Hugh Martin: The Boy Next Door
Praise for Hugh Martin andHugh Martin: The Boy Next Door"For any young person who has a passion to enter into the performing arts, this is the ultimate book to read. Hugh Martin is the single most talented and finest human being I know." --Tony Bennett"Hugh is one of the greatest treasures we have in the music industry." --Mickey Rooney"Every time I've interviewed Hugh Martin, I've wanted to read his memoir--only to be reminded he didn't have one. Thank goodness he's finally written a book that tells the stories behind songs I love." --Terry Gross"As Alec Wilder told us nearly 40 years ago, Hugh Martin is one of the 'great innovators' in American popular song. His witty, elegant memoir is long overdue, and my hope is that it will inspire a thorough exploration of his work for both Broadway and Hollywood. In our age of dumbed-down music and lyrics, how marvelous it is to find a songwriter who has never strayed from his ultra-civilized and irresistibly sweet (and swinging) muse." --Bill Rudman, host of Sirius XM's "On the Aisle" and director of The Musical Theater Project"Hugh Martin, composer of some of the most exquisite songs of the twentieth century, has reached back for a warm and wonderful memoir of his life in show business. He was actually there with Mickey and Judy in the barn. Martin gives us warm and witty first-hand stories of his fabled peers and colleagues: Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Jule Styne and more. The Boy Next Door is an enchanting and funny account of Broadway, Hollywood, and the American Songbook, told from the vantage point of the piano bench." --Steven Suskin