The NPR Curious Listerner's Guide to Popular Standards

Interested in the Great American Songbook? Look up the book: The Great American Songbook: Stories Behind the Standards, by Chuck Denison and Dunccan Schiedt !

The fact that this brief and accessible but highly intelligent survey and defense of American Popular Song comes from an unlikely source (most of us think of Max Morath as a ragtime performer and spokesperson) probably increases its value. Morath lays it on line--American popular standards constitute a body of classic, timeless musical literature composed between 1920 and 1960, songs that outshine anything that has been written since or will be in the foreseeable future. The author defends his position persuasively, drawing a distinction between those performers who interpreted a shared musical literature vs. today's performers who compose and produce their own material. He also explains how the theatrical contexts of songs from the so-called "Golden Era" led to material of uncommon craft, lyricism, depth and dramatic urgency. Finally, the author makes it clear that the longevity of the songs owes as much to the performers as to the composers or original contexts. From Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald to Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, Morath touches on virtually all the bases essential to understanding the art of American Popular Song and the lasting appeal of the "standards."Morath's book is a "fast read" and not especially useful as a reference work for anyone who knows the field. The most informative, fascinating, and revealing account about American popular songs and their composers is still Gerald Mast's "Can't Help Singin'," a largely unheralded work that easily outpaces the field.

There is no one better qualified to write about this tuneful subject than Max Morath, whose musical interests obviously range far beyond the ragtime that made him famous. The subject matter is the "Standard" songs that have defied the laws of popular music gravity. Instead of fading from view in a few weeks, these songs have remained in the public mind long after other tunes have been forgotten. Mr. Morath describes the songs, the composers, and the historical setting surrounding the music that has impacted the lives and loves of more than one generation, an influence that lives on yet today. A thorough treatment of a delightful topic.