The Story of Fake Books ─ Bootlegging Songs to Musicians

This volume follows the history of fake books from the Tune-Dex subscription service used in the 1940s to the Real Book series now popularly used (the latter described in part by musicians Steve Swallow and Pat Metheny). Kernfeld details how chord symbols and the first fake books originated, the first copyright infringement case against bootlegging, and when authorized fake books began to appear. In addition to the general index, title and song/show indexes are also provided. Kernfeld is a saxophonist, editor of The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz and author of What to Listen for in Jazz. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Barry Kernfeld is a saxophonist, the editor of The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (1988; 2nd ed., 2001), and the author of What to Listen for in Jazz (1995). He is also the staff archivist in the Historical Collections and Labor Archives within the Special Collections Library at the Pennsylvania State University.