Good overview of Great American Songbook composers mostly up through about 1980. ( )

Bill Zinsser and I are separated by a generation. He talks of coming of age in the 1930s when every home still had a piano and someone who could play it and people gathered round for a group or family singalong. I came of age in the 50s, turning twelve when Elvis first burst upon the music scene changing it forever, and later on the Beatles turned the music world on its head yet again. What's the common denominator? Great music. Because I know most of the songs cited by Zinsser in EASY TO REMEMBER. Some may have been around longer than I've been alive, but I know the tunes. That's because they have become American standards, and the singers and musicians I listened to from the 50s on were still singing many of those songs. Think of Brenda Lee singing "Teach Me Tonight," or the Beatles singing "'Til There Was You," Ricky Nelson doing "My Old Flame," or The Lettermen's timeless rendition of "The Way You Look Tonight." And of course just about everyone has done "Summertime" at one time or another. Bobby Darin from my era did a nightclub act that included countless standards covered here by Zinsser. And of course Sinatra was still around when I was young too. I 'discovered' him and his repertoire of all these standards when I was just 20, and have been a fan ever since.

You don't have to be Zinsser's age to appreciate this book. You just have to be a fan of great music - the kind that lasts and lasts. EASY TO REMEMBER is so obviously a labor of love for Zinsser, and all the sheet music covers and photos from those years - the 20s through the 60s - are value-added.

I won't say I loved this book quite as much as I did Zinsser's most recent memoir, WRITING PLACES, but I did enjoy the hell out of it. It took me back. If you love great music, particularly American standards and show music, you'll wanna read this book. And then get out some of those old records and listen again. Thanks, Bill. ( )