Ethan Mordden
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199395408
- eISBN:
- 9780199395439
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199395408.003.0003
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter focuses on the songwriting team of Ray Henderson, B. G. De Sylva, and Lew Brown. In their prime, this trio (DBH) had an uncanny ability to bridge the gulf between Tin Pan Alley ...
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This chapter focuses on the songwriting team of Ray Henderson, B. G. De Sylva, and Lew Brown. In their prime, this trio (DBH) had an uncanny ability to bridge the gulf between Tin Pan Alley commercial savvy and the higher art of the Harms group. The odd thing about DBH, however, was their lack of a sound autograph. While DBH had a style, it was an all but invisible one, a “standard” style, anonymously all-American. This made them perfect for Hollywood's wish to corral its moviegoing audiences onto a profit platform. After some work in shorts, the trio broke into the movie songwriting elite with the super-hit “Sonny Boy” in The Singing Fool.Less
This chapter focuses on the songwriting team of Ray Henderson, B. G. De Sylva, and Lew Brown. In their prime, this trio (DBH) had an uncanny ability to bridge the gulf between Tin Pan Alley commercial savvy and the higher art of the Harms group. The odd thing about DBH, however, was their lack of a sound autograph. While DBH had a style, it was an all but invisible one, a “standard” style, anonymously all-American. This made them perfect for Hollywood's wish to corral its moviegoing audiences onto a profit platform. After some work in shorts, the trio broke into the movie songwriting elite with the super-hit “Sonny Boy” in The Singing Fool.
