Led by Frank Sinatra, the generation that emerged during and after World War II raised the performance of the popular song to the level of art. Gene Lees' fascinating book examines some of the most gifted of these singers, including Sinatra, Dick Haymes, Peggy Lee, Jo Stafford, and Sarah Vaughan. Far from being the simple intuitive performers the public thought it knew, these people emerge--in Singers and the Song --as intelligent, skillful, and fully conscious artists dedicated to their work. Lees also discusses the composers, including the great film composer, Hugo Friedhodfer, and the supremely talented lyricist, Johnny Mercer; explores the language of the popular song; focuses on the social history of twentieth-century America, seen through the mirror of popular music; and examines the theme of war, from the Viking conquest of northwestern France, through World War II, to the present. "Lees, a lyric writer himself, is not only an extraordinarily perceptive reporter and analyst of jazz performance, jazz history, and jazz people, but also one of those writers who's a joy to read on any subject at all."--The Washington Post Book World"The way the essays flow together, Singers and the Song has the sweep of a jazz-orchestral suite organized around recurrent motifs."--Stephen Holden, The New York Times"[Lees] makes us care as deeply as he does about such matters as how Sinatra and Jo Stafford do what they do or the reasons for the big band's decline....A superlative collection."--Booklist"Beautifully crafted.... Recommended for its information, point of view, and authority to general as well as academic libraries."--Choice"[Lees] writes about the subject with rare exactness and sensitivity."--Peter Conrad, The New York Times Book Review"A collection of fascinating personal essays that have appeared in Jazzletter."--Library Journal"Rarely does a participant (Lees himself is a fine lyricist) manage to write with such perception about his craft. But the same skill that inspires Lees' own lyrics renders this book a minor masterpiece....A book to be cherished by anyone who yearns for the 'good old days of song.'"--Kirkus Reviews"A feast for those who love surprises."--Publishers Weekly"A treasure of essays that explores the technique of lyric writing, the end of the big band era, the genius of songwriters Johnny Mercer and Hugo Friedhofer, the art of singers Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf, and Dick Haymes, and the derivation of language."--Newsday"Gene Lees has a reputation in the music business for writing 'inside stuff.' This time he has fooled us all--this is a book to be read and enjoyed by the general public. I recommend it."--Gene Kelly"Gene Lees writes clearly and precisely and brings to bear both knowledge and sensitivity when dealing with singers and songs and culture as a whole."--Burt Koral"A fitting tribute to the people, both performers and writers, who have raised the American popular song to its preeminent position in the world."--Henry Mancini Far from being the simple intuitive performers the public thought it knew, these people emerge as intelligent, skillful, and fully conscious artist dedicated to their work. Lees's insight and analysis reveal Sinatra in particular as we've never seen him before. About the author: Gene Lees is the author of And Sleep Until Noon and The Modern Rhyming Dictionary , and editor and publisher of the influential Jazzletter . A lyricist whose songs include Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars and Yesterday I Heard the Rain , he has also written extensively for such publications as High Fidelity , American Film , and Down Beat .