Lissauer's Encyclopedia of Popular Music in America: 1888 to the Present - Robert Lissauer -...

From The Critics

Lissauer has expanded his 1991 work to include another 1,000 songs, for a total of more than 20,000 titles. Coverage in this edition extends through 1993. As a result, the rather portly one-volume first edition has been split into three; the three-part arrangement remains the same. The first section by song title notes the composer, dat (s), performe (s), and brief background. Entries range from country to blues, pop standards, rock, and show tunes. The second section lists all the songs from the first section chronologically. If a song was a hit twice, like "Aba Daba Honeymoon," it is listed twice, under the appropriate years. The third section is an index by composer There are some similarities between Lissauer and Shapiro's "Popular Music" (Gale) and Lax's "Great Song Thesaurus" (2d ed., Oxford, 1989). However, Lissauer's cumulative listing of songs is quicker to consult than Shapiro, where three cumulations plus a five-year supplement must be used. Lissauer has several thousand more entries than the "Great Song Thesaurus" and is more current, although Lissauer does not offer subject access, as does the "Thesaurus" Lissauer will answer ready-reference questions in public and academic libraries. Libraries owning the previous edition will need to weigh whether the additional 1,000 songs are worth $150.

Booknews

This meticulously researched set includes 200,000 songs that were "hits" between 1888 and the end of 1994. The first two volumes include alphabetical and chronological lists of the songs. The third volume lists the songwriters alphabetically. Each song entry includes the year it was written, the writer or writers of both the words and music, the band or individual who first performed the song, and the record label. Lissauer frequently adds interesting trivia to the entries<-->especially to his favorite show tunes or historically important music<-->about Broadway performances, film adaptations, unique instrumentation, or important events. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.