Arnold Shaw (born Arnold Shukotoff, June 28, 1909–September 26, 1989) was an American music writer,

music publishing A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectua ...

executive, teacher and songwriter. He is best known for his comprehensive series of books on 20th century

American popular music American popular music (also referred to as "American Pop") is popular music produced in the United States and is a part of American pop culture. Distinctive styles of American popular music emerged early in the 19th century, and in the 20th ...

Biography

He was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, and studied at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he took a master's degree in English literature in 1931. He undertook further studies in American Literature at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

,"Arnold Shaw", ''Arnold Shaw Center''
Retrieved 8 July 2020 played piano in a group, the Harmony Collegians, and started composing songs. He worked as a teacher at City College, and in the 1930s became known as a radical member and activist in the Anti-Fascist Association of the Staffs of the City College and the Instructional Staff Association, and was the first president of the College Teachers Union. He was one of the 40 staff members who were dismissed in 1942 following the investigation by the Rapp-Coudert Committee into the left-wing political sympathies of teaching staff in New York. Ronald D. Cohen, "Shaw, Arnold", ''American National Biography''
Retrieved 8 July 2020 "Shaw (Real Name, Shukotoff), Arnold", ''Encyclopedia.com''
Retrieved 8 July 2020 He then changed his name from Shukotoff to Shaw, and worked as a pianist and composer. His best-known compositions include "Mobiles", "The Mod Moppet: Seven Nursery Rip-offs", and "Sing a Song of Americans", for which Rosemary and

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét ( ; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He wrote a book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'', published in 1928, for which he receive ...

wrote the lyrics. In the early 1940s he was also the popular music editor for '' Swank'' magazine. His first book, a biography of drummer

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...

, was published in 1945. Shaw entered the popular music business in 1945, as director of publicity and advertising for Leeds Music (later to become MCA Music). He went on from there to Hill and Range, and then the Edward B. Marks Music Corporation, also a music publishing company, where he worked between 1955 and 1966. He also handled public relations and advertising for a number of individual performers, including

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

and

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

. "Arnold Shaw", ''Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project''
Retrieved 8 July 2020 Shaw wrote many music reviews, articles and books, including histories of popular music from the 1920s to the 1960s, and books on

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and other

African-American music African-American music is a broad term covering a diverse range of musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their African-American culture, culture. Its origins are in musical forms that developed as a result of the Slavery in ...

. "Arnold Shaw, Founder of Pop Music Center", ''Chicago Tribune'', October 9, 1989
Retrieved 8 July 2020 He published ''Lingo of

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

'' in 1950; a novel, ''The Money Song'' in 1953; and a biography of

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

in 1960. Judith E. Smith, ''Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical'', University of Texas Press, 2014, p.292
/ref> His significant career as a writer, however, came in the 1970s and 1980s, beginning with the 1969 publication of ''The Rock Revolution: What's Happening to Today's Music''. His 1978 book ''Honkers And Shouters. The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues'', which incorporates interviews with many leading figures from the period, is considered the definitive text on that musical form, and he was posthumously inducted into the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum operated by the Blues Foundation at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to b ...

. Another well-regarded book, ''The Street that Never Slept: New York’s Fabled 52nd Street'', looked at the jazz clubs in the area in the 1930s. He won the

Deems Taylor Award Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American composer, radio commentator, music critic, and author. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." He was ...

from

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

in 1968 and 1979. He also composed a musical, ''They Had a Dream'' (1976). From the 1960s, he lectured at many colleges. After moving to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

in 1968, he taught part-time at the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded ...

. In 1985, Shaw founded the Popular Music Research Center, later renamed the Arnold Shaw Popular Music Research Center, which today contains approximately 20,000 records, over 1000 manuscript scores, over 300 taped interviews of popular music artists, and miscellaneous memorabilia. He died from cancer in Las Vegas in 1989, aged 80.

Bibliography

*''Gene Krupa'', Pin-Up Press. 1945 *''Lingo of Tin Pan Alley'', Broadcast Music, 1950 *''The Money Song'' (novel), Random House, 1953 *''Belafonte: An Unauthorized Biography'', Chilton, 1960 *''The Rock Revolution: What's Happening to Today's Music'', Crowell-Collier Press, New York, 1969 *''The World of Soul: Black America's contribution to the pop music scene'', Cowles Book Co., 1970 *''The Street That Never Slept''. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., 1971; reissued as '' 52nd Street: The Street of Jazz'', Da Capo Press, New York, 1977 *''Frank Sinatra. Retreat of the Romantic'', Coronet Books, 1974 *''The Rockin' 50s. The Decade That Transformed the Pop Music Scene'', Hawthorn Books, New York, 1974. *''Honkers and Shouters. The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues''. Crowell-Collier Press, New York, 1978 *''Dictionary of American Pop-Rock Music''. Sales Corp, 1982 and Schirmer Books, 1983 *''Sinatra: The Entertainer'', Delilah Books, 1984 *''Black Popular Music In America. From The Spirituals, Minstrels And Ragtime To Soul, Disco And Hip-Hop'', Schirmer Books. 1986. *''The Jazz Age: Popular Music in the 1920s'', Oxford University Press, New York, 1987 *''Let's Dance: Popular Music in the 1930s'', (edited by Bill Willard,) Oxford University Press, New York, 1998

References

External links

*Radio interview with Arnold Shaw on his work with Elvis Presley, by Jerry Pippin: http://www.jerrypippin.com/audio/Arnold%20Shaw%20Interview.wma {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Arnold 1909 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers American music historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers Rock music historians