The Real Book - Volume 1

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Great book, great condition. Endless amounts of music. Just wished they had it in Eb and Bb now.

Rating:
Summary: Glad to see it's finally legal!!
Review: I'm very pleased that this book has finally been legalized and corrected- yet it keeps its classic visual integrety that we've all come to love. I am sincerely looking forward to Vols. 2 and 3, as well as Bb books!! Cheers to Hal Leonard for revitalizing a classic 'gigging musicians' book!


Rating:
Summary: Great music, may become the new standard for gigs!
Review: Take note, this book contains no lyrics, thankfully.

Like many musicians I have owned a copy of the, "Real Book 5th Edition" for a long time. I use it at rehearsals, I take it to gigs, and over years of use it has received a lot a wear and tear. As you may know the, "Real Book 5th Edition" is a home made publication, it is not available to the general public it is sold by musicians to musicians. Consequently finding a copy is very difficult, and replacing a worn out copy is just as difficult. Despite its limited availability it is used by musicians all over the world and has become a standard piece of equipment any jazz gig.

Hal-Leonard's "Real Book 6th Edition", at first glance, appears to a fully licensed duplicate of the, "Real Book 5th Edition" however, it is NOT.

The cover is the same, the type set is the same, many of the songs are the same, and most of the keys match the, "Real Book 5th Edition." Unfortunately, many important songs are missing including: "Gentle Rain", "Pennsativa", "Green Dolphin St.", "Days of Wine & Roses", "Spain", "A Foggy Day", and all frank Zappa songs. Some great songs have been added including: "Whispering", "Nuage", "Topsy", "That's Amore", "Easter Parade", "When You Wish Upon a Star", and many more. A few songs appear in a different key than the, "5th Edition" including: "Windows" and "Here's That Rainy Day." There are also some corrections including: "Blue Train" changed from Cm blues to Eb blues; "Equinox" changed from Cm to C#m; the chords to "Four" have been 'corrected'; the bass lines of "So What" and "Maiden" have also been corrected.

The result of Hal-Leonard's efforts gives us a great fake book which is easy to read and easy to buy. The song selection is great, but it is different form the, "5th Edition" this will present a problem when someone on a gig calls, "Conference of the Birds" or any other song not in this book.

What made the, "Real Book 5th Edition" a standard for so many years was the fact that it was one of a kind. Each song had it's own page, the type set was large and clear, the chords were simple and to the point, the songs listed were ones that musicians played, and the arrangements were streamlined (but accurate), for years this was the only book that used this style.

Today, however, many fake books published by Warner Brother, Sher Music, and Hal-Leonard use this style. Consequently great music and quality arrangements are easily accessible to all musicians. There is no longer a need for the, "Real Book 5th Edition" it has been replaced by fully legal and more accurate publications. Hal-Leonard's, "Real Book 6th Edition" is another one of the new generation fake books.

I hope all the songs missing from the, "Sixth Edition" appear in books 2 or 3 which are due out soon.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful surprise that I could play a song immediately
Review: The Real Book should set the minimum standard for all fake books.

As a beginner, I was timid about purchasing this book. What a delight to see large clear type, a song for each page or two page songs that face one another. I even discovered that I could play some songs immediately which was not possible with the same songs in a book such as "This is the Ultimate Fake Book with Over 1200 Songs." In that book the print was so small that I had to squint constantly to try to read the notes. I bought new glasses. Even then, I swore that I would never buy another book published by Hal Leonard. Well, guess what. This is a book also published by Hal Leonard. And it's wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: More Legal and More Useful
Review: This "sixth edition" is a welcome sight. At this price it's more affordable to musicians, and you don't need to feel like you're buying some pot from the music store by asking for it in hushed tones.

The differences between this and the bootleg fifth edition Real Book are substantial - many tunes are incompatable between the two, so you cannot mix the books as you could with older editions of the Real Book. But as this new one contains the correct changes and forms (including those notorious missing 4 bars in Desafinado, the correct changes for Dolphin Dance, and the omission of the mystery "turnaround" we've long ignored in the 4th bar of the bridge of Satin Doll) it's really a better book for new players, and will be enlightening to say the least for veteran players who've been playing these songs wrong all these years.

Not all the songs are here: some, like the Zappa and Sun Ra tunes, obviously were not cleared by the copyright owners; others which never are really played are omitted as well, like "Perfect Love". What replaces them are tunes which are far more useful to the gigging player, classic standards and others which were never in the Real Book but should have been. An internet search will easily turn up the tune list - if you absolutely need the tunes not in there anymore, you're out of luck unless you keep your old copy too.

I don't think the transposed versions are available at this writing. Of course, if you can transpose that's no bother at all. Hopefully they will be out soon. Once they are, this can truly replace the illegal book at about half the cost and with more useful tunes for the player.