But in the easy listening era, year after year, Hollywood and Broadway turned out songs that became as familiar as the weather.Įasy listening had a strong country thread, starting with “The Tennessee Waltz,” one of the biggest hits of the 20th century, heard on Lifetime of Romance in its most famous recording by Patti Page from 1951. Halle Bailey’s “Part of Your World,” from The Little Mermaid, is a relatively rare example of a new movie song that has become a radio hit. “Moonglow and Theme From Picnic“/Morris Stoloff “(Where Do I Begin) Love Story”/Andy Williams “Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet (A Time for Us)”/Henry Mancini Me, 2018: “The crooner takes you to romantic places, idealized places, lonely places, and for five minutes or 15 minutes or an hour, you can live lives other than your own.” They all sound pretty tame to us today, but they had a gift. Lifetime of Romance makes clear the influence of the crooner on American pop, and it does so without including Frank Sinatra (who is infrequently found on compilations such as these because the cost of licensing is prohibitive). “Can’t Get Used to Losing You”/ Andy Williams Johnny Mathis could end up the same for easy listening. Author Chuck Klosterman says that someday, Chuck Berry could stand for the entire rock ‘n’ roll era the way John Philip Sousa does for martial music. Just as the classic-rock genre has its emblematic tracks-your Laylas, Free Birds, and Stairways to Heaven-so does easy listening, and these aren’t the only ones. “Love Me With All Your Heart”/Ray Charles Singers Here are some of the songs, with links to other stuff I’ve written about the stars and songs. It’s essentially Easy Listening’s Greatest Hits, but it also documents a number of significant strands in pop music from the 50s to the 80s. If you want to explore an interesting aspect of mass popular culture in postwar America, consider the four-volume, eight-CD compilation Lifetime of Romance from Time-Life Music.
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