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Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era
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Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era Paperback - 2006

by Ken Emerson

Evoking a period when fear and frivolity, sputniks and hula-hoops simultaneously girded the globe, the author of "Doo-Dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture" reveals how 14 unlikely young songwriters forever changed American culture. 16-page photo insert.

Summary

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, after the shock of Elvis Presley and before the Beatles spearheaded the British Invasion, fourteen gifted young songwriters huddled in midtown Manhattan's legendary Brill Building and a warren of offices a bit farther uptown and composed some of the most beguiling and enduring entries in the Great American Songbook. Always Magic in the Air is the first thorough history of these renowned songwriters-tunesmiths who melded black, white, and Latino sounds, integrated audiences before America desegregated its schools, and brought a new social consciousness to pop music.

From the publisher

Ken Emerson, the author of Doo-Dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture and coauthor of Stephen Foster, a documentary film for the PBS series The American Experience, has written widely about popular music and culture since the 1960s. His articles and reviews have appeared in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to The Wall Street Journal. He is the former articles editor of The New York Times Magazine and op-ed editor of New York Newsday.

First line

In October 1957, New York traded the Brooklyn Dodgers for the Los Angeles-based songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

Details

  • Title Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era
  • Author Ken Emerson
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 352
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books, East Rutherford, NJ, U.S.A.
  • Date 2006-10-01
  • Features Bibliography, Index, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780143037774 / 0143037773
  • Weight 0.91 lbs (0.41 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.42 x 5.58 x 0.8 in (21.39 x 14.17 x 2.03 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 1960's
    • Geographic Orientation: New York
    • Locality: New York, N.Y.
  • Library of Congress subjects Popular music - New York (State) - New York, Popular music - New York (State) - New York
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2006043276
  • Dewey Decimal Code 781.660

Media reviews

An insightful, delightful look at 'the sounds pouring out of radios and jukeboxes in the 1950s and 1960s' (The Wall Street Journal )

Emerson takes flight.... Here we get the whole tale in a single entertaining package. (The New York Times Book Review)

Superb... Witty, in love with the music, Emerson is the ideal companion for this narrative.... Beautiful stuff. (The Boston Globe)

Citations

  • New York Times, 11/12/2006, Page 60

About the author

Ken Emerson, the author of Doo-Dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture and coauthor of Stephen Foster, a documentary film for the PBS series The American Experience, has written widely about popular music and culture since the 1960s. His articles and reviews have appeared in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to The Wall Street Journal. He is the former articles editor of The New York Times Magazine and op-ed editor of New York Newsday.

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Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era
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