The Songbook Blog
Spotlights, educational content, interviews and more from the Great American Songbook Foundation family!
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9/13/2019
Who doesn’t love “Misty”? This week’s addition to “My All-time Greatest Songs” may be one of the most popular and recorded songs ever. ASCAP named it as one of the 25 most performed standards of the 20th Century.
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9/12/2019
Why is our archivist, Lisa, burning the candle at both ends as of late? The Great American Songbook Foundation is about to install brand new state-of-the art shelving that will double our available space in the Songbook Archives. EVERYTHING must be moved!
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9/6/2019
Songbook Academy Alum Lucy Breedlove gives us the inside scoop on the college audition process from choosing schools to Audition Day!
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9/6/2019
The latest selection for “My All-time Greatest Songs” is Stranger in Paradise. This song features hauntingly beautiful music and lyrics and has a very complex background story that begins in Russia.
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8/30/2019
My choice this week for My All-time Greatest Songsis “Different Drum,” and it’s unique from previous selections. Usually, my favorites are based on the song itself, rather than the performer. “Different Drum” became one of my songs only when Linda Ronstadt recorded it as Stone Poneys in 1967.
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8/16/2019
This week’s selection for My All-time Greatest Songs is Jim Croce’s “Operator.” It is sometimes described as “Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)” to distinguish it from similarly titled songs. When I hear those opening guitar notes, I feel a thrill to listen once again to this favorite of mine. Jim Croce wrote and performed a number of songs that have become popular standards, but to me this one stands out.
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7/5/2019
It’s back to Broadway this week. My selection for “My All-time Greatest Songs” list is “On the Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady.
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6/21/2019
The heartfelt lyrics of Elton John and Bernie Taupin's "Your Song" express a youthful, innocent view of love – no flourishes attached. Combining universal, emotional words of love with beautiful, elegant music, it a sure qualifier for “My All-Time Greatest Songs.”
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5/31/2019
Stage and movie musicals have always been a source of great songs. This week I’m turning to Broadway for “My All-time Greatest Song” selection: “They Say It’s Wonderful.” The song’s composer, Irving Berlin, is one of the most prolific songwriters and a notable legend of The Great American Songbook.
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5/15/2019
We caught up with Songbook Foundation board member Roger Schmelzer and Songbook Academy alum Anaïs Reno as they prepared to debut at Carnegie Hall in The Mabel Mercer Foundation’s All the Things You Are: Celebrating Jerome Kern.
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5/14/2019
If you’ve been following us for the past year, you may have noticed that our Archivist, Lisa Lobdell, suddenly became a “Certified Archivist” this past August! HURRAY! But what exactly does that mean? How did she get “certified”? And was it really that sudden? The answers to ALL of your questions are in her newest blog entry, “Becoming a Certified Archivist.” Step into the world of archiving with Lisa …
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3/21/2019
Starting tomorrow we are releasing a new Blog Series written by our resident Songbook guru and docent, Dick Schwartz! In preparation for tomorrow's blog, learn about the author and a familiar face you might have seen in the Songbook Exhibit Gallery.
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