"Classic American Popular Song: The Second Half-Century addresses the question: What happened to American popular song after 1950? While 1950 is seen as the end of an era, the top of popular song creation hardly ran dry after that date. This book tackles the issue head on, answering questions such as: Was there a decline in quality or quantity of pop song after 1950? Were the highly successful writers who emerged after 1950 working in an antiquated style? Did they adopt new musical and verse techniques, and thus shape a new genre to be judged in retrospect as a new classic style? Are the post-1950 songs as memorable, viewed now after another 50 years, as those that came before? Will they last as long, and mean as much? Finally, if indeed there is still a great tradition, how vital is this tradition as of 2000?" "Discussing briefly or in greater detail over 1300 songs from the post-1950 period, Classic American Popular Song: The Second Half-Century presents a compelling history at the development of one of our greatest national treasures. For anyone interested in the development of American popular song - and its survival - this book will make fascinating reading."--Jacket.