Crosby, Holiday, Sinatra, Fitzgerald, Garland, and Streisand were the
major interpreters of the American songbook, and this is the
interlocking story of their lives and careers.
Here is the epic tale of how these artists dominated American popular
music over a fifty-year period, a roller coaster ride that gains
momentum through the 1930s and '40s, reaches a crest of magical
creativity in the 1950s and early '60s, and then crashes down by the
early 1970s, a half century when the great American songbook dominated
the airwaves and the fight for racial equality came to the forefront.
Ella was beloved in her time, and she is still beloved. Frank is still
the king of the songbook, but Bing's legacy is just as vital once you
start listening to his unprecedented 1930s output. The best songs from
Judy's greatest triumph, her 1963-64 TV series, are shared endlessly
online. The legend of Billie grows by the year, and the basis of this
should be appreciation and wonder for her own great artistry in the
1930s. Barbra is a living legend and still a commercial force to be
reckoned with, the last exemplar of the songbook and its glories. All
six of these singers reach out to us and show us new ways of expression
and new ways to dream.
Their song is largely ended but the melody lingers on.
