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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 songwriters, lyricists, and composers in the first half of the twentieth century like Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, and Dorothy Parker and unearths more unknown women who made major contributions. 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. Women in the popular music business went through struggles different from their male colleagues, making their triumphs all the more impressive. Their combined sagas convey an epic about women in the world of American popular music.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
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" ("Tabú," 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
About the author
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.Tish Oney has headlined with symphony orchestras, big bands, and jazz combos throughout the world and has recorded five albums as leader. Possessing a doctorate in jazz from University of Southern California, this internationally acclaimed jazz singer, musicologist, arranger, composer, and conductor has served several institutions as professor and visiting artist. She writes a column titled “Anatomy of a Standard” for All About Jazz and authored Peggy Lee: A Century of Song.
