The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin

The problem with pop-tune anthologies is that song lyrics have to be heard, not read, and only with their music. Especially so with an Irving Berlin, who did nearly all his work for the theater and films, and for whom the presentation was as important as the song. (Picture "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" without Ziegfeld's beauties -- impossible.) And the fact is Berlin's lines could be flat-out flat-footedly corny. "A melody mellow/Played on a cello" can only provoke giggles in those unfamiliar with the songs, which I fear is the norm these days; at his worst he's downright clueless. (As in his proposed jingle for an unproduced NBC spectacular: "Everybody step,/Have a drink of Coca-Cola -- /It's the finest pepperola...." Pepsi-Cola?) But this is the problem with comprehensiveness. There are too many "rag" songs and "coon" songs and "step-step-step" songs, too many singing musical notes and dancing edibles, too much high-flown love treacle, too little of the poetry and wit that marked golden-age pop songwriting at its finest. Even the most interesting ones like "Sadie Salome (Go Home)", fresh with their impudent suggestiveness, can only hint at their marvels. And the chronological layout inevitably sets up the drab finish of the decades of verbal noodling, reclusion and despair. Yes he wrote catchy tunes in the early days, but Berlin didn't really come into his own until late, with his thirties revues, and the Fred-and-Ginger scores, and "Holiday Inn", and "This is the Army", and "Easter Parade", and his one true masterpiece, "Annie Get Your Gun." These are works to be savored, not anthologized. And it took a special talent to bring out Berlin's real measure: listen to Blue Eyes and TD and their larger-than-life rendition of "Be Careful, It's My Heart" to know it. Moreover Red Norvo's "Remember" and Les Brown's "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" and the sumptuous instrumental "New Amsterdam Roof" from "Easter Parade" (on the Rhino soundtrack album) make the strong case that Berlin is at his best without words.That said, there can be no doubting the completeness, the care, the diligence that went into this collection (even if the phrase "No music is known to survive" gets a little tiresome), the obvious love and respect for this show-biz titan. Alas, perhaps the only way to appreciate his greatness is to go back in time to experience it, a further frustration of books like this.

This massive book contains every word that Irving Berlin wrote for his songs. He wrote oddles and gobs of songs so this book is big and heavy. The music is not included. Have i read every word of this book? No- and I should live long enough to hear every song sung. I do look forward to looking at this book whenever I look at a movie where his songs are used and when I listen to a CD of his songs. I know I will have years of happy useage of this book. There is no better book of his lyrics

Robert Kimball is the best in these Great Songbook anthologies. Thank you sir. I especially like the ephemera, notably his jotted doggerel to fellow composers. He was one of the few that wrote words and music together. Cole Porter was the other one from that era, followed by Frank Loesser, then Steven Sondheim. It's rare to be equally talented in both words and music.

Great book. Not only did it have the complete lyrics of both Berlin's published and unpublished songs, it had many of the back stories on numerous songs that both a music historian and a more casual listener would find fascinating.

What a great lyricist! Memorable melodies and amazing matches.

Love Irving Berlin and can't believe he wrote so many songs....hundreds. And so many of them have become famous.

As described

Jerome Kern was not one to compliment other composers. However, when he was asked to assess Irving Berlin's place in American music, Kern replied that Berlin WAS American music. Not too long ago, the A&E channel did two "Classroom" broadcasts about Berlin's life; and by a coincidence, several items concerning this prolific composer have recently come my way. I want to share one of them with you. It is a wonderful book from publisher Alfred A. Knopf titled "The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin," edited by Robert Kimball and Linda Emmet (one of the composer's three daughters). Now, considering that this man wrote well over a thousand songs, that is quite a bit of material for a single volume. But this one measures roughly 11" by 12" and holds 530 pages, which hold three columns of text. In this way, we get the lyrics to 1,200 songs for which he wrote both words and the music (only a few early songs were set to words by others). The organization is chronological and intelligently packaged. Unlike Rodgers, Kern and Gershwin, Berlin wrote for Tin Pan Alley as well as for the stage. Therefore the editors have grouped the lyrics by "Songs" that were not intended for a specific show or film and by songs that were. So for 1914, for example, you will get all the independent songs composed that year in one chapter and those written for "Watch Your Step" the same year in a separate chapter. Even more welcome are the lyrics to many songs that were never published! It makes fascinating reading to surmise why these had to wait until this book came along to see the light of day. To make this book even more valuable, each song is given a little preface concerning copyright dates and other items of interest to the American musical historian. And you will love the full-page photographs that stand at the start of each chapter. There is also an introductory essay and a very useful chronology at the start of the book, while the index at the end can help you locate in the body of the book any song by title with no trouble. So while Berlin's lyrics might not be as clever as those of Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart or Ira Gershwin, many of them will bring back memories of how Americans felt almost from the start to the finish of the last century. (Take note. Knopf also has available similar tomes for the lyrics of Porter, Hart, and I. Gershwin. Each one is a definite Grabbit.

Brilliant reference material and big enough for a door stop but will never be abused that way. Love it

Great work achieved by Robert Kimball and Linda Emmet, one of Irving Berlin's daughters. That's the right tribute deserved by the genius composer and lyricist Irving Berlin !

Everybody if you over sixty knows some IRVING BERLIN songs.I just have to mention WHITE CHRISTMAS,HAPPY HOLIDAY,GOD BLESS AMERICA or EASTER PARADE.This is an important capsule of AMERICANA.The songs are in chronological order and KIMBALL and his colleages have included an essential year by year summary of his life and work.What's fascinating here is that you can discover some songs that were almost erased from memories.I am a lifelong music lover and this serie of books about lyricists has given me pleasure.Thank you ROBERT KIMBALL.

Anyone interested in 20tht Century music will want this book. Irving Berlin (Alexander's Ragtime Band) was a giant among lyricists.Discussions are brief, but informative. All of his lyrics are here, including rewrites and revisions.The volume is well-printed and firmly bound. Size and weight are considerable, but unavoidable

Convient parfaitement à l'usage pour lequel il a été acheté. Donc, aucun problème particulier à signaler sur la qualité de ce produit.