The Great American Songbook
Could this be America’s greatest contribution to pop music?
When we think of music born in America, there are certain things that immediately come to mind.
There are the standard genres that were born in the United States, such as blues and country music. Blues would later influence jazz, and the blending of the two with country music would eventually give us rock’n’ roll. Jazz, with all its subgenres, would also bring forth a wave of popular music performed by countless artists for as long as those songs have been written.
These are the songs that we’ll be looking at here; the ones that make up the Great American Songbook.
A loose collection
There is really no official “Great American Songbook” per se. What it is is a loose collection of songs written in the early-to-mid 1900s, including jazz standards, Tin Pan Alley songs, and showtunes from stage and cinema. Many of these songs were some of the earliest pop hits for the artists of the day.
When we look at the writers of these songs, many of the same names keep popping up. The odds are that if you’re hearing or performing a song by the likes of Irving Berlin, Hoagy Carmichael, George Gershwin, Harold Allen, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein III, and many of their contemporaries, the chances are great that it’s part of the Great American Songbook.
The artists behind the songs
The tunes written in this unofficial catalogue have served as signature songs for certain artists and have allowed others to take an album in a different direction. Here are some choice examples of those:
Etta James - At Last (1960)
Originally written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren, it’s hard not to hear Ella’s smooth voice sing out those first few words of the song in a way that was clearly her own. James’ version was released in 1960 on her debut album (also titled At Last!).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZag0E32is0
The Marcels - Blue Moon (1961)
This one stands out for me because it was the first version of this tune I heard and is certainly the most memorable. Written by the legendary duo of Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, The Marcels take this jazz standard and give it the flair that only a great doo-wap group can! You can thank me for the earworm later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gFqeslmpC8
Willie Nelson - Stardust (1978)
A song by Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish, recorded by everyone from Nat King Cole to Rod Stewart. But it’s Nelson’s version that has a great story behind it. From the 1978 album of the same name, executives at Nelson’s label at the time didn’t want him to record a bunch of old standards that the kids had never heard of and tried to get him to write more material. The audience had a different reaction, with the album charting well on Billboard’s Country and Top 200 charts and remaining a classic album in Nelson’s large catalogue. Guess the red-headed stranger was right all along.
https://youtu.be/Vc6NKCrje04?si=tourKhKyQJwoURYp
Judy Garland/Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - Over The Rainbow (1939/1993)
This last example shows one tune being closely associated with two artists from two eras. Written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, the song originally won an Academy Award in 1939 for its performance in The Wizard of Oz, becoming a signature song for the film’s lead actress, Judy Garland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZxmZmBfnU
The song would find another breath of fresh air decades later by Hawaiian artist Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Recorded in a single middle-of-the-night take in 1988, the song was released on his 1993 album Facing Future. The song took off, appearing in several movies, TV shows, and commercials, and is also considered a signature song for Kamakawiwo’ole.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I
While there are other examples too numerous to mention of great performances of this great catalogue, it does remain one of America’s greatest contributions to the canon of popular music. The Wikipedia article on the subject also has a handy list of songs from this catalogue, not to mention dedicated playlists on several streaming services, so take some time to put on these tunes and bask in some of the greatest pop music ever written.
