cover image Tin Pan Alley

Tin Pan Alley

David A. Jasen, David Jansen. Dutton Books, $21.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-55611-099-3

Jasen's ( Rags and Ragtime , etc.) survey of American popular songs, arranged roughly by decade, contains profiles of hundreds of composers, lyricists and singers and lists some of the best-known tunes of each year and dance forms for each decade. Aside from sections on the principal song publishers and the birth and death dates, when known, of the firms and individuals mentioned, the book contains little that is not already available in the standard books on American popular music by Gerald Boardman, David Ewen, James Fuld, Stanley Green and Ian Whitcomb. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)