Rating: 
Summary: a must for music lovers' libraries
Review: Will Friedwald has done an admirable job presenting his "top 12 popular songs", yet, like any list of this sort it will draw its critics. He tells us in the preface that Irving Berlin is excluded because it would be extremely difficult to choose just one of his songs, unlike Cole Porter, where the choice "Night and Day" just leaps out.
As a music teacher who introduces piano students to jazz standards as well as classical works, I am pleased with his choices, and I appreciate his technical analyses of chord structures, melody patterns, and rhythmic styles. He gives lyricists equal time also, and his discussion of Hammerstein's simple, moving "Ol' Man River" (along with possible sources of
inspiration for it) is especially well done.This book would be a splendid addition to anyone interested in American popular songs in the pre-rap, pre-screaming days, when a flowing, "whistlable" melody was king.
Rating: 
Summary: Great subject, very disappointing book
Review: Will Friedwald probably deserves a medal for taking on this project, a 400-page analysis and performance history of twelve oft-recorded American lullabyes. Even some of us who swear by the Great American Songbook might opt for "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" if the alternative is listening to several hundred different versions of "Stardust" (as lovely as it is). Granted, a song biography has more going for it than, say, a performance history of Shakespeare's most popular plays, but still it's not exactly a compelling page turner. Friedwald writes with hipness, esprit and engaging good humor, and he delivers provocative opinions, fascinating information, and a wealth of trivia. But the price of admission may be judged a bit excessive by some readers, mainly because the book contains no index, lists, or even discographies that would insure its value as a reference tool. Every reader will no doubt find much to quibble about with a book such as this (admittedly no small part of its appeal). Frankly, I'm surprised the author makes no mention of the 1947 Lionel Hampton All-Star Concert recording of "Stardust" (with extraordinary solos by Charlie Shavers and Slam Stewart along with Hamp's introduction of the "Pretty Baby" motif, which Friedwald attributes to a later recording). And although a Paul Desmond version is mentioned, the Brubeck Quartet performance on the indispensable "Jazz at Oberlin" album (which evokes without stating the melody) is not. Finally, I'm surprised the author appears to accept "C" (as does Zinsser in his book) as the current standard key for the song. Any real musician I've known has balked at lowering the tune down half a step from the traditional Db, and for good reason: such a simplification drastically alters the character and feel of the piece, making stardust little more than prosaic morning dust. No doubt no reader will be completely satisfied with the song selections--including this one. How can you possibly leave out as durable, beautiful, ingenious a tune as "All the Things You Are," especially given its many permutations? Which is simply to say that some of us would have preferred shorter chapters, more songs, and an index.
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