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

(Paperback)

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From acclaimed cultural critic Ben Yagoda comes an exploration of the art of songwriting and a study on some of the greatest American songs ever written. 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. The B Side is about taste, the particular economics and culture of songwriting and the potential of popular art for greatness and beauty.

Reviews

Praise forThe B Side:

Yagoda writes so engagingly, and has put in so much time and effort, that one closes his book with the feeling that he has made a significant contribution...[his] distillation of it all is a lovely way to help perpetuate a most precious commodity. The New York Times
"[A] spirited history of American popular music." The New Yorker

Yagoda lubricates the gears of history with both his own humor and colorful anecdotes. Entertainment Weekly

Wow, what a piece of work! I love it.The B Sideis A PLUS. Dave Frishberg

A provocative, consistently engaging counternarrative to the conventional wisdom that rock 'n' roll killed Tin Pan Alley.Kirkus Reviews

"A great many books celebrate the pre-rock Great American Songbook. Ben Yagodas highly original and shrewdly argued The B-Side isnt one of them. It tells how the Songbook emerged, but is more intent on dissecting its meretricious demise, and the way a new songbook emerged from the rubble. It is anecdotal, illuminating, and persuasive."Gary Giddins, author ofBing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams and Visions of Jazz

"[The B Sideis] anentertaining and thoroughly researched exploration of Americas songwriting history. With deftness of pen and skill, Yagoda has produced a work that will appeal to both musicologists and fans."Library Journal

"Essayist Yagoda energetically conducts a journey through the development of popular music in this vibrant piece of cultural history Publishers Weekly

Actually, this wonderful chronicle is a B-side. . .This will be one big revelation for anyone steeped in a rock-centric understanding of pop history, and validation for those who treasure the Songbook in all its glory. And since these songs comprise so many strains of Americas cultural DNA, everyone stands to walk away from this richly told saga with not only a song in her/his heart, but also fresh knowledge about how it got there. PopMatters

The B-Sideis a must-read for anyone interested in the rise of rock and the shockwaves it sent through the American music business.Yagoda also poignantly conveys the pain of the generation pushed aside in the process. BookForum

Author Bio

Ben Yagoda is a journalism professor at the University of Delaware. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of twelve books, including About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made; How to Not Write Bad; Memoir: A History; and Will Rogers: A Biography. He contributes to The Chronicle of Higher Educations Lingua Franca blog and has written for Slate, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, and The American Scholar, among other publications. Yagoda lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, with his wife.