Verifying Song Titles, etc.
These first three books are the best place to start when verifying song information. They all have indexes of both composers and song titles and the first two have their own unique additional information. For more information on the particular titles, see the notes below the citation.
Note: These texts are all located behind the reference desk. Ask the staff member on duty for assistance.
- American Song: The Complete Musical Theatre Companion - Bloom, Ken
Call Number: ML128.S3 B561996 4 vols (Reference stacks)
Information about musicals including run dates, theatre, cast, composer, lyricist, librettist, producer, director, choreographer, costumer, set designer, and song list. Vols 3 and 4 titled "American song : the complete companion to Tin Pan Alley song." - The Great Song Thesaurus - Roger Lax
Call Number: ML128.S3 L39 1989
Contains subject index. Also has information about advertising jingles, "elegant plagiarisms" (tunes "borrowed" from the classical literature),and first lines. An older edition is available in the reference section. - Lissauer's Encyclopedia of Popular Music in America: 1888 to the Present - Robert Lissauer
Call Number: ML128.P63 L57
Most up-to-date information (through 1996). Indexes by song title, date, and writer (both composers and lyricists). - Popular Music, 1920-1979 - Nat Shapiro & Bruce Pollock
Call Number: ML128.P63 S52
Most extensive coverage. Special sections dedicated to publishers, important performances, and awards. Later volumes cover dates through 1994.
Other Popular Song References
Additional information about popular songs can be found in these books. They aren't as comprehensive as the texts above but they each have a unique approach or contents.
Some are located behind the reference desk and some in the general reference section. The location is noted below the citation.
- Popular music, 1900-1919: an annotated guide to American popular songs, including introductory essay, lyricists and composers index, important performances index, chronological index, and list of publishers. - Barbara Naomi Cohen-Stratyner
Call Number: ML128.P63 C64 Ready Reference
Covers a very specific date range (1900-1919) in detail. - The book of world-famous music: classical, popular, and folk. - James J. Fuld
Call Number: ML113.F84 B6 1985 Ready Reference
Discusses popular songs and tunes from a historiographical perspective. An older edition is available in the reference section. - Who wrote that song? - Dick Jacobs
Call Number: ML120.U5 J22 1994 Reference
Covers musical genres from classical to musical theater to jazz to film themes to mainstream popular. Also contains a quiz. - The complete encyclopedia of popular music and jazz, 1900-1950. - Roger D. Kinkle
Call Number: ML102.P66 K46 Reference
Approaches popular music from a record collecting perspective. Contains information about record release information, who performed the song, what show or musical it's from, if any, biographies of singers and songwriters, awards won - Songs of the theater - Richard Lewine
Call Number: ML128.S3 L48 S66 Reference
As the title suggests, covers specifically musical theater. Indexes by songs, shows, and authors. - Variety Music Cavalcade 1620-1961 - Julius Mattfeld
Call Number: ML128.V7 M38 Reference
Earliest coverage. Also contains major historical events along with song information.
Online tools
Sometimes online tools have the information you need to track down a popular song.
- Internet Broadway Database Useful for verifying song information and determining what musical (if relevant) a song came from.
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Kirstin DouganMusic and Performing Arts Library
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