Rating: 
Summary: Three thumbs up!
Review: An excellent resource with, as the wordy title implies, over 1200 standard and not so standard songs. This book has a great selection of songs, covering a wide range of material. Great for weddings and other gigs, there are plenty of songs in here that should cover a variety of shows. This may not be the one and only book you'll ever need to cover all your gigs, but it will probably quickly become your most referenced source. This is a highly respected book among gigging musicians, and it will pay for itself many times over. This new edition is updated with yet another selection of current and classic tunes. Included in each song is the melody line, the chords, and the lyrics written for piano, vocal, guitar, and all "B Flat" instruments. This book even includes charts for over 855 guitar chords, as well as 9 different classified song listings. Great collection, well worth the price. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: where is the info???????????????
Review: Are you F-ing kidding me? please list at least a few songs in the book so I can know what the hell im buying, otherwise it looks like an interesting idea, but who the hell is ggoing to send you 36 bucks without any info on the damn thing?
Rating:
Summary: playing the piano all the time now
Review: First I bought singing lessons on CD, "Voice lessons TO GO" by Vaccarino, and did them religiously for a couple of months. I had been playing piano as an adult for 2 years, so I bought this book. Yey! It is so great I can play and sing my favorite tunes. And my Chord changes are getting so much smoother with myt eachers help. Because I want to be singing these songs, I am finding myself playing the piano all the time now.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the Best Fake Book Ever
Review: For those over 40, this book is MUCH better than the Best Fake
Book Ever. I went to the Hal Leonard website to find the complete index of songs for this book before I bought it. UNFORTUNATELY, because this book was so good, I did not bother to look at the complete list of songs before buying the Best Fake Book Ever. I just assumed it would be of the same high quality as this one. Wrong! The songs were much more obscure. From now on, I will find the publisher's website, study the index listing the contents, and then go to Amazon to purchase.
Rating:
Summary: A Handy Tool ! ! !
Review: Ha ! The reviewer below me made a good point (if you've never seen this book before), and I for one have no intention of typing out the 1200 tunes ! I'll tell you why I like it... I have loads of Jazz fake books. This for sure *isn't* "The Real Book", but its a nice collection of more poppish tunes that I find useful to have along on a gig because sometimes people do request those '50s, '60s or '70s pop tunes or even older "less hip" standards and tunes. Its one thing to play for "musicians" but what about when you play in restaurants, at weddings, or for real people? It also has those tunes that vocalists tend to call but that instrumental Jazz ensembles don't play as often (you know, showtunes, Barbara Streisand Stuff, etc. etc.) and even lot's of stuff good for wedding gigs (I WILL SURVIVE, LOVE THEMES from films like TOP GUN and FOOTLOOSE, MANDY, MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA, THE "IN" CROWD, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, GETTING TO KNOW YOU, QUE SERA SERA, even JIVE TALKIN', I SHOT THE SHERIFF. and '70s stuff like PIANO MAN, JIVE TALKIN', BRANDY (You're a Find Girl), CELEBRATE and JULIE, DO YOU LOVE ME ! ! !) But its not just wedding band music... I've found some morsels in this one that aren't in most of my Jazz books... MORE TODAY THAN YESTERDAY, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TIME IT WAS, CRY ME A RIVER, THE JERSEY BOUNCE, SAMABA DE ORPHEAU, WALK ON THE WILD SIDE, etc. I can't list all 1200 tunes for you as I mentioned, but here are some of the categories... Hits of the 1910s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and a few from the 90s, Big Band Favorites, Broadway Show Hits, Movie Hits, TV Hits (including the THEME from CHEERS, THE ODD COUPLE and SECRET AGENT MAN), Country Classics (HEY GOOD LOOKIN, I WALK THE LINE, RING OF FIRE), folk songs (including PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON), Inspirational and Holiday Songs (and stuff like THE WEDDING BAND MARCH, HAPPY BIRTHDAY), Blues Dixieland and Jazz tunes, Polka, Singalongs (Special Requests and Novelty Tunes)", Songs in 3/4 Time, Latin Tunes (including A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FOOL), and a few Hawaiin tunes. Overall, its some great ammunition to have on the gig... the print might be small, the changes "less hip" and the book, very bulky, but I really feel comfortable having this book around. The musicians are going to want to play Coltrane and Miles Davis, but the reality is, the people are going to request the type of tunes in the book, and those sit in vocalists are going to call them ! Be prepared !
Rating:
Summary: "Heart of Rock & Roll"
Review: Hokay, so you can't list all the songs in the book. How about if it has a particular song. Huey Lewis & the News, "Heart of Rock & Roll"??? I'm looking everywhere for it. Any answers???
Rating:
Summary: Lots for everyone
Review: I agree with the reviewer that it would not hurt to have a listing of the songs. So I went down to the local book store (Large chain that has a (...) Coffee in it) and it was ($)!. It has songs from the 20s to the 90s in decade increments and they seem to be mostly top 40 at least for the 70s-90s. Don't know about the rest. There were also a mix of broadway tunes like All I ask of you from Phantom O the opera. There are also some Christian stuff in there as well as some Classical pieces. Not bad for ($). I'll be buying it from Amazon. Seems the lowest price I have found.
Rating:
Summary: I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE READER FROM GA
Review: I also would like to see the list of songs included in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Formerly known as "The Book," - 1200 great songs
Review: I learned the hard way that this was formerly known as "The Book," and, except for the cover, the "Ultimate Fake Book" I bought is exactly the same as my copy of "The Book." Not to worry - it will make a great present for somebody. All of the Hal Leonard "Ultimate" fake books are excellent, but this one and "The Best Fake Book Ever" are particularly generous, with lyrics, chords, and melody for some 1200 songs each. The variety is phenomenal - from Broadway to Folk to Big Band to current hits. My friends and I like to gather around a fake book and sing the night away. I can't think of a better way to spend an evening.One complaint other than the mixup with the other book - the paperback cover and plastic looseleaf binding are a bit flimsy for a book this big.-Joe Offer
Rating:
Summary: Formerly known as "The Book," - 1200 great songs
Review: I learned the hard way that this was formerly known as "The Book," and, except for the cover, the "Ultimate Fake Book" I bought is exactly the same as my copy of "The Book." Not to worry - it will make a great present for somebody.
All of the Hal Leonard "Ultimate" fake books are excellent, but this one and "The Best Fake Book Ever" are particularly generous, with lyrics, chords, and melody for some 1200 songs each. The variety is phenomenal - from Broadway to Folk to Big Band to current hits. My friends and I like to gather around a fake book and sing the night away. I can't think of a better way to spend an evening.
One complaint other than the mixup with the other book - the paperback cover and plastic looseleaf binding are a bit flimsy for a book this big.
-Joe Offer
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