Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop Music: A History

by Bob Stanley

Overview

The must-read music book of the year—and the first such history bringing together all musical genres to tell the definitive narrative of the birth of Pop from 1900 to the mid-1950s.

Pop music didn't begin with the Beatles in 1963, or with Elvis in 1956, or even with the first seven-inch singles in 1949. There was a pre-history that went back to the first recorded music, right back to the turn of the century.

Who were these earliest record stars—and were they in any meaningful way "pop stars"? Who was George Gershwin writing songs for? Why did swing, the hit sound for a decade or more, become almost invisible after World War II?

The prequel to Bob Stanley’s celebrated Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!, this new volume is the first book to tell the definitive story of the birth of pop, from the invention of the 78 rpm record at the end of the nineteenth century to the beginnings of rock and the modern pop age. Covering superstars such as Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra, alongside the unheralded songwriters and arrangers behind some of our most enduring songs, Stanley paints an aural portrait of pop music's formative years in stunning clarity, uncovering the silver threads and golden needles that bind the form together.

Bringing the eclectic, evolving world of early pop to life—from ragtime, blues, and jazz to Broadway, country, crooning, and beyond—Let's Do It is essential reading for all music lovers.

"An encyclopaedic introduction to the fascinating and often forgotten creators of Anglo-American hit music in the first half of the twentieth century."—Neil Tennant (The Pet Shop Boys)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639364633
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	07/11/2023
Pages:	656
Sales rank:	716,771
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.90(d)

About the Author

Bob Stanley, author of the acclaimed Let’s Do It: The Birth of Pop Music and Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé, has worked as a music journalist, DJ, and record-label owner, and he is the cofounder and keyboard player for the band Saint Etienne. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Prologue xv

1 1900: Pop in the Beginning 1

2 Elite Syncopations: Scott Joplin and Ragtime 12

3 Songs for Sale: Tin Pan Alley 27

4 Doing What Comes Naturally: Irving Berlin 43

5 A Culture of Consolation: Music Hall and Musical Theatre 52

6 On the Other Side of a Big Black Cloud: World War I 62

7 A Conversation of Instruments: The Birth of Jazz 71

8 The Greatest Love of All: Louis Armstrong 86

9 The Blab of the Pave: Jerome Kern and Broadway 96

10 Let Me Entertain You: Al Jolson 111

11 I'm Gonna Do It If I Like It: The Jazz Age 121

12 In a Silent Way: Race Records 139

13 Invisible Airwaves Crackle with Life: Radio 148

14 Trying Hard to Recreate What Had Yet to Be Created: Hillbilly 165

15 Black and Tan Fantasy: Duke Ellington and the Cotton Club 174

16 Learn to Croon: Rudy Vallee and the Dawn of the Electric Era 185

17 All Hollywood and All Heaven: Talking Pictures 195

18 Ten Cents a Dance: The Great Depression 206

19 Nothing but Blue Skies: Bing Crosby 218

20 Industrial Light and Magic: The Movie Musical 229

21 Pardon My Pups: The Boswell Sisters 240

22 Make Those People Sway: British Dance Bands 246

23 Fascinating Rhythm: Fred Astaire and the Dance-Hail Boom 258

24 Eighty-Eight Key Smiles: Fats Waller and Friends 264

25 Tight Like That: The Age of Swing 271

26 Serenade in Blue: The Great American Songbook 288

27 The Winds Grow Colder: Judy Garland and Billie Holiday 298

28 Be Like the Kettle and Sing: Britain at War 309

29 Why Don't You Do Right: America at War 323

30 Hot Licks with Vanilla: Glenn Miller 337

31 Someone to Watch Over Me: Vocal Refrains 345

32 We Had to Break Up the Band: Post-War Jazz 356

33 Call Me Irresponsible: Frank Sinatra 368

34 Saturday Night Fish Fry: Rhythm and Blues 378

35 California Suite: The Long-Player 394

36 It's Mitch Miller's World and We Just Live in It: The 45 412

37 Breaks a New Heart Every Day: Peggy Lee 425

38 Almost Like Praying: Post-War Broadway 434

39 Squeeze Me: Vocal Jazz 447

40 Experiments with Mice: British Big Bands 460

41 Revival: Trad Jazz and Folk 466

42 In a Restless World: Nat King Cole 480

43 Ports of Pleasure: Exotica 489

44 Sharks in Jets Clothing: Rock 'n' Roll 495

45 The Summit: Frank, Dino and Sammy 506

46 TV Is the Thing: The Rise of Television 518

47 I Could Go on Singing: The Next Generation 526

48 The Strength of Strings: Film Soundtracks 537

49 What Kind of Fool Am I: Lionel Bart and Anthony Newley 547

50 Whipped Cream and Other Delights: Adventures in Beatleland 555

51 The Last Waltz: Tom Jones and the New Balladeers 566

52 Some Kind of Rapprochement: The 1970s 576

Epilogue 585

Acknowledgements 593

Sources 595

Bibliography 599

Index 605

Editorial Reviews

"Stanley does an inspired job of identifying and describing all the tangled roots of pre-rock popular music . . . a vast amount of it is far too good to be forgotten.”

—The Times of London

“Bob Stanley's brilliantly entertaining book reveals how pop trends were made, and how racism has skewed the narrative. Dauntingly ambitious . . . Let’s Do It is an essential book for lovers of popular music.

“Forget everything you think you know about The Telegraph

"An immensely entertaining pop-music survey course. Engagingly opinionated and often very, very funny. Joyful, smart, and addictive, just like the best pop songs, and a must for music fans everywhere."

—Booklist (starred)

"Stanley is as clear-eyed about music as he is crazy in love with it."

The Los Angeles Times Mikael Wood

"Bob Stanley loves and finds surprising connections between a thousand kinds of pop. He makes me want to run to the nearest record store—and move in."

Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields

"Totally delicious and [full of] why-didn’t-I-think-of-that connections. We’re incredibly lucky to have this detailed map."

—David Kirby, Wall Street Journal

"Zips through decades of dance tunes and teenage heartthrobs with an affectionate ebullience. As good a story of pop music as a fan could hope for."

The Washington Post

"Tells the story of American and British pop music almost as engagingly as the songs themselves."

—Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

"This book will be remembered and deserves to be."

Barnes & Noble Review Robert Christgau

An absolute landmark/joy/gossip-fest/door to Narnia: the history of pop music BEFORE rock’n’roll. SO fascinating. Can’t recommend enough.”

—Caitlin Moran, author of More Than a Woman

“Magnificent! Bob Stanley is in a league all his own.

Nik Cohn

"[Let's Do It] claims a voice in an entertaining but complicated conversation that explores the power of the music industry, the impact of technology, and the pressure of social mores. The comprehensive version of popular music history. Stanley weaves together the history of music with that of the developing industry and the technology of the times."

—The Christian Science Monitor

"Stanley explicitly states that Let's Do It should be 'above all...entertaining.' Thankfully, it is. Even the organization of the chapters proves surprising and interesting. Stanley employs a strong writer’s voice, keeping the tone conversational and sometimes even breaking the fourth wall. Stanley labels the elasticity of pop music 'magical,' and his clear, witty, enthusiastic writing makes a convincing case for it."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

I know a lot about popular music. I didn't know half of this.”

—David Hepworth, author of 1971: Never a Dull Moment

"For those who wish to enjoy a compelling musical mystery tour of the first half of the twentieth century—written with insight, thoroughly researched stories, and compelling opinions—this book is well worth the trip. It’s a deep-dive into an era I love and know well, and in devouring this tome I learned a thing or two along the way!

Michael Feinstein

Stanley’s acute observations, breadth of historical understanding, and obvious love for the music makes this an essential work on the why, the when, and the song that sings through us. A masterful achievement.”

—Lenny Kaye, Patti Smith Group

“An encyclopedic introduction to the fascinating and often forgotten creators of Anglo-American hit music in the first half of the twentieth century.”

Neil Tennant

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! ties together the disparate strands of pop’s shape-shifting history to create a vivid living document of the music of our lives."

Greg Milner

"[An] exuberant celebration of the silly and the sublime. Stanley’s writing delights and surprises, and his description of the music makes you want to dance to it."

The New Yorker Sarah Larson

"Quixotic and kaleidoscopic, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! serves up erudite irreverence on every page. Like its sprawling subject, it invites everyone in for a listen.

The Dallas Morning News

A voyage of discovery...Stanley’s writing crackles with the exhilaration of a man who’s encountered a whole new world of vinyl to obsess about. A perfect guidebook, filled with smart thinking and the kind of communicable enthusiasm that sends you rushing to the nearest streaming service.

The Guardian

"A roller-coaster ride through pop history that encourages readers to look deeper into offshoots of ‘pop’ and performers they might not be so familiar with.

The Houston Press

"A landmark celebration, rumination and encapsulation of just about everything worth knowing - and arguing - about the pop landscape. A book for the ages."

USA Today Matt Damsker

Stanley’s acute observations, breadth of historical understanding, and obvious love for the music makes this an essential work on the why, the when, and the song that sings through us. A masterful achievement.

Lenny Kaye

"Totally delicious and [full of] why-didn’t-I-think-of-that connections. We’re incredibly lucky to have this detailed map."

Wall Street Journal David Kirby

"Like War and Peace but with a beat. Endlessly readable. [Stanley's] passion and humor make Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! a delicious read even, or rather especially, when it upends your own views."

The Boston Globe

"Rich with musical history lived, worked, and felt. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is smart, funny, surprisingly deep for just how broad it is, but, most of all, for stars and songs great and small, it is full of love."

Los Angeles Review of Books Joshua Joy Kamensky

Praise for Bob Stanley’s Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!:

From the Publisher

"Tells the story of American and British pop music almost as engagingly as the songs themselves."

Newsday Glenn Gamboa

An absolute landmark/joy/gossip-fest/door to Narnia: the history of pop music BEFORE rock’n’roll. SO fascinating. Can’t recommend enough.

Caitlin Moran

"Totally delicious and [full of] why-didn’t-I-think-of-that connections. We’re incredibly lucky to have this detailed map."

David Kirby

"An immensely entertaining pop-music survey course. Engagingly opinionated and often very, very funny. Joyful, smart, and addictive, just like the best pop songs, and a must for music fans everywhere."

Booklist (starred)

"Stanley does an inspired job of identifying and describing all the tangled roots of pre-rock popular music . . . a vast amount of it is far too good to be forgotten.

The Times of London

I know a lot about popular music. I didn't know half of this.

David Hepworth

"An ambitious undertaking. Stanley’s bold positions connect pop’s many dots in fresh and fascinating patterns."

Christian Science Monitor

"Rich with musical history lived, worked, and felt. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is smart, funny, surprisingly deep for just how broad it is, but, most of all, for stars and songs great and small, it is full of love."

Joshua Joy Kamensky

"[An] exuberant celebration of the silly and the sublime. Stanley’s writing delights and surprises, and his description of the music makes you want to dance to it."

Sarah Larson

"A landmark celebration, rumination and encapsulation of just about everything worth knowing - and arguing - about the pop landscape. A book for the ages."

Matt Damsker

07/01/2022

In this prequel to his 2014 book Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé, London-based music journalist Stanley (a musician in his own right) argues that the precursors to pop music were (from the late 19th century until the 1950s dawn of rock and roll) light, easily accessible, danceable, syncopated, riffed melodies. The book embraces forms such as ragtime, jazz, the blues, Broadway melodies, swing, and country, surveying diverse producers, performers, and consumers. Stanley also acknowledges the impact of technology (as in recording methods in radio and film). In some cases, as with the introduction of the carbon microphone in the 1920s, it allowed changes in singing styles (stentorian blasting could be replaced by modulated crooning). Stanley is attentive to the international aspects of early pop, comparing the output of New York City's Tin Pan Alley with that of London's Denmark Street and Charing Cross. The book appropriately emphasizes myriad African American and European immigrant contributors to U.S. and British proto-pop, but it might underrepresent the impact of Latin American music styles such as the rumba, samba, and mambo. VERDICT Stanley's engaging narrative music study invites general readers as well as music mavens into a memorable world that provided the necessary antecedents for rock and roll.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr.

Library Journal

★ 2022-06-22
A sprawling, 600-page, swiftly moving chronicle of the birth of popular music.

Stanley, whose previous history, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music From Bill Haley to Beyoncé, cleverly captured the heyday of pop music, turns his uncanny ability to draw connections between far-flung generations of musicians to the first half of the 20th century. As the author shows, this is the era when pop music was born—when “records…were made to sell, music…was intended to be heard by the largest possible audience”—and the recording and performance industries developed alongside the music. Stanley profiles numerous larger-than-life figures, from the brilliant yet tragic heroes Scott Joplin and Irving Berlin, through the birth of jazz and big bands, to iconic superstars like Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, and Frank Sinatra. The author’s pithy summary of Sinatra’s appeal demonstrates his descriptive skill: “The tenderness in his voice was all the more effective because of the flip side, the toughness that could mutate into drunken divorcee bitterness on something like ‘That’s Life.’ Love and hate, kindness and intolerance in equal measure.” Stanley calls Sinatra the “fulcrum” of the book, embodying what came before and providing the blueprint for the careers that came after—all the way up to the current music scene. This author’s ability to assess the history of his subject through the lens of today’s music sets this book apart. As he finds the links between Carole King and Garland (“ ‘It Might as Well Rain Until September’ could have been sung by Judy Garland in Meet Me in St Louis”) or Paul McCartney’s connections to both Matt Monro and Peggy Lee, Stanley makes the argument that good music is good music. “John Lennon disparagingly referred to these efforts as Paul’s ‘granny music,’ ” writes the author. “But who doesn’t love their granny?”

A delightful music history that gives pop its proper due without losing any of the fizzy fun along the way.

Kirkus Reviews