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May 7, 2018
Duke University musicologist Brothers (Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism) explores the collaborative nature of two massively influential 20th-century songwriting pairs in this probing study of pop-music collaboration. The first part of the book shatters jazz bandleader Duke Ellington’s image as a lone genius composer, arguing that his talents were less musical than “conceptual,” and that he picked up tunes and stylings from his sidemen and in-house composer-arranger Billy Strayhorn and assembled them into groundbreaking pieces (while hogging credit and copyrights). The second part examines the Beatles’ songwriters, rhythm-and-blues-influenced Paul McCartney and John Lennon, a supposedly egalitarian collaboration; in reality, Brothers notes, Lennon mainly contributed edgy lyrics and attitude while the great tunes and arrangements were disproportionately McCartney’s. Brothers presents detailed reconstructions of who did what, twining the making-of narratives with evocative appreciations of the resulting works, along with an erudite, engagingly written history of 20th-century pop music. His insistence on the necessity of collaboration doesn’t quite square with the stories he tells: McCartney’s genius often flourished without Lennon’s input, and Ellington’s composing chops were outclassed by those of Strayhorn. Still, Brothers’s rich analyses make for an engrossing narrative that illuminates some of pop music’s greatest creative collaborations. Photos.

July 1, 2018
A convincing case that some of the greatest music in history was not the work of one brilliant mind but rather a result of the commingling of ideas that happens when two complementary artists team up.In the first half of the book, Brothers (Music/Duke Univ.; Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism, 2014, etc.) focuses on Duke Ellington and his many collaborators, most notably the composer Billy Strayhorn. Many compositions that were the work of two or more musicians were credited solely to Ellington; according to Brothers, this has led to misunderstandings about the way much of his music was composed. The author's portrait of Ellington pulls no punches but remains sympathetic. The Beatles were another story: John Lennon and Paul McCartney were open about their creative codependency from the start, signing all compositions "Lennon/McCartney" no matter who wrote what or how much in a given song. Brothers insists that the oft-repeated saw that the Beatles rarely collaborated after the release of "Revolver" is false. Rather, he claims that some of the greatest achievements of their late period were the result of intense collaboration. Ellington embraced the myth of the solitary genius that the musical establishment saddled him with and benefited from the resulting obfuscation, while Lennon and McCartney situated themselves squarely within the ganglike nature of rock-'n'-roll groups, an egalitarian approach to music-making that had its roots in the African-American vernacular tradition from which jazz also emerged. Some of the music jargon may fly over the heads of nonmusician readers, but for the most part, Brothers frames his analysis in smooth, relatable prose that anyone familiar with the music of Ellington and the Beatles can understand. Along the way, the author provides a sweeping history of 20th-century popular music, the rich backdrop against which the incredible music of Ellington and the Beatles was composed--music that is incredible primarily because of the cooperative spirit that brought it to life.A fresh blend of scholarly musical analysis and provocative ideas about creativity and how composers create great art.

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September 15, 2018

Anyone selecting a book on the collaborative art of the Beatles and Duke Ellington will likely have read a few other titles on one of these subjects, but Brothers's (music, Duke Univ.; Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism) dexterity still results in an engaging and considered offering. The defense of composer Billy Strayhorn's key role in Ellington's legacy has already been brilliantly explored in David Hajdu's biography Lush Life, but Brothers brings new attention to other key collaborators, including soloists Johnny Hodges and Bubber Miley. When he turns to the Beatles, however, he relies a little too heavily on his research and presents few original insights, though he betrays an obvious preference for Paul McCartney. VERDICT Brothers is most successful when he stays within his specific lens of the power of collaboration. Devotees of these artists will find that much of this book pulls from other, well-known works. For the uninitiated, however, this is a thorough and unique introduction to two legends.--Peter Thornell, Hingham P.L., MA

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2018
While Duke Ellington (and his publicists) have cultivated a myth of Ellington as the solitary creator of numerous jazz standards, in actuality his talent lay in his ability to synthesize and appropriate the contributions of his incredibly talented sidemen, including Bubber Miley, Johnny Hodges, Juan Tizol, and Billy Strayhorn. According to Brothers (Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism, 2014), Ellington was more an arranger than a composer possessed of strong powers of conceptualization. Ellington, Brothers suggests, might better be viewed as an auteur, like Fellini or Bergman, who had the vision but worked with a whole team to realize it. The role of collaboration is less a mystery for the Beatles, whose work resulted from contributions by all: McCartney's pop astuteness; Lennon's edgy cynicism, Harrison's heart and vision, and Starr's everyman quality. The influences of Bob Dylan, LSD, India (Ravi Shankar and the maharishi), and Karlheinz Stockhausen, as well as visionary producer George Martin and Lennon's wife Yoko Ono are discussed. Brothers' musicology background is evident in his closely attentive and detailed responses to Ellington and Beatles compositions.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)