The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America's Great Lyricists

In The Poets of Tin Pan Alley, Philip Furia presents a fascinating accout of the lives in words and music of some of America's greatest popular lyricists. Full chapters are devoted to such golden names as Irving Berlin, Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Oscar Hammerstein II, Howard Dietz, E. Y. Harburg, Dorothy Fields, Leo Robbins and Johnny Mercer. Furia also discusses the important contributions made by other lyricists who wrote for the sheet-music industry, Broadway, Hollywood, and Harlem nightclub revues. Each of the lyricists is placed firmly in historical context and Furia is careful to note the extent to which the lyrics of popular music both reflected and shaped the mores of the periods in which they were written.