The Poets of Tin Pan Alley

From the turn of the century to the 1960s, the songwriters of Tin Pan Alley were synonymous with American popular 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 this new edition of The Poets of Tin Pan Alley, authors Philip Furia and Laurie Patterson offer a unique 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 and Patterson continue the tradition of great perception and understanding established in the first edition as they explore the deft rhymes, inventive imagery, and witty solutions these songwriters used to breathe new life into rigidly established genres. They devote full chapters to such greats as Irving Berlin, Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Oscar Hammerstain II, Howard Dietz, E.Y. Harburg, Dorothy Fields, Leo Robin, and Johnny Mercer. They also offer 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 the book places Tin Pan Alley 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.

Philip Furia was Professor of English and American Studies at the University of North Carolina - Wilmington. He was the author of several other books on the relationship between American poetry and music. Laurie J. Patterson has co-written three books, including this one, with Phil Furia. The two, together, researched the music and poetry of Tin Pan Alley for over two decades with Laurie joining the writing team in 2010.

Preface 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 14. Call Me Irresponsible: Sammy Cahn 15. The Great American Songbook Notes Acknowledgments Index