Until now, the best book on American popular music has been Alec Wilder's The American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950, which analyzes hundreds of songs with such wit and insight that few have revisited the subject. Fortunately, William Hyland's new book complements rather than contests Wilder's achievement. Wilder examines the songs themselves, Hyland the social and cultural dynamics out of which they emerged. Wilder discusses hundreds of tunes and dozens of composers; Hyland limits himself to Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Cole Porter.

Hyland is at his best discussing how non-musical developments affected America's songs--how immigration patterns at the turn of the century shaped a popular music audience; how technology created, then destroyed, Tin Pan Alley; how financial booms and busts in the Twenties and Thirties transformed Broadway and Hollywood, the breeding ground of so much popular music. Hyland weaves these observations through biographical sketches which demonstrate how thoroughly the lives and talents of these composers intersected. For jazz enthusiasts, this book provides the best explanation to date on how and why the standard repertoire emerged as it did. Of course, not all standards were written by the "Big Five," but the interlocking experiences and influences of these men are a microcosm of the experiences and influences touching virtually all those who contributed to "the repertoire." I cringe as much as anyone at the mindlessly nostalgic phrase, "they don't write 'em like they used to." But it's true. They really don't. Popular American music from 1900 to 1950 outdistances the popular art of most cultures--in this or any other century--and that's a phenomenon worth more attention. William Hyland's book represents a good step in that direction.