The Great American Songbook refers to the collection of 20th-century popular songs and jazz standards that helped define pop music in the United States. Stories examine the legacies of some of those beloved composers, songwriters, and songs. But this issue also challenges the existing discourse on American standards, explores how these musical traditions continue to influence contemporary roots artists, and questions what in our songbook really deserves to survive.
Included in this issue:
- Canon Fodder: Loudon Wainwright III - Caitlin Wolper
- The Men With Golden Ears: Max Dreyfus, George Gershwin, and the rise and fall of Tin Pan Alley - Charley Ruddell
- An American Icon: Louis Armstrong - Hilary Saunders
- Versatile Voice: Rachael Price goes back to the (Song)book - Noah Berlatsky
- Reframing 'The Father of American Music': Reckoning with blackface minstrelsy and the legacy of Stephen Foster - Kim Ruehl
- Canon Fodder: Caleb Caudle - Caitlin Wolper
- Carrying a Torch: Carly Simon's most heartfelt standards album turns 40 - Charles Donovan
- Violent Verses: Modern musicians grapple with the legacy of murder ballads - Stacy Chandler
- Won't You Spare Me Over: 'Oh Death' haunts the American musical landscape - Stephen Deusner
- Canon Fodder: Bettye LaVette - Caitlin Wolper
- Singing It True: How Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, and other Black musicians canonized the Great American Songbook - Marcus K. Dowling
- Checking All the Boxes: Julian Lage finds inspiration old classics and new collaborations - Greg Cahill
- Rum and Coca-Cola: The Great American Songbook's Cuban crossover - Judy Cantor-Navas
- Canon Fodder: M. Ward - Caitlin Wolper
- Holding the Line: The history and legacy of the Peekskill Riots - Melanie Rock
- A Mixed Bag: How Carl Sandburg's 'The American Songbag' shaped nearly a century of American folk music - Avery Gregurich
- The Flip Side of History: New box set presents a fuller picture of the 'Anthology of American Folk Music' - Allison Hussey
- Screen Door: Love Is a Long Road - Kamara Thomas
Photos/Art:
- Original design by Marcus Amaker
- Original cover art by George Hage
- Original illustration by Jane Beaird
- Historical photos and sheet music from the Library of Congress
- Historical photos from the Gladys Palmera Collection
- Historical photos from the Peekskill Museum
