Funny, It Doesn't Sound Jewish

Jack Gottlieb

Description

In Funny, It Doesn't Sound Jewish, Jack Gottlieb chronicles how Jewish songwriters and composers transformed the popular music of mid-twentieth-century America. Although many critics, historians, and musicians have alluded to the Jewish influence on American popular song, this is the first book ever to support such assertions with comprehensive musical examples. Drawing on a variety of historical and archival sources, as well as his own experiences as a composer of synagogue, popular, and concert music, Gottlieb carefully and compellingly documents how a minority culture infused a majority culture, enriched it, and still retained its own identity. He does this with the support of a companion CD that includes previously unrecorded songs as well as some surprising rarities performed by the likes of Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, and Leonard Bernstein.

Foreword

Problems of Permissions
Other Books
Orthography and Abbreviations

Introduction

Making Lists
What's in a Name?
Yiddish into English

Part I: Secular Roots

1. Slices of History

A Search for Definitions
Over There--The Mediterranean Basin and Western Europe
Over Here--The USA, Mostly New York City

2. The Lullaby of Brody--Childhood Experiences

3. Pathways of Americanization

Adaptation--Musical transformations
A Young Wife's Tale--"Love Me to a Yiddisha Melody"
Adoption--Musical Quotations
Absorption--Musical Anagrams

4. "Writes" of Passage

Accent-Free Adaptations--"And the Angels Sing"
Accent-Free Adoptions--"Nature Boy"
Accent-Free Absorptions

5. The Wandering Gypsy

Acculturation--By Way of an Idiomatic Musical Formula
The Charm of the Flatted Sixth--Jewish Coloration

6. "Yingish" Songs

Novelties--Minor Verse/Major Chorus
In the Limelight--"Yiddle, On Your Fiddle, Play Some Ragtime"
"Moon Shine"

Song Sheets International Proudly Presents The Story of Becky from Babylon

Part II: Sacred Roots

7. The Mood of Modes

The Adonai malakh Mode
The Magein avot Mode
"Hatikvah" (The Hope)
"Eli, Eli" (My God, My God)
The Ahava raba Mode--The Freygish Factor

8. Bits and Pieces

The Impact of the Synagogue

9. Sons of Cantors

Kurt Weill
Jacques Offenbach
Irving Berlin
Harold Arlen
Sammy Fain
Cantors' Sons as Performers

10. Symbols of Faith in the Music of Leonard Bernstein

11. Porter's Trunk

12. Affinities Between Jewish Americans and African Americans

Debunking Canards

Exploitation
Blackface
Pastiche

Showbiz Religion
The Ukrainian Dorian Mode
Jungle Fever, Blues, and Jews
Davenen--Jewish Prayer Style

13. Afterword--Society and Musical Politics

Photo Gallery of Yiddish Songwriters and Poets

Appendixes

A. Composers, Authors, and Performers
B. "Yingish" Song Titles--A Selective List
C. Musical Example Titles

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Permissions

CD Tracks

Index

Sujets

• Musique
• Histoire de la musique
• Pop (musique)
• Pop music
• History of classical music traditions
• Popular music

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791485026
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 25 Mo

Extrait

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Funny, It Doesn’t Sound Jewish

Funny,

ItDoesn’t Sound Jewish How Yiddish Songs and Synagogue Melodies Influenced Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Hollywood

J A C K G O T T L I E B

s t a t e u n i v e r s i t y o f n e w y o r k in association with t h e l i b r a r y o f c o n g r e s s

This book was funded in part by grants from: The Leonard Bernstein Family Foundation, Inc. The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc. The Leonore and Ira Gershwin Trust for the Benefit of the Library of Congress

For the Library of Congress W. Ralph Eubanks, Publisher Iris Newsom, Editor Stephen Kraft, Designer

For SUNY Press Michael Haggett, production Fran Keneston, marketing James Peltz, editor

SUNY series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture Sarah Blacher Cohen, editor

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gottlieb, Jack. Funny, it doesn’t sound Jewish : how Yiddish songs and synagogue melodies influenced Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Hollywood / Jack Gottlieb p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 0-8444-1130-2 1. Jews--United States--Music--History and criticism. 2. Popular music--United States--History and criticism. 3. Folk songs, Yiddish--History and criticism. I. Title.

ML3776.G65 2004 781.64’089’924073--dc22

Copyright ©2004 by Jack Gottlieb. All rights reserved.

2003044257

In loving memory of my father (1890-1957)

Born Moshe ben Pesakh—“Moses, son of Pascal”—in Pinsk, Russia. Moses, mean- ing “drawn from the water,” was a harbinger of his future occupation as a small hand-laundry owner. He became Morris after his arrival at Ellis Island in 1909 via Rotterdam, Holland. Morris, meaning “moorish” or “swarthy,” was an unlikely symbolic change since he labored indoors from pre-dawn to after sundown. His greatest joy was to write Yiddish lyrics and sing them to his own mandolin playing.

In my father’s youth, the following statement appeared in print: “If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one per cent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of . . . His contribution to the world’s list of great names in literature, sci- ence, art and music, finance, medicine and obtuse learning are very out of propor- tion to the weakness of his numbers.” —mark twain, “Concerning the Jews,”Harpers Magazine,September, 1899

Contents

Illustrations xi Foreword xiii Problems of Permissions xv Other Books xviii Orthography and Abbreviations xix

Introduction 1 Making Lists 1 What’s in a Name? 3 Yiddish into English 5

p a r t iSecular Roots

11

Chapter 1. Slices of History 12 A Search for Definitions 12 Over There—The Mediterranean Basin and Western Europe 18 Over Here—The USA, Mostly New York City 22

Chapter 2. The Lullaby of Brody—Childhood Experiences 39

Chapter 3. Pathwa ys of Americanization 54 Adaptation—Musical Transformations 55 A Young Wife’s Tale—“Love Me to a Yiddisha Melody” 65 Adoption—Musical Quotations 67 Absorption—Musical Anagrams 68

Chapter 4. “Writes” of Passage 74 Accent-Free Adaptations— “And the Angels Sing” 74 Accent-Free Adoptions—“Nature Boy” 78 Accent-Free Absorptions 79

vii

viii

p a r t i i

f u n n y , i t d o e s n ’ t s o u n d j e w i s h

Chapter 5. The Wandering Gypsy 88 Acculturation—By Way of an Idiomatic Musical Formula 88 The Charm of the Flatted Sixth—Jewish Coloration 95

Chapter 6. “Yingish” Songs 101 Novelties—Minor Verse/Major Chorus 103 In the Limelight—“Yiddle, On Your Fiddle, Play Some Ragtime” 107 “Moon Shine” 113

Song Sheets International Proudly Presents The Story of Becky from Babylon 117

Sacred Roots 121

Chapter 7. The Mood of Modes 122 TheAdonai malakhMode 122 TheMagein avotMode 131 “Hatikvah136” (The Hope) “Eli, Eli”(My God, My God) 138 TheAhava rabaMode–TheFreygishFactor 141

Chapter 8. Bits and Pieces 145 The Impact of the Synagogue 149

Chapter 9. Sons of Cantors 154 Kurt Weill 155 Jacques Offenbach 159 Irving Berlin 160 Harold Arlen 166 Sammy Fain 170 Cantors’ Sons as Performers 171

Chapter 10. Symbols of Faith in the Music of Leonard Bernstein 178

Chapter 11. Porter’s Trunk 186

Chapter 12. Affinities Between Jewish Americans and African Americans 193 Debunking Canards 193 Exploitation 194 Blackface 198 Pastiche201