""Not since the late Leonard Bernstein has classical music had a combination salesman-teacher as irresistible as Kapilow."--Kansas City Star. Few people in recent memory have dedicated themselves as devotedly to the story of twentieth-century American music as Rob Kapilow, the composer, conductor, and host of the hit NPR music radio program, What makes it great? Now, in Listening for America, he turns his keen ear to the great American songbook, bringing...

Profiles the group of Los Angeles studio musicians known as the Wrecking Crew--featuring Tommy Tedesco, guitar, Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, drums, Carol Kaye, Joe Osborne, bass--who played on many rock and pop hits during the sixties. Gifted, versatile, and possessing the knack for turning a simple tune into something memorable, the Wrecking Crew were the players who turned the Wall of Sound in Phil Spector's head into a reality, and helped Brian Wilson...

"In What a Difference a Day Makes: Women Who Conquered 1950s Music, Steve Bergsman highlights the Black female artists of the 1950s, a time that predated the chart-topping girl groups of the early 1960s. Many of the singers of this era became wildly famous and respected, and even made it into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. However, there were many others, such as Margie Day, Helen Humes, Nellie Lutcher, Jewel King, and Savannah Churchill, who made...