The B Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song

From an acclaimed cultural critic, a narrative and social history of the Great American Songwriting era.
 
Everybody knows and loves the American Songbook. But it€s a bit less widely understood that in about 1950, this stream of great songs more or less dried up. All of a sudden, what came over the radio wasn€t Gershwin, Porter, and Berlin, but €œCome on-a My House€ and €œHow Much Is That Doggie in the Window?€ Elvis and rock and roll arrived a few years later, and at that point the game was truly up. What happened, and why? In The B Side, acclaimed cultural historian Ben Yagoda answers those questions in a fascinating piece of detective work. Drawing on previously untapped archival sources and on scores of interviews€"the voices include Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb, Linda Ronstadt, and Herb Alpert€"the book illuminates broad musical trends through a series of intertwined stories. Among them are the battle between ASCAP and Broadcast Music, Inc.; the revolution in jazz after World War II; the impact of radio and then television; and the bitter, decades-long feud between Mitch Miller and Frank Sinatra.
 
The B Side is about taste, and the particular economics and culture of songwriting, and the potential of popular art for greatness and beauty. It€s destined to become a classic of American musical history.