Introduction: The Democracy of American Music
Bing: Out of Nowhere
Bing: Just One More Chance
Billie’s Blues
Frank in Hoboken
Ella: You’re Going to Hear From Me
Baby Gumm
Diana’s Dream
Bing at the Top
Billie and Ella
The Hoboken Four
Judy Swings
Sweet Leilani and Mexicali Rose
Billie Swings Her Way and Ella Finds a Hit
Band Canary Frank
Judy and Mickey and the Rainbow
Bing: Minstrelsy and Father O’Malley
Billie and Ella Travel Light
Frank: The Voice
Judy: The Girl Next Door
Barbara and the Mirror
Bing: Homecoming and Feet of Clay
Billie: Lover Man
Ella Bebop
Judy and Frank at MGM
Bing and Dixie
Billie’s Clef Blues
Frank’s Fall and Rise
Judy on the Comeback Trail
Frank and Ella Make Album History
Lady in Satin and Billie at the Met
Judy and Barbra
Ella and Frank
Judy: After You’ve Gone
Barbra at the Top
Frank and Ella at the Crossroads
Bing in Winter
Movie Star Barbra and Frank and Ella on the Road
Coda: Barbra in the 21st Century
Index
Dan Callahan is the author of Barbara Stanwyck: The Miracle Woman, Vanessa: The Life of Vanessa Redgrave, The Art of American Screen Acting, and The Camera Lies: Acting for Hitchcock, as well as the novel That Was Something. Callahan studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory at NYU and has been the arts editor of Show Business Weekly, book review editor at Culturedose.com, and associate editor at Siman Media Works. He has written film and theater reviews for Time Out New York, Film Comment, Sight & Sound, Nylon, the Village Voice, New York Magazine, and many other publications. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
"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
"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
"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. " -- Library Journal
"In this entertaining account...(Callahan) puts into words what
many of us sense but never express." -- The Wall Street 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
"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 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
"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
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