The Great American Songbook died with the dominance of rock in the 60s. Look around. Who's writing songs today that are of the same high quality as those of Kern, Berlin, Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Harry Warren, Harold Arlen, Julie Styne, Frank Loesser, Frederick Loewe, Burton Lane...? Paul McCartney wrote a few fine songs, but hardly anyone is writing anything of value today. Popular music in our day & age is a wasteland.
Saxophone players? Yes there were many great saxophone icons in the 1930s ad '40s. But Dude...in mid 20 century along with the popularity of rock.n.roll ELECTRIC GUITARS replaced the brass and became the FRONT LINE! And accordingly in the 60s and 70s there were many guitar heroes that we are still talking about. Nowadays there are numerous great young saxophonists and guitarists inspired by the past greats. But the CONTEXT has completely changed! We don't live in the kind of world we did in 40s, 50s 60s and 70s.
Loved every bit of this! They covered a lot in just an hour for a topic that has so much history. Favorites: 16:35 Opening chords of "Love is Here to Stay" 48:47 Beautiful example of song introductions "Someone to Watch Over Me" (Ella Fitzgerald did a lovely recording of this.) 42:16 Don't toss out the melody! It might just need different lyrics.
The natural successors to the Great American songwriters of the 1930s-1950s are imo Donald Fagen and Walter Becker aka Steely Dan;their use of harmony owes much to the pre-rock n' roll era but takes its rhythmic feel from 1950's Jazz and Atlantic Soul.
The CONTEXT that created the musics of the Great American songbook has disappeared! Those musics and the post WWII musics rock'n'roll of the 50s and the music of the Beatles, Stones; the great American genres Jazz, Blues, R & B were all driven by an energized middle class and US manufacturing base. Those musics were written, performed, produced, distributed and consumed by a vibrant middle class. Today we live in a corporatized multi-natl post-industrial world. The 1% are richer than ever before and along with the decimation of the manufacturing base the middle class has almost disappeared. We live in a digital virtual world that is itself formulaic. The SOLE purpose of popular music today is to make money. The music industry has long ago discovered the mechanisms that manipulate music consumers. Music recordings are today made with these in mind; tempo, lyrics, effects. Sales are no longer dependent on meaningful and innovative content. This situation is one reason why old music is popular in sales to young people. The entire history of popular music is now available on the internet all AT THE SAME TIME! Music in that sense is now "mythic" that is; many levels of meaning happening simultaneously. And today American music global music. The emptiness of today's popular music will continue ad nauseum as long as the society continues in the direction it's going in and escalates. There will be no more Golden Ages of popular music until the prevailing worldview changes. Good luck!
Feel like they could go a bit deeper... and the audio clips horribly in certain places. The engineer might have corrected but you really can't fix clipped audio signals. To my mind this doesn't reach the goal of inspiring young people, especially those who aspire to be songwriters or singer/songwriters to delve into the "Canon" of TGASB... Could have picked better examples and perhaps original recordings. Really there needs to be a series on this not done by Ken Burns... and show the relationship between TGASB and the great pop music of the 60's and 70s which used many conventions such as bridges/middle eights to create a excellent songs with great dynamics... I'm thinking of The Beatles, The zombies (Odessey and Oracle), Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison and many others who were influenced by TGASB. Is it just me or is Michael Feinstein more than just a little snooty?
It takes them over an hour to mention something like "Someone To Watch Over Me"... the first real "haunting ballad" they mention with the exception of "Over The Rainbow"... Will they mention "All The Things You Are" or "Yesterdays"? A lot of the examples they mention lean on the corny side in my opinion.
Ella Fitzgerald often included those oft neglected introductory verses... but they needed more of that in this... I also get that it was about the song but I do try to go to the best interpreters... I'm more of a rocker who grew up with my parent's Radio which was set to this kind of music and I couldn't change the station. But in my delving into this as being distant from that era... I start with Ella and Billie Holliday then Charlie Parker and Ben Webster... and as a guitarist I watch/listen some guitar virtuosos that impart feeling to the songs.
Embarrassing in that they never really answered the question about the conditions or crucible in which TGASB developed.... I learned a few things but my opinion is that it wasn't so good... like they spent a lot of time cow towing to Feinstein that could have been spent on deeper issues within music... They crap on the 60s and 70s then use an Anthony Newley co-write performed by an 18 year old... but The Beachboys and Zombies did harmonies like that... very strange...
The 60's we're brilliant. Beatles, stones, dylan, simon/garfunkel ets. I love the gasm. I am a songlyricist. I aim to write Lyrics which could fit into the Great American Song book. I love all music . but the g.a.s.b. Lyrics are way more sophisticated and intricate than modern music. Society is becoming less sophisticated and intellectual. I like lesser known songwriters like Sid Tepper. I admire any musician and especially songwriters.
The Great American Songbook died with the dominance of rock in the 60s. Look around. Who's writing songs today that are of the same high quality as those of Kern, Berlin, Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Harry Warren, Harold Arlen, Julie Styne, Frank Loesser, Frederick Loewe, Burton Lane...? Paul McCartney wrote a few fine songs, but hardly anyone is writing anything of value today. Popular music in our day & age is a wasteland.
Saxophone players? Yes there were many great saxophone icons in the 1930s ad '40s. But Dude...in mid 20 century along with the popularity of rock.n.roll ELECTRIC GUITARS replaced the brass and became the FRONT LINE! And accordingly in the 60s and 70s there were many guitar heroes that we are still talking about. Nowadays there are numerous great young saxophonists and guitarists inspired by the past greats. But the CONTEXT has completely changed! We don't live in the kind of world we did in 40s, 50s 60s and 70s.
Loved every bit of this! They covered a lot in just an hour for a topic that has so much history.
Favorites:
16:35 Opening chords of "Love is Here to Stay"
48:47 Beautiful example of song introductions "Someone to Watch Over Me" (Ella Fitzgerald did a lovely recording of this.)
42:16 Don't toss out the melody! It might just need different lyrics.
17:00
The natural successors to the Great American songwriters of the 1930s-1950s are imo Donald Fagen and Walter Becker aka Steely Dan;their use of harmony owes much to the pre-rock n' roll era but takes its rhythmic feel from 1950's Jazz and Atlantic Soul.
The CONTEXT that created the musics of the Great American songbook has disappeared! Those musics and the post WWII musics rock'n'roll of the 50s and the music of the Beatles, Stones; the great American genres Jazz, Blues, R & B were all driven by an energized middle class and US manufacturing base. Those musics were written, performed, produced, distributed and consumed by a vibrant middle class. Today we live in a corporatized multi-natl post-industrial world. The 1% are richer than ever before and along with the decimation of the manufacturing base the middle class has almost disappeared. We live in a digital virtual world that is itself formulaic. The SOLE purpose of popular music today is to make money. The music industry has long ago discovered the mechanisms that manipulate music consumers. Music recordings are today made with these in mind; tempo, lyrics, effects. Sales are no longer dependent on meaningful and innovative content. This situation is one reason why old music is popular in sales to young people. The entire history of popular music is now available on the internet all AT THE SAME TIME! Music in that sense is now "mythic" that is; many levels of meaning happening simultaneously. And today American music global music. The emptiness of today's popular music will continue ad nauseum as long as the society continues in the direction it's going in and escalates. There will be no more Golden Ages of popular music until the prevailing worldview changes. Good luck!
You can analyze anything ! This collection of experts try music without success!
Feel like they could go a bit deeper... and the audio clips horribly in certain places. The engineer might have corrected but you really can't fix clipped audio signals. To my mind this doesn't reach the goal of inspiring young people, especially those who aspire to be songwriters or singer/songwriters to delve into the "Canon" of TGASB... Could have picked better examples and perhaps original recordings. Really there needs to be a series on this not done by Ken Burns... and show the relationship between TGASB and the great pop music of the 60's and 70s which used many conventions such as bridges/middle eights to create a excellent songs with great dynamics... I'm thinking of The Beatles, The zombies (Odessey and Oracle), Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison and many others who were influenced by TGASB. Is it just me or is Michael Feinstein more than just a little snooty?
It takes them over an hour to mention something like "Someone To Watch Over Me"... the first real "haunting ballad" they mention with the exception of "Over The Rainbow"... Will they mention "All The Things You Are" or "Yesterdays"? A lot of the examples they mention lean on the corny side in my opinion.
Ella Fitzgerald often included those oft neglected introductory verses... but they needed more of that in this... I also get that it was about the song but I do try to go to the best interpreters... I'm more of a rocker who grew up with my parent's Radio which was set to this kind of music and I couldn't change the station. But in my delving into this as being distant from that era... I start with Ella and Billie Holliday then Charlie Parker and Ben Webster... and as a guitarist I watch/listen some guitar virtuosos that impart feeling to the songs.
Embarrassing in that they never really answered the question about the conditions or crucible in which TGASB developed.... I learned a few things but my opinion is that it wasn't so good... like they spent a lot of time cow towing to Feinstein that could have been spent on deeper issues within music... They crap on the 60s and 70s then use an Anthony Newley co-write performed by an 18 year old... but The Beachboys and Zombies did harmonies like that... very strange...
Yes. Very snooty. Old fart
Michael is brilliant, but, naturally, has a touch of Juvenoia. But, because of his great wealth of knowledge and talent, he is more or less justified.
“Modern Music is garbage...except for Jacob Collier” 59:47
The 60's we're brilliant. Beatles, stones, dylan, simon/garfunkel ets. I love the gasm. I am a songlyricist. I aim to write Lyrics which could fit into the Great American Song book.
I love all music . but the g.a.s.b. Lyrics are way more sophisticated and intricate than modern music. Society is becoming less sophisticated and intellectual. I like lesser known songwriters like Sid Tepper. I admire any musician and especially songwriters.