Songs She Wrote

Forty Hits by Pioneering Women of Popular Music

Michael G. Garber (Author) , Janie Bradford (Foreword) , Tish Oney (Foreword)

Online Access / Resources

Songs She Wrote

Forty Hits by Pioneering Women of Popular Music

Michael G. Garber (Author) , Janie Bradford (Foreword) , Tish Oney (Foreword)

Online Access / Resources

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Description

Women built the popular song industry of Tin Pan Alley, yet many of their stories have seldom been told.

They blazed the trail for women in music today and set an inspiring example for generations to come. Songs She Wrote celebrates women's contributions to popular music by looking at dozens of well-known songwriters, lyricists, and composers in the first half of the twentieth century like Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, and Dorothy Parker and unearths more unknown women who made major contributions. Learn about Maria Grever (“What a Difference a Day Made”) who was the first female Mexican composer to achieve international acclaim and the fascinating story of African American lyricist Lucy Fletcher (“Sugar Blues”), among many others. Women in the popular music business went through struggles different from their male colleagues, making their triumphs all the more impressive. Their combined sagas convey an epic about women in the world of American popular music.

Acknowledgments
Preface
A Note on Song Popularity

1. Women in the World of Tin Pan Alley
2. The Twenties
3. “Can't We Be Friends” (1929), Kay Swift, composer
4. “It Happened in Monterey” (1929/1930), Mabel Wayne, composer
5. The Thirties
6. “My Silent Love” (1931/1932), Dana Suesse, composer
7. “Willow, Weep for Me” (1932), Ann Ronell, composer-lyricist
8. “Close Your Eyes” (1933), Bernice Petkere, composer-lyricist
9. “What a Diff'rence a Day Made” (“Cuando Vuelva a Tu Lado,” 1934), Maria Grever, composer-lyricist
10. “The Way You Look Tonight” (1936), Dorothy Fields, lyricist
11. The Forties
12. “God Bless' the Child” (1940), Billie Holiday, composer-lyricist
13. “Good Morning, Heartache” (1945), Irene Higginbotham, composer
14. “Put the Blame on Mame” (1945/1946), Doris Fisher, composer-lyricist
15. “Far Away Places” (1947/1948), Joan Whitney, composer-lyricist
16. The Fifties
17. “Just in Time” (1956), Betty Comden, lyricist
18. “Witchcraft” (1957), Carolyn Leigh, lyricist
19. “Nice 'n' Easy” (1960), Marilyn Keith Bergman, lyricist
20. What Happened Next

Endnotes
Selected Song Title Index
General Index

Product details

Published	Mar 04 2027
Format	Paperback
Edition	1st
Pages	352
ISBN	9798216492009
Imprint	Rowman & Littlefield
Illustrations	17 b/w photos
Dimensions	9 x 6 inches
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Michael G. Garber

Michael G. Garber is an internationally respected…

Foreword

Janie Bradford

Foreword

Tish Oney

Tish Oney has headlined with symphony orchestras,…

A treasure for those interested in music and women's history. The easy-to-read narrative will appeal to a wide variety of readers.

Library Journal
Unique in its breadth, acting as both a studied appreciation of the songs the women created and the incredible impact they made in a male-dominated field … Songs She Wrote is an overdue celebration of the women behind the music.

Booklist
Extraordinary, exceptional, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, Songs She Wrote: Forty Hits by Pioneering Women of Popular Music by Michael G. Garber is an original work of meticulous scholarship and especially recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library 20th Century Music Appreciation & History collections in general, and supplemental Women's Music History curriculum studies lists.

Midwest Book Review
A compelling account of the contribution of female songwriters to the Great American Songbook. Michael Garber's book uncovers a hidden history with nuanced, sympathetic analysis of key composers & lyricists and their songs. Rich in detail, Garber's book gives the female songwriting pioneers of popular music the recognition they deserve.

Lucy O'Brien, author of Lead Sister: The Story of Karen Carpenter
Michael Garber has compiled a fascinating history of woman songwriters. And there are more than you think! You may not know their names, but you know their songs. This remarkable book isn't just a list of songs and their histories-it's a celebration of songs that have lasted over a hundred years, and they are still as fresh as the day they were written.

Ken Bloom, Grammy Award-winning theatre historian, playwright, director, record producer, and author
Songs She Wrote is a must-read for fans of the Great American Songbook. In this meticulously researched and fascinating book, Michael Garber gives long-overdue recognition to some of the unsung heroines of music who, against great odds, came up through the ranks of the male-dominated Tin Pan Alley. Stories of these trailblazing women and their songs are brought to life with vivid detail.

Holly Foster Wells, Peggy Lee's granddaughter, president, Peggy Lee Associates, LLC