Ben Yagoda

Ben Yagoda Writing, language, journalism, rhetoric, humor, good music, and more. http://www.benyagoda.com

Across the universes
06/03/2021

Across the universes

Hasbro’s beloved toy has now joined comic book superheroes in earning a cosmic term for its imaginary domain

05/05/2020
Play Ball! Mitchell Nathanson and Ben Yagoda Presentation

Ready for some good baseball conversation? Join me and Mitchell Nathanson tomorrow night at 7 PM as we talk about his fantastic new biography of Jim Bouton, "Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original." Note--to listen in, you need to have downloaded the Zoom app.

Baseball season is here! Radnor Memorial Library and Radnor Historical Society are thrilled to announce this doubleheader featuring writer and Villanova Professor of Law, Mitchell Nathanson, author of a NEW boo...

15/12/2015

Ben Yagoda's cover photo

09/05/2015
BOOK REVIEW: ‘The B-Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song’

Nice review of "The B-Side" by a gentleman who knows whereof he speaks. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/7/book-review-the-b-side-the-death-of-tin-pan-alley-/print/

If you love music, especially if you’ve been following its twists and turns and ever-changing styles all through your life, you will want to read “The B-Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song.”

28/03/2015
"Up On the Roof"

Carole King makes her first appearance in the New American Songbook with "Up On the Roof." There will be more to come.

As with Stephen Sondheim, my first entry for Carole King comes down to a choice of two songs. Both were co-written in the early '60s with her then-husband, Gerry Goffin (he did words, she did the m...

22/03/2015
"Good Thing Going"

In honor of Stephen Sondheim's 85th birthday, I'm adding "Good Thing Going" to the New American Songbook.

Today is Stephen Sondheim's 85th birthday so naturally I am going to add one of his songs to the New American Songbook. But which one? The obvious choice is "Send In the Clowns"--a little too obvio...

19/03/2015

I'll be talking about Frank Sinatra, Mitch Miller, and the Great American Songbook tonight at 6 PM at the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center. Come early and catch the Sinatra exhibit, which is supposed to be mahvellous. (Photo by PoPsie.)

15/03/2015

But I wanna tell ya.... Thanks to House of Speakeasy and City Winery for hosting such a great event. Next up... NYPL at Lincoln Center this Thursday at 6.

10/03/2015
The Gist

Always a fun ride to talk with Mike Pesca at The Gist. I like how his brain works.

The Gist Songs That Almost Killed the American Songbook How “The Doggie in the Window” and other confections nearly erased one of the greatest eras in music. Mike Pesca March 6 2015 9:37 PMPaid to PlayThree professional gamers talk about turning Call of Duty into goofy YouTube videos, millions of v…

05/03/2015
"My Girl"

A thought for today: "When it's cold outside, I got the month of May." "My Girl" is a timeless song--just listen to Dolly Parton's purdy cover version.

James Jamerson thumps a heartbeat on the bass. Robert White's guitar corkscrews out in reply. And the immortal David Ruffin sings, in a voice of sweetness shadowed by sorrow, "I've got sunshine on ...

04/03/2015

Aretha Franklin and Motown? Worth checking out.

The Queen Of Soul will take to the American Idol stage tomorrow night to celebrate the music of Motown.

Tune in at 8pm ET / 7pm CT on FOX!

03/03/2015
"Heart's Desire"

Hey, I started a blog called The New American Songbook! Check it out--starting with today's post on the great Dave Frishberg's "Heart's Desire."

The New York Times' indispensable music critic Stephen Holden basically took up the topic of this blog a couple of months ago in an article entitled "Setting New Standards: American Songbook Series...

02/03/2015
Briefly Noted Book Reviews

I'm good with "spirited."

Reviews of “The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty,” “Etta and Otto and Russell and James,” “The B Side,” and “Why Not Say What Happened.”

10/02/2015
Baaack to the Future – Lingua Franca - Blogs - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Drive a stake through the heart of this cliche, but it keeps coming ba-a-a-ack http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2015/02/10/their-baaack/

February 10, 2015 by Ben Yagoda Baaack to the Future I picked up The Philadelphia Inquirer last week and read an article by Jeremy Roebuck about how a judicial ruling had revived the onetime local news anchor Alycia Lane’s long-dormant lawsuit against her former station. Here’s the line my eye was d…

09/02/2015

Entertainment Weekly says I "lubricate the gears of history." I didn't realize that magazine was R-rated.

08/02/2015
American Songbook Series Reshapes the Canon

Apropos of the discussion in this space some weeks back, here are the The New York Times initial nominees (specifically Stephen Holden, Ben Brantley and Scott Heller) for a New American Songbook. I'm down with "Just My Imagination (Runnin' Away with Me)" and Sondheim's "Not a Day Goes By" (great example of new-old song, or old-new one). I would have picked Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" or "She's Got a Way About Her" over "And So It Goes." But room for argument is great and there's a lot of unfamiliar songs on the list that I'll look forward to giving a listen.

As it begins a 16th season, Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series has its most adventurous offerings yet.

31/01/2015

You'll laugh, you'll cry

31/01/2015
After the Hit Parade Had Gone

Rupert Murdoch willing, this link will take you to a really excellent The Wall Street Journal review of "The B-Side" by Eddie Dean, who knows how to turn a phrase. (If you run into a paywall, you can just Google "Yagoda Wall Street Journal)

Eddie Dean reviews “The B-Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song,” by Ben Yagoda.

26/01/2015
The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song - 92nd Street Y - New York, NY

Presumably the snow will be gone by next Thursday, February 5, when I'll be talking about "The B-Side" at the 92nd Street Y in New York. My special musical guests will be the Bucky Pizzarelli Duo featuring the legendary Mr. Pizzarelli and his partner Ed Laub. Hope to see you there.

Everybody knows and loves the American Songbook, but it’s less widely understood why this stream of great songs dried up around 1950.

26/01/2015

A little contest to divert your attention from Snowmageddon. I'll send a signed copy of "The B-Side" to the first person who can identify the man with the xylophone.

24/01/2015
Ben Yagoda

Shout-outs to Bill Zinsser, Gary Giddins, Will Friedwald, and Whitney Balliett in this Wall Street Journal piece. Pro tip: To get around the paywall, google "Yagoda Balliett." http://www.wsj.com/articles/five-best-ben-yagoda-on-the-american-songbook-1422048993

The author of “The B-Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song” recommends “Collected Works,’ by Whitney Balliett; “Sinatra! The Song Is You,” by Will Friedwald; “Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams,” by Gary Giddins; “Unfair to Genius: The Strange and Litigious Care…

23/01/2015

If you're near a radio at 5:50 EST this afternoon, tune in to NPR, where, barring any floods, revolutions, football scandals, or other breaking news, I will be interviewed by the great Robert Siegel.

22/01/2015
Tony Bennett - Put on a Happy Face

A match made in heaven.

Music video by Tony Bennett duet with James Taylor performing Put On A Happy Face. (C) 2006 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

22/01/2015
On His New Album of Sinatra Covers, Bob Dylan Pays Tribute to an Era He Once Derided

On his forthcoming CD, Bob Dylan covers ten Frank Sinatra songs. I talk about his deeply weird choices in this Slate piece. http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/01/22/bob_dylan_s_shadows_in_the_night_on_new_album_of_sinatra_covers_dylan_pays.html

In his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One, Bob Dylan wrote, “Things were pretty sleepy on the American music scene in the late ’50s and early ’60s. Popular radio was sort of as a standstill and filled with empty pleasantries.” In an interview a few years earlier, he was a bit more...

22/01/2015
Book review: The B-Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song...

To mark the official pub date of "The B-Side," a fantastic review in my mother's home-town newspaper, the Boston Globe.

Rock and roll did not kill the Great American Songbook, Ben Yagoda demonstrates in his lively study tracing the cultural, legal, and financial evolution of the nation’s popular music industry through the 20th century. What we think of as a standard — an accessible yet sophisticated tune by Jerome Ke…

21/01/2015
Dylan Does Sinatra

Some thoughts on Bob Dylans rendition of a truly obscure Frank Sinatra song, "Stay With Me."

Yesterday, Bob Dylan put his rendition of "Stay With Me" on the internet. It's the second track (after "Full Moon and Empty Arms) from his forthcoming Shadows in the Night that the singer's people ...

18/01/2015
Remembering Ervin Drake

Remembering songwriter Ervin Drake, the last link to pre-World War II Tin Pan Alley.

I was sad to read in the New York Times the other day of the death of songwriter Ervin Drake, at the age of 95. When I was embarking on The B-Side, one of the first people I walked to was Michael F...

Address


Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ben Yagoda posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

  • Address
  • Alerts
  • Claim ownership or report listing

  • Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company?

Share