Dream Lucky: When FDR was in the White House, Count Basie was on the radio, and everyone wore a hat...

the Time: 1936-1938. The Mood: Hopeful. It Wasn't Wartime, Not Yet. The Music: The Incomparable Count Basie And Benny Goodman, Among Others. The Setting: Living Rooms Across America And, Most Of All, New York City. dream Lucky Covers Politics, Race, Religion, Arts, And Sports, But The Central Focus Is The Period's Soundtrack—specifically Big Band Jazz—and The Big-hearted Piano Player William Count Basie. His Ascent Is The Narrative Thread Of The Book—how He Made It And What Made His Music Different From The Rest. But Many Other Stories Weave In And Out: Amelia Earhart Pursues Her Dream Of Flying Around The World At Its Waistline. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Stages A Boycott On 125th Street. And Mae West Shocks Radio Listeners As A Naked Eve Tempting The Snake. critic Nat Hentoff Praises The Precise Originality With Which Roxane Orgill Writes About Music. In dream Lucky , She Magically Lets Readers Hear The Past. publishers Weekly orgill Unleashes Verve And Rhythmic Riffs To Capture The Mood Of The Pre-wwii Years, When The Radio Was Always On. An Ascap-deems Taylor Award Winner, Orgill, Who Has Written About Music For Young Readers ( mahalia ), Recalls Radio Programs. Big Band Music, Comedians, Art, Sports, The Struggle For Racial Equality And A Nod To The Depression And Europe's Gathering Storm. To Recreate Radio, She Listened To Recordings Rather Than Using Transcripts Because She Needed To Hear The Voices And The Music Herself. The Format Is Chronological, Covering 48 Eventful Days Framed By Joe Louis's Loss To Max Schmeling On June 19, 1936, And The June 22, 1938, Rematch, Which Louis Won. In Between, We Hear Rudy Vallee Introducing Edgar Bergen To Radio Listeners And Count Basie At Roseland, And Amelia Earhart Soaring. Langston Hughes Opens His Theater, Orson Welles Is the Shadow and Fdr Watches Disney Cartoons. Orgill Concludes This Rhapsodic Time-travel Tour Guide With A Suggested Listening List, Cueing Readers To Play Basie As A Background For Her Lilting Language. (may) copyright © Reed Business Information, A Division Of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved. Title Page......Page 3 Contents......Page 5 Prologue......Page 7 Dream Lucky, 1936 to 1938......Page 11 Notes......Page 225 Suggested Listening......Page 250 Photo Credits......Page 251 Acknowledgments......Page 253 About the Author......Page 254 Credits......Page 255 Copyright Notice......Page 256 About the Publisher......Page 257 Dream Lucky covers politics, race, religion, arts, and sports during the pre-wartime years of 1936-1938, but the central focus is the period's soundtrack--specifically big band jazz--and the big-hearted piano player William "Count" Basie.--From publisher description