Gary Giddins, winner of the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award, has a following that includes not only jazz enthusiasts but also pop music fans of every stripe. Writing here in a lyrical and celebratory style all his own, Giddins dazzlingly shows us -- among many other things -- how performers originally perceived as radical (Bing Crosby, Count Basie, Elvis Presley) became conservative institutions...how Charlie Parker created a masterpiece from the strain of an inane ditty...how the Dominoes helped combine church ritual with pop music...and how Irving Berlin translated a chiaroscuro of Lower East Side minorities into imperishable songs.
- ISBN10 0195032136
- ISBN13 9780195032130
- Publish Date 21 October 1982 (first published 26 March 1981)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Oxford University Press, USA
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 336
- Language English