; I see this through her outfit and upswept hairstyle. Part way through the singer steps aside and focus goes to the band as they carry out the melody without vocals. The singer then steps back into focus to finish off the song. This performance has a slower tempo and feels like a love song.

The second performance I chose is by The Cleftones in 1961. I was unable to find a video performance for this one, but I chose it because the audio is noticeably different from the previous performance. Upon listening to the first few seconds of the song, you can tell that the instrumentation and melody are different. This edition is considered to be rhythm and blues style and it’s also interesting that they have background singers for additional vocals. There appears to be one main singer with multiple others providing supporting vocals. This performance has a faster tempo and gives you more of an upbeat, energetic feeling.

Both of the above performances reached the music charts in their respective years, and it was The Cleftones most popular work.

 

I think that songs are no longer added to this collection because the music industry is flooded with original work. In the era of the Great American Songbook there was more of a focus on the songs themselves and many people would record them. In today’s society we put more of an emphasis on the performers, as opposed to the songs, and are always wanting new music instead of reproducing older songs. I think that this style of music can still be relevant in the musical theatre industry, as it has a genre separate from mainstream popular music. I think that the styles are too outdated to be popular with the general public, but there is probably a small niche market for them to thrive in.

 

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Bibliography

Campbell, Michael. Popular Music In America: The Beat Goes On. Nelson Education, 2012.

Chilton, Martin. U Discover Music. 3 April 2018. https://www.udiscovermusic.com/in-depth-features/cover-to-cover-the-story-of-the-great-american-songbook/ (accessed July 16, 2018).

Metro Lyrics. n.d. http://www.metrolyrics.com/heart-and-soul-lyrics-hoagy-carmichael.html (accessed July 18, 2018).

What Is The Great American Songbook? 2016. https://thecenterfortheperformingarts.org/Great-American-Songbook-Inititative/About-the-Great-American-Songbook. (accessed July 16, 2018).

Winer, Deborah Grace. “He Wrote The Song.” Forbes, 2000: 188-190.

Yagoda, Ben. Time. 11 June 2015. http://time.com/3916642/america-songwriting-history/ (accessed July 16, 2018).