Overview

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.

Reviews

"In an erudite study that reads like a page-turning novel, Dan Callahan deftly weaves together the stories of six great singers to create a rapturous meditation on the intimate effects of the human voice, the complexities of the drive to perform, and the endless riches of American popular song. He writes with a passion that heightens and sharpens his sensitivity to these voices and lives. The whole book sings." —Imogen Sara Smith, author of In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City and Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy

“The American songbook is a glorious assemblage of styles, traditions, and inventions. Its legendary stars have always crossed and cross-wired predictable boundaries, not just of music but of class, race, and temperament. Call the roll of the greats: Bing, Billie, Frank, Ella, Judy, and Barbra. Open this vibrant portrait gallery of a book and immerse yourself in the particulars of their lives and art. Dan Callahan is an astute critic and an engrossing storyteller.” —Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland and Constructing a Nervous System

“Dan Callahan casts a wide net over the eternal seas of twentieth-century music—the songs and the singers who keep us forever young, like themselves, lost in the awesome wonder of why we’re here. The voices of these six great vocalists are alive in all their glory in the pages of this very compelling book.” —David Kaufman, author of Some Enchanted Evenings: The Glittering Life and Times of Mary Martin and Doris Day: The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door

“The intertwined lives and careers of these singers give us a sweeping and evocative view of the musical and cultural world of the last century. Few artists define that time better than these six, whose musical leaps and disappointments; romances and marriages; passion, productivity, and poignance tell a story of America’s heart. I couldn’t stop reading Callahan’s masterful work; it transported me right into that magical era.” —Sheila Weller, author of Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon—And the Journey of a Generation

"Fans know them by their first names: 'Bing and Billie and Frank and Ella and Judy and Barbra.' Dan Callahan unfolds their lives, art and significance in this entertaining account. He points to Ella Fitzgerald’s regard for Billie Holiday, who herself admired Jo Stafford. He puts into words what many of us sense but never express: how, for instance, Barbra Streisand’s voice possesses a 'unique crystalline purity of tone on certain notes the likes of which had never been heard from any singer before.'”  - John Check, The Wall Street Journal

 

"Callahan brings a wealth of arts editing and theatrical expertise to this fascinating biographical treatment of a sextet of the most familiar and well-regarded U.S. popular singers of the 20th and 21st centuries....This richly rewarding book is a singular achievement in tracing the prowess of these larger-than-life musical figures, whose talents still have emotional resonance today. " - Barry Zaslow, Library Journal

"A fine book....(Callahan's) gaze is comprehensive, his research thorough, and his enthusiasm for his subject infectious...best of all, his empathy for his subjects' circumstances is tangible...by the end of his story, it's become evident that their careers have long been waiting to be wound together like this." - The Sydney Morning Herald