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Review
Cryer obviously loves his subject and reading this book is a bit like being collared in a railway carriage by a bloke who knows a lot about something and wants to let you know about it too. It's a pleasant experience though, and you want the journey to last as long as possible... The book doesn't set out to analyse the art of the songwriter with academic rigour, but in the end that is more or less what it does. A song isn't a poem or a symphony, it isn't a novel or a newspaper report, but it has qualities in common with all these art forms; qualities of immediacy, of narrative, and of capturing the moment in a well-turned phrase or crafted rhyme. And unlike a novel, you can whistle it. (Times )
This is an entertaining and engaging book full of surprising facts that will amaze your friends. (www.new-classics.co.uk )
An absorbing little book of mini-essays trying to explain the appeal of 40 of the world's most popular songs… With enough trivia to impress even the most knowledgeable pub quizmaster. (Record Collector )
"If you ever wanted to know about these songs' origin and musical development, then this is an absolute and fascinating must. You'll never listen to them the same way again." (Knaresborough Bookshop Independent )
This is an entertaining and engaging book full of surprising facts that will amaze your friends. (www.new-classics.co.uk )
An absorbing little book of mini-essays trying to explain the appeal of 40 of the world's most popular songs… With enough trivia to impress even the most knowledgeable pub quizmaster. (Record Collector )
"If you ever wanted to know about these songs' origin and musical development, then this is an absolute and fascinating must. You'll never listen to them the same way again." (Knaresborough Bookshop Independent )
Product Description
Some of the world's best-loved songs have had remarkable origins. Had Robert Burns not heard an old man sing a quavering version of an ancient Scottish country song, we would never have had 'Auld Lang Syne'. Miss Jane Ross wrote down the tune she heard played by a piper at an Irish village fair in 1855. Had she not done so, the rest of the world would not have heard 'Danny Boy'. Marie Antoinette heard a peasant nurse sing an obscure lullaby to her princely son. The empress's unexpected promotion of the song resulted in its now being listed by The Guinness Book of Records as one of the three most familiar songs in the world.
Love Me Tender tells the remarkable stories behind 40 popular and traditional songs. Some evolved from folksongs, some are from musical theatre, while others hit the mark because a particular recording appeared at just the right time. In some cases, one word made all the difference: Paul McCartney composed a tune but could only think of the words 'scrambled eggs' to fit it, but fortunately he later came up with the perfect solution - 'Yesterday'. In a book full of surprises and curiosities, Max Cryer reveals stories from all around the world, and from artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby and Cole Porter. This truly fascinating book makes enthralling reading.
Love Me Tender tells the remarkable stories behind 40 popular and traditional songs. Some evolved from folksongs, some are from musical theatre, while others hit the mark because a particular recording appeared at just the right time. In some cases, one word made all the difference: Paul McCartney composed a tune but could only think of the words 'scrambled eggs' to fit it, but fortunately he later came up with the perfect solution - 'Yesterday'. In a book full of surprises and curiosities, Max Cryer reveals stories from all around the world, and from artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby and Cole Porter. This truly fascinating book makes enthralling reading.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
You may just find yourself humming along as you're reading along in Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Best-Loved Songs. Writer, entertainer, broadcaster Max Cryer has a passion for plus thorough knowledge of popular music, and he shares both with us in the stories behind 40 of our top songs. The melodies spring from diverse backgrounds - folk songs, musical theatre, a particular recording or even as in the case of Danny Boy from the tune played by a piper at an Irish village fair in 1855.
We find that contemporary songs such as "Moon River" and "Hello Dolly" as well as established favorites such as "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and "Auld Lang Syne" have won the hearts and voices of millions.
As many know, Andrew Lloyd Webber's fantastically popular musical "Cats" was inspired by a volume of poems by T. S. Eliot, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." Webber grew to know some of the Cat poems as a child when his mother read them to him. Much later, in 1977 Webber began to think about setting some of the verse to music. By 1980 this was done and he played them for Eliot's widow, Valerie, as it would be necessary to have her approval in order to turn the poems into a musical. She not only approved but gave Webber some fragments of Eliot's work, one of which was an eight line piece, a sad vignette about a once beautiful now aging cat, Grizabella, and eventually "Memory" was born.
Cole Porter was, of course, one of our country's preeminent song writers leaving us a string of hits, including Begin the Beguine. He wrote this after seeing a troop of native dancers on an Indonesian island and remembering a performance he had seen by Martinique dancers who were doing a kind of slow rhumba. This composer found inspiration everywhere. So great was Porter's fame that upon his 1956 arrival in Spain the "Customs officer who inspected his passport, shrieked, `Cole Porter! Begin the Beguine", then kissed his fingers and began to sing the song."
"Love Me Tender" is filled with such vignettes involving everyone from Marie Antoinette to Artie Shaw, Gracie Fields to Elvis Presley, and a multitude in between. You'll not miss a beat with this treasure of tuneful tales.
Enjoy!
Highly recommended.
- Gail Cooke
We find that contemporary songs such as "Moon River" and "Hello Dolly" as well as established favorites such as "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and "Auld Lang Syne" have won the hearts and voices of millions.
As many know, Andrew Lloyd Webber's fantastically popular musical "Cats" was inspired by a volume of poems by T. S. Eliot, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." Webber grew to know some of the Cat poems as a child when his mother read them to him. Much later, in 1977 Webber began to think about setting some of the verse to music. By 1980 this was done and he played them for Eliot's widow, Valerie, as it would be necessary to have her approval in order to turn the poems into a musical. She not only approved but gave Webber some fragments of Eliot's work, one of which was an eight line piece, a sad vignette about a once beautiful now aging cat, Grizabella, and eventually "Memory" was born.
Cole Porter was, of course, one of our country's preeminent song writers leaving us a string of hits, including Begin the Beguine. He wrote this after seeing a troop of native dancers on an Indonesian island and remembering a performance he had seen by Martinique dancers who were doing a kind of slow rhumba. This composer found inspiration everywhere. So great was Porter's fame that upon his 1956 arrival in Spain the "Customs officer who inspected his passport, shrieked, `Cole Porter! Begin the Beguine", then kissed his fingers and began to sing the song."
"Love Me Tender" is filled with such vignettes involving everyone from Marie Antoinette to Artie Shaw, Gracie Fields to Elvis Presley, and a multitude in between. You'll not miss a beat with this treasure of tuneful tales.
Enjoy!
Highly recommended.
- Gail Cooke
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Interesting
3 Feb 2009
Format:Hardcover
About: Cryer digs up the origins and legends of 40 songs
Things I Thought Were Interesting:
* The lyrics to Edelweiss were the last Oscar Hammerstein wrote before he died
* Christopher Plummer (Captain Von Trapp) was overdubbed singing in The Sound of Music movie
* The lyricist of Danny Boy never set foot in Ireland
* Irving Berlin, who wrote White Christmas, had a three-week old son who died on Christmas Day
* Mozart did not compose Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
* Neither God Save the Queen nor The Star Spangled Banner mention the nations they are the anthems of
* Happy Birthday is protected by copyright in the U.S. until 2030
* Waltzing Matilda (which isn't a waltz) had its copyright expire in Australia in 1991, but is copyright in the U.S. until 2011, therefore at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Australia had to pay to use its own song
Pros: Short chapters make for easy reading, well written.
Cons: No citations of sources, many songs I have not heard are covered.
Things I Thought Were Interesting:
* The lyrics to Edelweiss were the last Oscar Hammerstein wrote before he died
* Christopher Plummer (Captain Von Trapp) was overdubbed singing in The Sound of Music movie
* The lyricist of Danny Boy never set foot in Ireland
* Irving Berlin, who wrote White Christmas, had a three-week old son who died on Christmas Day
* Mozart did not compose Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
* Neither God Save the Queen nor The Star Spangled Banner mention the nations they are the anthems of
* Happy Birthday is protected by copyright in the U.S. until 2030
* Waltzing Matilda (which isn't a waltz) had its copyright expire in Australia in 1991, but is copyright in the U.S. until 2011, therefore at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Australia had to pay to use its own song
Pros: Short chapters make for easy reading, well written.
Cons: No citations of sources, many songs I have not heard are covered.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A TREASURY OF TUNEFUL TALES
28 Jan 2009
Format:Hardcover
You may just find yourself humming along as you're reading along in Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Best-Loved Songs. Writer, entertainer, broadcaster Max Cryer has a passion for plus thorough knowledge of popular music, and he shares both with us in the stories behind 40 of our top songs. The melodies spring from diverse backgrounds - folk songs, musical theatre, a particular recording or even as in the case of Danny Boy from the tune played by a piper at an Irish village fair in 1855.
We find that contemporary songs such as "Moon River" and "Hello Dolly" as well as established favorites such as "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and "Auld Lang Syne" have won the hearts and voices of millions.
As many know, Andrew Lloyd Webber's fantastically popular musical "Cats" was inspired by a volume of poems by T. S. Eliot, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." Webber grew to know some of the Cat poems as a child when his mother read them to him. Much later, in 1977 Webber began to think about setting some of the verse to music. By 1980 this was done and he played them for Eliot's widow, Valerie, as it would be necessary to have her approval in order to turn the poems into a musical. She not only approved but gave Webber some fragments of Eliot's work, one of which was an eight line piece, a sad vignette about a once beautiful now aging cat, Grizabella, and eventually "Memory" was born.
Cole Porter was, of course, one of our country's preeminent song writers leaving us a string of hits, including Begin the Beguine. He wrote this after seeing a troop of native dancers on an Indonesian island and remembering a performance he had seen by Martinique dancers who were doing a kind of slow rhumba. This composer found inspiration everywhere. So great was Porter's fame that upon his 1956 arrival in Spain the "Customs officer who inspected his passport, shrieked, `Cole Porter! Begin the Beguine", then kissed his fingers and began to sing the song."
"Love Me Tender" is filled with such vignettes involving everyone from Marie Antoinette to Artie Shaw, Gracie Fields to Elvis Presley, and a multitude in between. You'll not miss a beat with this treasure of tuneful tales.
Enjoy!
Highly recommended.
- Gail Cooke
We find that contemporary songs such as "Moon River" and "Hello Dolly" as well as established favorites such as "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and "Auld Lang Syne" have won the hearts and voices of millions.
As many know, Andrew Lloyd Webber's fantastically popular musical "Cats" was inspired by a volume of poems by T. S. Eliot, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." Webber grew to know some of the Cat poems as a child when his mother read them to him. Much later, in 1977 Webber began to think about setting some of the verse to music. By 1980 this was done and he played them for Eliot's widow, Valerie, as it would be necessary to have her approval in order to turn the poems into a musical. She not only approved but gave Webber some fragments of Eliot's work, one of which was an eight line piece, a sad vignette about a once beautiful now aging cat, Grizabella, and eventually "Memory" was born.
Cole Porter was, of course, one of our country's preeminent song writers leaving us a string of hits, including Begin the Beguine. He wrote this after seeing a troop of native dancers on an Indonesian island and remembering a performance he had seen by Martinique dancers who were doing a kind of slow rhumba. This composer found inspiration everywhere. So great was Porter's fame that upon his 1956 arrival in Spain the "Customs officer who inspected his passport, shrieked, `Cole Porter! Begin the Beguine", then kissed his fingers and began to sing the song."
"Love Me Tender" is filled with such vignettes involving everyone from Marie Antoinette to Artie Shaw, Gracie Fields to Elvis Presley, and a multitude in between. You'll not miss a beat with this treasure of tuneful tales.
Enjoy!
Highly recommended.
- Gail Cooke
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