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The 1940s: WWII, Singers Take Center Stage
by Joan Merrill
The 1940s might have been the 20th century's most pivotal decade for America and the world. Millions died as war gripped the globe once again, and the Atomic Age and Cold War sprang up in the latter half of the decade as peace was finally achieved. Through it all, music and entertainment reflected the times.
The 1930s: Soup Kitchens, Shirley Temple and Swing
by Joan Merrill
Just as the 1920s were defined by the Jazz Age, the 1930s were also defined by swing, the popular music of the time. Jazz had become danceable. But as America swung through the decade, the country endured two horrendous disasters: the Great Depression that followed the stock market crash of 1929, and the Dust ...
The 1920s: Jazz Becomes America's Soundtrack
by Joan Merrill
With the end of both World War I and the deadly flu pandemic that killed untold millions of people, the United States welcomed the new decade with open arms and a sense of optimism. The 1920s were one of the most eventful periods in American history. The Prohibition Era, from 1920 to 1933, gave ...
The Great American Songbook Goes To The Movies
by Joan Merrill
Broadway bombed. Hollywood boomed. Movies learned to talk. The stock market crashed in 1929 and burst the popularity bubble of Broadway. Going to see a play or a musical was common practice in the Roaring Twenties. There were hundreds of them playing on the Great White Way and millions of Americans of all classes ...
Doris Day Was So Much More Than The "Girl Next Door"!
by Joan Merrill
Doris Day was often called America's “girl next door"--friendly, wholesome, relatable, and unintimidating. Women wanted to be her and men wanted to marry her. It was an image so firmly attached to her that it overshadowed her remarkable talent. In her book Holding my own in No Man's Land, film critic ...
Alisa Clancy Served Cheer and Empathy with Her Morning Cup of Jazz During COVID, Then Signed Off
by Joan Merrill
Bay Area jazz lovers were shocked to learn that “the voice of jazz" would no longer help them greet the day with her blend of jazz and good humor in a voice like no other. After 35 years as KCSM's premiere host, Alisa Clancy announced her retirement after almost single-handedly keeping the radio station ...
How Two Stars Revived Their Careers at Concord Records
by Joan Merrill
From 1996 to 2002 I produced 15 shows--mostly on vocalists--or NPR's Jazz Profiles. I was fortunate to have as subjects two legendary vocalists--Ernestine Anderson and Rosemary Clooney--both of whom I interviewed in their homes in Seattle and Beverly Hills. In learning about their lives, I was struck by how they had seemed to be following similar ...
The Great American Songbook Goes Legit—Thanks to Michael Feinstein
by Joan Merrill
A mutual friend introduced them and before the meeting was over, Michael Feinstein had a job. He was to sort out lyricist Ira Gershwin's extensive record collection. At the time, 1976, Feinstein was 20 and Gershwin 80. Perhaps the age difference was the basis for their friendship. Gershwin enjoyed the enthusiasm of the young ...
What’s Harder to Write, Poetry or Lyrics?
by Joan Merrill
Lyrics are often compared to poetry. Are they a form of “the poetic art?" Are they less “artistic?" Poetry has a romantic aura to it, whereas lyric writing seems rather plebeian (to borrow a word from “Cry Me a River"). Writing lyrics doesn't have the cachet writing poetry has. It isn't as cool. And ...
Dorothy Fields, The Only Major Female Songwriter Of The Golden Age
by Joan Merrill
Whenever there's a discussion of the great songwriters of the Golden Age of popular music (1920s to 1960s), we hear the names Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren, Frank Loesser, George Gershwin, and a few others. You don't very often hear names Yip Harburg, PF Webster, Johnny Burke, Sammy Cahn, or ...
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