Same Old Song: The Enduring Past in Popular Music

Professor Meyers gives the reader an impressive tour of American popular music, from jazz through rock n' roll to hip hop and R&B. Offering a rare contribution that's not bound to any specific time period or genre, the author combines deep knowledge of a variety of musical styles with highly accessible jargon-free writing. You will learn from someone who loves music as much as you do and has a lifetime of knowledge to back it up. It gave me a new way to think about the relationship between the present and the past in pop music, understanding how a music associated with youth and newness is increasingly looking not only ahead but also backwards for anchor and inspiration. Enjoyable anecdotes and musical factoids are integrated throughout, together with information on historical and cultural context. This book gave me a new way to look at the music I love. Overall, some of the most enjoyable learning I've done this year.

Serious books about popular music, especially recent popular music, are hard to come by. It's time to add "Same Old Song" to the list of contenders. John Paul Meyers has a bone to pick with the prevailing notion that all "pop" music is inherently in the moment, of its moment, and then disposable. He makes a strong case for how music of many stripes and styles leans hard on the work and musical contributions of previous generations.From cover bands to Ella Fitzgerald to Miles Davis to D'Angelo and Rapsody, Meyers places these artists in both their current and their historical context, and I, for one, learned a good deal. His knowledge of rap and jazz dwarfs mine, but that's a selling point as far as I'm concerned. I also gained new information from his coverage of artists I know better, such as Linda Rondstadt and Bob Dylan. I was especially captivated by his insights into the slow canonization of what we've come to know as "the American Songbook."The bottom line: if you're serious about music, if you like to do more than listen to whatever's playing in the background, and if you're more than happy to kick the limitations of any one genre to the curb, then you should be reading "Same Old Song."