Women built the popular song industry of Tin Pan Alley, yet many of their stories have seldom been told. They blazed the trail for women in music today and set an inspiring example for generations to come. Songs She Wrote celebrates women's contributions to popular music by looking at dozens of well-known figures like Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, and Dorothy Parker as well as unearthing more unknown women who made major contributions. The book explores the style and artistry of female songwriters, lyricists, and composers in the first half of the twentieth century and provides intriguing backstories and analysis of forty hits. Learn about Maria Grever ("What a Difference a Day Made") who was the first female Mexican to achieve international acclaim and the fascinating story of African American lyricist Lucy Fletcher ("Sugar Blues"), among many others in this book. Women in the popular music business went through struggles different from their male colleagues, making their triumphs all the more impressive. These individual and diverse sagas combine to convey an epic about women songwriters in the world of American popular music.
Michael G. Garber is an internationally respected expert on Tin Pan Alley and the American musical on stage and screen. He was a research fellow of the University of Winchester and the University of London, Goldsmiths College. He is the author of My Melancholy Baby: The First Ballads of the Great American Songbook, 1902-1913.
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Preface A Note on Song Popularity Chapter 1: Women in the World of Tin Pan Alley Chapter 2: The Twenties "Sugar Blues" (1918/1923), Lucy Fletcher, lyricist "Mexicali Rose" (1922/1923), Helen Stone, lyricist "The Down Hearted Blues" (1921), Lovie Austin, composer; Alberta Hunter, lyricist "Serenade" from The Student Prince (1924), Dorothy Donnelly, lyricist "I Know That You Know" (1926), Anne Caldwell, lyricist "Backwater Blues" (1927), Bessie Smith, composer-lyricist "Struttin' with Some Barbecue" (1927/1955), Lil Hardin Armstrong, composer Chapter 3: "Can't We Be Friends" (1929), Kay Swift, composer Chapter 4: "It Happened in Monterey" (1929/1930), Mabel Wayne, composer Chapter 5: The Thirties "Siboney" (1931), Dolly Morse, lyricist "Say Si Si" (1936), Francia Luban, lyricist "Taboo" ("Tabu," 1934), Margarita Lecuona, composer-lyricist "Them There Eyes" (1931), Doris Tauber, composer "Accent on Youth" (1935), Tot Seymour, lyricist; Vee Lawnhurst, composer "I Wished on the Moon" (1935), Dorothy Parker, lyricist "What's Your Story, Morning Glory?" (1938/1940), Mary Lou Williams, composer-lyricist "Some Other Spring" (1939/1940), Irene Armstrong Wilson Kitchings, composer "I'll Never Smile Again" (1939), Ruth Lowe, composer-lyricist Chapter 6: "My Silent Love" (1931/1932), Dana Suesse, composer Chapter 7: "Willow, Weep for Me" (1932), Ann Ronell, composer-lyricist Chapter 8: "Close Your Eyes" (1933), Bernice Petkere, composer-lyricist Chapter 9: "What a Diff'rence a Day Made" ("Cuando Vuelva a Tu Lado," 1934), Maria Grever, composer-lyricist Chapter 10: "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), Dorothy Fields, lyricist Chapter 11: The Forties "How High the Moon" (1940), Nancy Hamilton, lyricist "I Dream of You" (1944), Marjorie Goetschius, Edna Osser, composers-lyricists "The Man with the Horn" (1945), Bonnie Lake, composer "It's a Good Day" (1946), Peggy Lee, lyricist "A Sunday Kind of Love" (1946), Anita Leonard, Barbara Belle, composers-lyricists "It's Too Soon to Know" (1947), Deborah Chessler, composer-lyricist "Scarlet Ribbons" (1949), Evelyn Danzig, composer Chapter 12: "God Bless' the Child" (1940), Billie Holiday, composer-lyricist Chapter 13: "Good Morning, Heartache" (1945), Irene Higginbotham, composer Chapter 14: "Put the Blame on Mame" (1945/1946), Doris Fisher, composer-lyricist Chapter 15: "Far Away Places" (1947/1948), Joan Whitney, composer-lyricist Chapter 16: The Fifties "Too Young" (1949/1951), Sylvia Dee, lyricist "Twisted" (1952), Annie Ross, lyricist "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" (1955), Fran Landesman, lyricist Chapter 17: "Just in Time" (1956), Betty Comden, lyricist Chapter 18: "Witchcraft" (1957), Carolyn Leigh, lyricist Chapter 19: "Nice 'n' Easy" (1960), Marilyn Keith Bergman, lyricist Chapter 20: What Happened Next Endnotes Selected Song Title Index General Index
