The Great American Songbook.

The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant 20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes.

This refers to the years approximately 1930-1960.

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Tunes from this era were catchy, memorable, often jazzy, and have remained popular despite their age. Here is a link to Wikipedia.

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According to the Great American Songbook Foundation:

The “Great American Songbook” is the canon of the most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century that have stood the test of time in their life and legacy. Often referred to as “American Standards”, the songs published during the Golden Age of this genre include those popular and enduring tunes from the 1920s to the 1950s that were created for Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musical film.

Culture writer Martin Chilton defines the term “Great American Songbook” as follows: “Tunes of Broadway musical theatre, Hollywood movie musicals and Tin Pan Alley (the hub of songwriting that was the music publishers’ row on New York’s West 28th Street)”. Chilton adds that these songs “became the core repertoire of jazz musicians” during the period that “stretched roughly from 1920 to 1960”.

Although several collections of music have been published under the “Great American Songbook” title, the term does not refer to any actual book or specific list of songs. The Great American Songbook includes standards by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Richard Rodgers, and Oscar Hammerstein II, among others.

In Alec Wilder‘s 1972 study, American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900–1950, the songwriter and critic lists and ranks the artists he believes belong to the Great American Songbook canon. A composer, Wilder emphasized analysis of composers and their creative efforts in this work.

Radio personality Jonathan Schwartz and singer Tony Bennett, both Songbook devotees, have both described this genre as “America’s classical music”.

Here is a list of famous songwriters and some of their songs (lifted from Wikipedia):

• Harold Arlen (with E.Y. Harburg “Over the Rainbow“, “It’s Only a Paper Moon“; with Ted Koehler “Stormy Weather“, “I’ve Got the World on a String“, “Let’s Fall in Love“); with Johnny Mercer , “That Old Black Magic“, “Come Rain or Come Shine“, “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive“; and with Ira Gershwin “The Man that GotAway“)

• Irving Berlin (“Alexander’s Ragtime Band“, “When I Lost You“, “How Deep Is the Ocean“, “God Bless America“, “White Christmas“, “Always“, “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody“, “Blue Skies“, “Cheek to Cheek“, “Puttin’ on the Ritz“, “Let’s Face the Music and Dance“, “There’s No Business Like Show Business“, “I’ve Got My Love to Keep MeWarm“)

• Nacio Herb Brown with lyricist Arthur Freed (“All I Do Is Dream of You“, “Broadway Melody”, “Pagan Love Song”, “Paradise“, “Singin’ in the Rain“, “Temptation“, “You Stepped Out of a Dream“, “You Were Meant for Me“, “GoodMorning“)

• Hoagy Carmichael (“Stardust“, “Georgia on My Mind“, “Lazy River“, “The Nearness of You“, “Skylark“)

• Walter Donaldson mostly with lyrics by Gus Kahn (“My Baby Just Cares For Me“, “My Blue Heaven“, “Love Me Or Leave Me“, “Carolina in the Morning“, “My Mammy“, “What Can I Say After I Say I’m Sorry?“, “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby“, “Makin’ Whoopee“, “You’re Driving Me Crazy“, “Little WhiteLies“”)
• Vernon Duke(“April In Paris“, “Autumn In New York“, “I Can’t Get Started“, “Taking A Chance On Love“)

• Duke Ellington (“In a Sentimental Mood“, “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)“, “Satin Doll” (with Billy Strayhorn), “Mood Indigo“, “Sophisticated Lady“, “Take the ‘A’ Train“, “I’m Beginning to See theLight“)

• Sammy Fain (“I’ll Be Seeing You“, “That Old Feeling“, “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing“, “April Love“, “Tender is theNight“)

• Georgeand Ira Gershwin (“Someone to Watch Over Me“, “‘S Wonderful“, “Summertime“, “A Foggy Day“, “But Not For Me“, “Embraceable You“, “I Got Rhythm“, “Fascinating Rhythm“, “The Man I Love“, “They Can’t Take That Away from Me“, “Love Is Here to Stay“, “Strike Up the Band“)

• Ray Henderson (“Bye Bye Blackbird“, “I’m Sitting On Top Of The World“, “The Birth of the Blues“, “The Thrill Is Gone“, “The Best Things In Life Are Free“, “Sonny Boy“, “You’re the Cream in MyCoffee“)

• Herman Hupfeld (“As Time Goes By“, “Let’s Put Out the Lights (and Go toSleep)“)

• Bart Howard (“Fly Me To theMoon“)

• Isham Jones with lyrics by Gus Kahn (“It Had to Be You“, “I’ll See You in MyDreams“)

• Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields (“A Fine Romance“, “Pick Yourself Up“, “The Way You Look Tonight“); with lyrics by Ira Gershwin (“Long Ago (and Far Away)“); with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (“All the Things You Are“, “The Folks Who Live On the Hill“, “Ol’ Man River“, “The Song Is You“); with lyrics by Otto Harbach ( “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes“, “Yesterdays“)

• Frank Loesser (“If I Were A Bell“, “On A Slow Boat To China“, “Standing On The Corner“, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside“, “Luck Be ALady“)

• Jimmy McHugh (“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby“, “I’m in the Mood for Love“, “Don’t Blame Me“, “On the Sunny Side of the Street“, “Exactly Like You“, “It’s a Most UnusualDay“)

• Johnny Mercer (4-time Academy Award winning lyricist: “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe“, “In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening“, “Moon River” with Henry Mancini, “Fools Rush In“, and “Days of Wine and Roses“; wrote music and lyrics for “Dream“, “Something’s Gotta Give“, and “I Wanna Be Around“; wrote lyrics for “Midnight Sun“, “Day In, Day Out“, “Laura“, and “I RememberYou“)

• Cole Porter (“Night and Day“, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin“, “Begin the Beguine“, “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love“, “What Is This Thing Called Love?“, “Too Darn Hot“, “Love for Sale“, “You’re the Top“, “Just One of Those Things“, “All of You“, “I Get a Kick Out of You“, “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye“, “In the Still of the Night“, “It’s De-Lovely“, “My Heart Belongs to Daddy“, “I Concentrate on You“, “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To“, “So in Love“, “Anything Goes“, “You Do Something to Me“)

• Rodgers and Hart (“Slaughter On 10th Avenue (ballet)”, “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered“, “With A Song In My Heart“, “Falling In Love With Love“, “My Romance“, “Have You Met Miss Jones?“, “My Funny Valentine“, “Blue Moon“, “Blue Room“, “I Could Write a Book“, “It’s Easy To Remember“, “It Never Entered My Mind“, “Manhattan“, “The Lady Is a Tramp“, “Little Girl Blue“, “Mimi“, “My Heart Stood Still“, “Spring Is Here“, “A Ship Without a Sail“, “Thou Swell“, “Lover“, “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World“, “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was“, “Isn’t It Romantic?“, “Where or When“, “Glad to Be Unhappy“, “You Took Advantage of Me“, “This Can’t Be Love“, “MountainGreenery“)

• Rodgers and Hammerstein (“You’ll Never Walk Alone“, “Hello, Young Lovers“, “Younger Than Springtime“, “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’“, “People Will Say We’re in Love“, “It Might as Well Be Spring“, “If I Loved You“, “Happy Talk“, “Some Enchanted Evening“, “The Surrey With The Fringe On Top“, “I Have Dreamed“, “Shall We Dance?“, “My Favorite Things“, “Something Wonderful“, “Climb Every Mountain“, “Edelweiss“, “I Enjoy Being A Girl“,”The Sound Of Music“, “A WonderfulGuy“)

• Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar (“Who’s Sorry Now?“, “Thinking of You“, “I Wanna Be Loved by You“, “Three Little Words“, “Nevertheless“, “A Kiss to Build a DreamOn“)

• Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz (“Dancing in the Dark“, “You and the Night and the Music“, “I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plan“, “Alone Together“, “Haunted Heart“, “That’s Entertainment!“

• Jule Styne (“Time After Time“, “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry“, “I Fall In Love Too Easily“, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!“, “People“, “Don’t Rain on My Parade“, “Just In Time“, “Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)“, “The Party’sOver“)

• Jimmy Van Heusen mostly with lyricists Johnny Burke (lyricist) and Sammy Cahn (“All the Way“, “Swinging on a Star“, “Darn That Dream“, “Polka Dots and Moonbeams“, “But Beautiful“, “Come Fly with Me“, “Imagination“, “Like Someone in Love“, “Call Me Irresponsible“, “I Thought About You“, “Here’s That Rainy Day“, “It Could Happen To You“, “Love Is The Tender Trap“, “Ain’t That a Kick in theHead“)

• Harry Warren (“At Last“, “There Will Never Be Another You“, “An Affair To Remember“, “I Had The Craziest Dream“, “The More I See You“, “Forty-Second Street“, “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams“, “Lullaby of Broadway“, “You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me“, “I Only Have Eyes For You“, “This Is Always“, “Jeepers Creepers“, “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby“, “September In The Rain“, “Lulu’s Back In Town“, “You’re My Everything“, “Chattanooga Choo Choo“, “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe“, “This Heart of Mine“, “You’ll Never Know“, “My Dream Is Yours“, “I Wish I Knew“, “Serenade In Blue“, “Nagasaki“, “(I’ve Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo“, “That’s Amore“, “Innamorata“)

• Richard Whiting (“Till We Meet Again“, “The Japanese Sandman“, “Ain’t We Got Fun“, “Hooray for Hollywood“, “Beyond the Blue Horizon“, “On the Good Ship Lollipop“, “Too Marvelous for Words“)

• Jack Yellen with Milton Ager (“Ain’t She Sweet“, “Happy Days Are Here Again“, “Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)“, “Glad Rag Doll“, “Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah)“, “Louisville Lou (That Vampin’ Lady)“, with Lew Pollack “My YiddisheMomme“)

• Vincent Youmans (“Tea For Two“, “Time On My Hands“, “More Than You Know“, “(The) Carioca“, “Sometimes I’m Happy“, “Without A Song“, “I Want to BeHappy“)

• Victor Young (“I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You“, “Stella by Starlight“, “Love Letters“, “My Foolish Heart“, “When I Fall in Love“, “Around theWorld“)

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