If you like to own some really cool prints of Bugs Bunny, Tweety, or just the old folks from the Warner Bros. Studio, this is the book! It goes through the history of the animation studio and its founders. Chuck Jones is similar to Walt Disney, he had his own crew of animation masters to create a whole new perspective of cartoon.
One disappointing about this book is that its published date is 1997. Sadly "The Iron Giant" (released 1999) and "Cats Don't Dance" (1997) did not make it to the book; two of the most successful WB animated feature film. However, it is still a book to own and look for inspiration.

This book was well done and very appealing to the eye and informational to read. It gives the reader some good history of Warner Bros. cartoons and the rarely credited artists. Through-out the book there are pointers on how to draw various characters, but unfortunatly they are not as complete as one might have it. However, the overall is terrific.

It provides the information about different types of animation art such as production cel, sericel, limited edition. The reader can use this book to check the original prices and edition size of many WB limited edition cels.

A century from now, nobody will care about the controversies of Sinatra's life. But the music will live on, as sure as the sun will rise and set. With the possible exception of Louis Armstrong, the twentieth century produced no greater interpreter of song than Frank Sinatra. When I was a teenager, Sinatra was this old guy who sang about New York. I didn't pay attention; I was ignorant of the amazing career. As an adult, I happened upon a copy of "Songs for Swinging Lovers" in a used cd bin -- and that was all it took. I have been a Sinatra fanatic ever since, particularly of the music he produced from the mid-fifties to early sixties. Will Friedwald is quickly emerging as the foremost writer on jazz singing; his book "The Jazz Singers" opened up whole new vistas of music for me. But "Sinatra!" is his masterpiece. He goes through the entire musical career, from start to finish, and quite simply, puts down on paper every single relevant fact, from the composition to the recording to the reception. It's a tour-de-force of writing which I have read cover-to-cover at least four times since I bought it when it came out. My only complaint? Mr. Friedwald, when are you going to do the same for Satchmo himself, Louis Armstrong? Until then, I'll just have to read this book -- again. Buy "Sinatra!" immediately -- you won't regret it.

Anyone with even a mild interest in Frank's legacy should buy this book. It makes well researched and amusing reading,and is to me the finest book on popular music ever written.It helps to read an obviously great book when you agree with about 95% of his own editorializing. Every era of Mr.Sinatra's recording career,even past Duets II,and going into his last ,sometimes awkward,concerts is covered.If you want gossip,go elsewhere.Mr. Friedwald covers the personalities,from Stordahl,Riddle,May,Jenkins, and all the rest,and when you finish this book you'll feel the incredible energy, fun,and friendship that made these recordings. The fact is that Frank's canon is so great that some of my favorite recordings are not even mentioned in the index. Even Mr. Friedwald can't cover everything I guess.It's true that there are some snide comments that Mr Friedwald has for other performers,and his general contempt for rock and roll is obvious.I usually chuckled reading them since it was nice to read that the author and I agreed on the obvious. The fact is that anyone who actually knows Frank's best, and has made such an effort,must in general agree with Mr. Friedwald. For no one from the the rock era has anywhere near the oeuvre that Frank has.And in truth, the general quality of popular culture,especially music,has been in an abysmal decline for about 40 years, hopefully bottoming in the "Rap" era...This work is also a great reference,and will provide cultural enlightenment for many years to come.

Will Friedwald has deservedly won great acclaim for this highly entertaining "dissertation" on Sinatra's music: his vocal technique and style changes through the years, his classic albums, and his arrangers and studio musicians. Friedwald guides us album by album, grouped by arrangers Axel Stordahl, Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, and Billy May. Other chapters discuss his big band years and his later years. Friedwald's taste in music closely parallels my own, and I am not surprised that he is also a big fan of other great vocalists such as June Christy, Mel Torme, Ella, Chris Connor, etc. He concentrates most importantly on the concept albums and the great tracks that aren't necessarily the "big hits," but are great achievements in popular song. His suggestions on what to avoid are almost always on the mark. I was amused by his descriptions of Don Costa's "elevator music" arrangements, and of poor Linda Ronstadt, who does not fare well in this book, as some incensed readers have pointed out (lighten up! ).

Friedwald has evidently interviewed hundreds of musicians associated with Sinatra in one way or another, and therein lies the greatest strength of this book. Some of his stories told by people who were there at the time are so memorable, I still chuckle when I think of them a year after I read the book. His description of the recording sessions for the Sinatra/Ellington album are a hoot. One wonders how this album is as good as it is. Also, Billy May seems like a fun character, and also a most modest fellow.

This is the only book about Sinatra's music that the serious listener should trust when collecting his albums. His descriptions of the classic 50s album Close to You are the only way I have of knowing what the album is like, since it is unbelievably out of print. Yet how many CDs have My Way on them? Also, I never would have known about the great torch song album She Shot Me Down (1981), inexplicably underrated and hard to find.

My only suggestion to Mr. Friedwald would be to think about the concept albums more as a whole, and how arrangers Jenkins and Riddle linked the songs together harmonically and (sometimes even) motivically. I think he will find this phenomenon in the Christy/Rugolo albums as well. Moreover, a careful listener can tell where deleted tracks were SUPPOSED to be, such as Everything Happens to Me in She Shot Me Down, The One I Love in No One Cares, and the Nearness of You in Nice'N'Easy. Big hint: Come Waltz With Me was NOT supposed to be the first track of All Alone (this would disrupt the two "bookends" of the album featuring the female vocalist), and the Nice'n'Easy album was most likely originally to be titled That Old Feeling.

It's easy to sit back and watch the re-runs of Warner Brothers cartoons and just let them wash over us, but that would ignore all of the work that went into them. We would not get an appreciation of the sheer number of cartoons produced. Luckily Beck and Friedwald were obsessed enough to pull them all together in one volume. Going on a year by year basis, from Bosko cartoons of 1930 to the last gasps of 1969 (and the reawakening in the 80's) the authors provide a landmark reference showing the premiere date, the credits given in the openings, and a thorough synopsis of the action. But of course any reference like this would be an oddity if it was just a listing. But we are provided with two ways to find information - a title index showing the entry (all purpose for grabbing when watching that cartoon), and an index based upon appearances of 15 of the most popular characters. Want to find out when did Marvin the Martian appear? It's here. (1948 - Haredeveil Hare). Wonder how many cartoons starred Daffy Duck - count 'em up. (a whole lot) Just sitting back and reading synopses shows the breadth of jokes and settings that the artists were able to take advantage of. You can also see the repetition that occured when the writers fell into a rut. Just a great book to have on the shelf to pull down when you want and a great guilty pleasure!

This a very entertaining and informative book. It's a book with detailed descriptions of EVERY SINGLE Warner Bros. cartoon ever made. This book even lists TV specials, compilations, episodes of "the Bugs Bunny Show", the "Pvt. Snafu" cartoons made for the Army (and written by Dr. Seuss!), it even lists the pilot cartoon made in 1929! But, I would like to know how they came up with the ideas for certain cartoons instead of just a plot synopses.

If you are at all interested in the Looney Tune & Merrie Melodie series from Warner Bros. you should buy this book. I'm serious, do it now! Stop reading this review and go the shopping basket I can wait...

There, don't you feel better knowing this book is about to become yours? This is the "bible" of Warner Cartoons. Each one has been watched and thought about in what must have been a gruelling marathon of cartoon watching (I am SOOO jealous), resulting in a good review (and list of credits) for each and every cartoon made by the studio including some of the offshoots like Pvt Snafu and the cartoons released in the 1980s. If you are a collector of any sort this is really the ESSENTIAL book for you.

Friedwald is not an elegant writer, but he crams a lot of information into the book. This is a controversial subject. I would prefer to limit the lineage to Armstrong-Rushing-Cole-Torme, Holiday-Humes-Fitzgerald-Vaughan-O'Day (and followers), leaving the Crosby-Sinatra-Bennett-Brewer-Clooney group separate as 'jazz-influenced' singers. But it's his book. I think, as others have mentioned, that he really misses the boat by dismissing the Four Freshmen and Hi-Los so contemptuously, and I can't find a thing to admire about Betty Carter's squeaky little voice myself. But those are my opinions. Great discography. Just wince and read on.

Friedwald has written a great book--precisely because it's opinionated, un-pretentious, filled with passionate likes and dislikes. Friedwald has apparently listened to every jazz-sung record in history, and his book makes you want to listen to all of it too--in my case, for the first time. For that I'd love to thank him personally. If you believe that understanding the conventions of an art form helps you appreciate it fully, "Jazz Singing" is an eduacation in what to listen for...in how to listen to jazz singing. I don't always agree with Friedwald and neither will you, but so what? A wonderful book about an art that seems unfortunately to be dying out--a book that helps, along with all the CD re-issues that thankfully come out, to keep it alive.

Friedwald has definitely got to be the currently most prolific writer on all matters related to the "Great American Songbook" and its performers. His name appears constantly on CD liner notes, his voice is regularly heard on NPR, and his face appears on television whenever an assessment of a recently expired pop star or jazz great is called for. It stands to reason that his opinions wield influence, so as a champion of the music that is the subject of his discourse, I can only hope that his pronouncements are for the better.

In most instances, his judgements seem sound, and he usually expresses them with a directness and verve that make for engaging reading. Among the better moments in the book are his dismissal of a Michael Feinstein, a Johnny Mathis, or an Andy Williams as subjects worthy of discussion in a serious book about American popular music.

The musicians he devotes chapters to are all deserving, and he provides no small amount of insight into the historical significance and unique talents of his subjects. Still, he can strain a bit too hard to make a case for a singer such as Bing Crosby, proclaiming him a better all-around musician than Sinatra and insisting that the man, if anything, got better with the passing of time. I get the sense that Friedwald knows quite a bit about music, but perhaps not quite enough. And it's not clear that he's ever had much experience performing music. If he had, he'd be more aware of the differences in vocal production, say, between a stand-up singer and a pianist-singer. Or of the kind of risk that is present not only in Sinatra's persona but in the approach to a lyric and its elocution that are part of his music. Bing may have a good ear and good time, but even on his noisy (thanks to Bregman's orchestration) Sinatra-style 1950's session, his time is leaden. He's thinking two-beat instead of 4/4 swing, and he plops his syllables right on top of each beat in order to be able to "think" the 2nd beat that characterizes his Dixieland approach.

But if there's any genuine disappointment with the book, it's with what's been left out. Whether it's because he's too busy writing or completing his Crosby collection, Friedwald seems totally unaware of singers like Jack Jones, Shirley Horn, Nancy Lamott and, most notably of all, Etta Jones. One can only hope that a book such as this will lead readers to make their discovery.

Considering talents of both Tony Bennett and Will Friewald,I was very disapointed with such a feather-light collection of show-biz anecdotes.Bennett is a classy singer whom I really appreciate,with both taste and style,while Friewald already stunned me with his books about Jazz singers and Frank Sinatra.... its a little,tiny,short book that strangely lacks any personal comments and views - not different from Duke Ellington's famous autobiography in which he mostly lists his "dear friends and colleagues" with short anecdotes about how he met them,but no opinions whatsoever.Bennett goes into detailed count of every piano player in his long career,but some important points of his life (wife,children,divorce,drug addiction) are mentioned briefly and in one sentence.While counting backing musicians perhaps shows good nature and warm personality,both Ellington and Bennetts books are too breezy considering they are coming from music giants - just another proof that not every talented musician/singer/actor is capable of writting a interesting book.

There's a Bennett anecdote I remember hearing reported on local (San Francisco) radio back in the early '60s: A local woman, gardening in her backyard one Saturday afternoon, was listening to Bennett's then-new "I Left My Heart In San Francisco;" suddenly, she realized, the singing had become somehow stereophonic. Looking up, she found Tony Bennett grinning at her over her backyard fence. In town for an appearance at the Fairmont Hotel, Bennett had been out for a walk; hearing her phonograph, he'd been unable to resist . . .

This is the Tony Bennett you get to meet in the pages of "The Good Life." If you're a fan, nothing in this book will change your mind. If you're not, well then, despite the fact that there does appear a certain sense of "glossiness" in his account of his life, loves, marriages, etc., you may well find yourself coming to nonetheless admire the man.

A word about that "glossiness": It may well arise from nothing more than a yearning towards fairness (and not only to himself). He discusses failed marriage, for example, as well as his work-induced absences as a parent, taking responsibility for his actions without -- on the one hand -- pointing out that it "takes two to tangle," or -- on the other -- seeking to overly justify his absences as the price of building a successful career. He also talks of his marijuana use (as first disclosed by his exwife, years after they'd split) in an explanatory tone, with regret, and without seeking to justify that use. Again, there is a sense of fairness about him, even as he talks of a fairly prevalent drug use among musicians of the era. In his desire to explain the musician's life and its pressures and demands, there is what some may (wrongfully)interpret as an impulse to self-expiate. This is wrong, as evidenced, not only by his own mea culpa approach, but by his account of a conversation with longtime friend -- and onetime collaborator -- Bill Evans, shortly before the latter's death.

This fairness carries over in his account of his early disputes with then-Columbia Records A&R head, Mitch Miller (best remembered today, probably, for his subsequent "Sing Along With Mitch" records and TV series of the late '50s). By all accounts, Miller was -- to say the least -- dictatorial and patriarchial in his belief that he knew what was best for the artists under his control. Bennett could have savaged the man in this account (and justifiably); after all, Miller's long gone from the scene, others have already reminisced about his iron-handed control; so what stops Bennett . . . save for a humanistic impulse toward fairness?

For me, one of the most telling portions of this autobiography occur in Bennett's recounting of his World War II experiences as a G.I. in the European theatre. Without self-aggrandizement, he talks -- movingly so -- of what he saw, and how those horrors turned him against war for all time; strikingly, it is this same absence of 'been-there-done-that' self-absorption that colors (and which underplays) the reminiscences of his considerable involvement in the early-60s civil rights movement down in Mississipi-Alabama. If he avoids the urge to expiate himself, he likewise eschews the temptation towards self-canonization.

From his August 3, 1926 birth (one day too late, by the way, to be my twenty-years-older "birthday twin"), through the intervening years including his "renaissance" for yet future generations via MTV, Bennett presents himself in this autobiography as a man who caught more than his share of lucky breaks (and who, inferentially, made a few more of his own, although you won't get him to admit it, at least in this book) on his way to (as in the title of one his best-known songs) "The Good Life."

Thank you Tony - for your great story! Well written & well told, never a dull moment. What a warm, wonderful & multitalented man! I agree with the reviewer from NY, Tony's story would make an excellent movie. God Bless you, Tony, & keep those glorious albums coming.

Eight years before publishing their masterpiece "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies...", Friedwald and Beck teamed up for "The Warner Bros. Cartoons". This book lacks illustrations and the text is less informative than in the later work, but it does have concise reviews or plot synopses of every Warner's cartoon released between 1930 and 1969. It's interesting to note the changes of opinion on some of the cartoons...for example, "The Apes Of Wrath" is unfavorably reviewed in 'TWBC' (probably by Beck) and more highly regarded (by Friedwald) in 'LT&MM'. Both books should be on the reading list of every Warner Brothers cartoon fan.

Do you know that feeling? You're watching a Warner Brothers cartoon, and you would really like to know who made it and when. If you do, you should buy this book. It is not about highlights, it is not a history of Warner Brothers animation, but a list of ALL Warner Brothers shorts in chronological order, each item contains information about who made it, when it was made, with which stars and with what story line. Sure, when you don't know the title of the short it involves a lot of scanning through the pages (there are very few illustrations), but you WILL be able to get this information. Not an entertaining book, but a must-have encyclopedia for all Warner Brothers cartoon fans.
However, for background information one should turn to the richly illustrated "that's all folks, the art of Warner Brothers animation".

Warning: In general, these are not the arrangements you hear on Sinatra records, at least the ones from the Capitol era. Usually they are not even close - different keys, less instrumentation, etc. For that reason, I found it to be an almost worthless compilation. Why not provide the arrangements people know and love?

(Im sorry or I dont speak english, Im from Czech republic