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The B Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song by Ben Yagoda
eljaspero's review against another edition
2.0
Sloppy writing and author's biases mar what could have been a fine piece of scholarship. There is information here, but only the direct quotes are sourced so it's effectively impossible to challenge Yagoda's personal assertions. Wishing, like others, that this was a better, more scholarly, book.
carmanj's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books I've ever read about the Great American Songbook. It explains so well how the standards became standard and how the sequence of events wasn't as simple as "They used to write great songs and then rock and roll wrecked everything." Yagoda illuminates the details of the constantly changing music industry and the American way of life and paints a vivid picture of the evolution of American popular song. Superb!
missamandamae's review against another edition
5.0
What a delightful read! Yagoda goes through the history of American popular music from World War I to the 1960s. I loved reading about all the trends, the songwriters, the history of record labels and publishing companies. AND especially how Frank Sinatra came to be enemies with Mitch Miller. (Really, how most people didn't like Mitch Miller.) I kept humming my own soundtrack to the book - definitely still have "Blues in the Night" stuck in my head. Certainly a book my grandparents will enjoy, but also written with a wink in the eye that anyone with some interest in the topic will be entertained. Fun read that made me laugh and frequently go, "ah ha!"
I won my copy from Goodreads.
I won my copy from Goodreads.
kristy_k's review against another edition
3.0
I received a copy from First Reads in return for an honest review.
The B Side is an in depth look at music in America over the course of multiple decades, mainly concentrating in the 40s and 50s. As I am not well versed in music, but always interested in learning something new, I thought The B Side would be a good book for me. However, I would not recommend this book for someone with a passing fancy in music; it is best for someone who has a passion for this era of music.
The list of names and songs is exhaustive and I found it difficult to follow who was who and what they meant to this era. This could be partially because I have no background or prior knowledge of this music, which again, is why I believe this book best for someone who does.
The reason for not rating this book is that I don't believe it would be fair to do so. The writing is good and the topic would hold interest for many, but this was not my type of book. I didn't feel right giving it a based off of my overall experience as this was one of those "it's me, not you" books.
The B Side is an in depth look at music in America over the course of multiple decades, mainly concentrating in the 40s and 50s. As I am not well versed in music, but always interested in learning something new, I thought The B Side would be a good book for me. However, I would not recommend this book for someone with a passing fancy in music; it is best for someone who has a passion for this era of music.
The list of names and songs is exhaustive and I found it difficult to follow who was who and what they meant to this era. This could be partially because I have no background or prior knowledge of this music, which again, is why I believe this book best for someone who does.
The reason for not rating this book is that I don't believe it would be fair to do so. The writing is good and the topic would hold interest for many, but this was not my type of book. I didn't feel right giving it a based off of my overall experience as this was one of those "it's me, not you" books.
rachelini's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic! I was completely enthralled by this book, especially by some of the side bits, like how BMI was a response to ASCAP not letting certain styles of songwriters in, and how much of the course of American popular music was steered by legal matters like the ASCAP strike. My only complaint is that some chapters seemed to be written as though other things hadn't come before, and so repeated some of the same stories.
stephang18's review
3.0
A comprehensive history of American popular song up till 1965. The author raises a lot of questions in the beginning which are intriguing but never explicitly answers them.
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