The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole, and a Crew of About Fifty
by Wilfrid Sheed
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Book Summary Information
Author: Wilfrid SheedEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-13
ISBN: 0812970187
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780812970180
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole, and a Crew of About Fifty
Book Review: A Must for Lovers of Popular Song of the 30's and 40's and Beyond
Summary: 5 Stars
In "The House that George Built", Sheed tries to recapture the era that spawned those marvelous songs we now call "the standards." And he succeeds beautifully by taking us into his confidence as he tells his stories. Reading this book is like sitting down with Sheed as he spins his yarns about this composer and that lyricist, many of whom he has personally known. OK, so it's not a work for the expert or the specialist in this genre; it is a work for people like me who may not know a diminished 7th from a triplet and don't really care as long as the song speaks to you. And to know how these beauties were given birth was for me one revelation after another. Suffice it to say I now have a greater appreciation for the genius of Gershwin and his heirs. If you love the classics of popular music of that era, buy this book. You will not be disappointed
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Summary of The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole, and a Crew of About Fifty
From Irving Berlin to Cy Coleman, from "Alexander's Ragtime Band" to "Big Spender," from Tin Pan Alley to the MGM soundstages, the Golden Age of the American song embodied all that was cool, sexy, and sophisticated in popular culture. For four glittering decades, geniuses like Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Harold Arlen ran their fingers over piano keys, enticing unforgettable melodies out of thin air. Critically acclaimed writer Wilfrid Sheed uncovered the legends, mingled with the greats, and gossiped with the insiders. Now he's crafted a dazzling, authoritative history of the era that "tripled the world's total supply of singable tunes."It began when immigrants in New York's Lower East Side heard black jazz and blues-and it surged into an artistic torrent nothing short of miraculous. Broke but eager, Izzy Baline transformed himself into Irving Berlin, married an heiress, and embarked on a string of hits from "Always" to "Cheek to Cheek." Berlin's spiritual godson George Gershwin, in his brief but incandescent career, straddled Tin Pan Alley and Carnegie Hall, charming everyone in his orbit. Possessed of a world-class ego, Gershwin was also generous, exciting, and utterly original. Half a century later, Gershwin love songs like "Someone to Watch Over Me," "The Man I Love," and "Love Is Here to Stay" are as tender and moving as ever.
Sheed also illuminates the unique gifts of the great jazz songsters Hoagy Carmichael and Duke Ellington, conjuring up the circumstances of their creativity and bringing back the thrill of what it was like to hear "Georgia on My Mind" or "Mood Indigo" for the first time. The Golden Age of song sparked creative breakthroughs in both Broadway musicals and splashy Hollywood extravaganzas. Sheed vividly recounts how Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer spread the melodic wealth to stage and screen.
Popular music was, writes Sheed, "far and away our greatest contribution to the world's art supply in the so-called American Century." Sheed hung out with some of the great artists while they were still writing-and better than anyone, he knows great music, its shimmer, bite, and exuberance. Sparkling with wit, insight, and the grace notes of wonderful songs, The House That George Built is a heartfelt, intensely personal portrait of an unforgettable era.
A delightfully charming, funny, and most illuminating portrait of songwriters and the Golden Age of American Popular Song. Mr. Sheed's carefully chosen depictions and anecdotes recapture that amazingly creative period, a moment in time in which I was so fortunate to be surrounded by all that magic."
-Margaret Whiting
From the Hardcover edition.
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