On this page are some other books readers of Meredith Willson's novels will enjoy.
Eggs I Have Laid (1955) by Meredith Willson
Like And There I Stood with My Piccolo and But He Doesn't Know the Territory, Eggs I Have Laid is another autobiography by Meredith Willson. Read this book if you enjoyed Willson's personality and humorous stories in his other novels.
Toronto Public Library: 780.924 W387 W387 (click for location)
Goodreads
Kirkus Review:
Reviewer-wise, probably the most tempting title of the season caps a good-natured chronicle of professional fluffs- and flops-in the career of the flute player, conductor, back porch philosopher and humorist whom some know from radio and television, others from And There I Stood with My . These eggs, graded from the time when he failed to give Doris Day a chance on an amateur hour to the larger fiasco of his Big Show (radio) with Tallulah Bankhead in London, are scrambled in along with other souvenirs of his childhood in Mason City, his happy marriage to Rini, his shows and sponsors, his public appearances and private disappointments, and there's a spattering of celebrities along the way. A genial sort of Jollification- for an unsophisticated audience.
The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein (1978) by Frederick Nolan
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II are still very famous for their work in musical theatre. Some of their productions include Oklahoma!, State Fair, The King and I, Carousel, and The Sound of Music. Similar to Willson's books, this read includes all the details about creating the musicals we all recognize today.
Toronto Public Library: 782.14092 ROD NOL (click for location)
Goodreads
Kirkus Review:
A slim, sub-journeyman exercise in collation and paraphrase, adding nothing to the recent spate of R&H-related memoirs (Logan's Josh, Rodgers' Musical Stages, Fordin's Getting to Know Him, two Lorenz Hart bios), though Nolan claims to have had a few interviews--obviously unfruitful--with the composer himself. In fact, the author admits to having begun this book as a biography of Lorenz Hart (others beat him to it), and half of his small-scale text is devoted to the pre-Oklahoma! careers of Rodgers & Hart and Kern & Hammerstein. The show-by-show anecdotes told and retold elsewhere surface again here, often in familiar sequences; nor does Nolan have a single insightful now syllable to offer on the musico-dramatic merits of Carousel, Allegro, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, South Pacific, etc. As for personalities, ""Rodgers as an individual remains an enigma"" (his 17 years of work since The Sound of Music get eight pages), and the two men ""had the same interests, the same friends, the same ambitions."" If Nolan's fatuous rehash were at least zestful, he could perhaps be forgiven. It isn't: ""Enter Florenz Ziegfeld. He deserves better books than those which have been written about him, but this cannot be it."" Ditto Messrs. Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Musical Stages: An Autobiography (1975) by Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers, like Meredith Willson, composed music for shows and musicals. While Rodgers' personality in the novel differs from Willson's, Rodgers shares interesting stories in a similar context to the making of The Music Man.
Toronto Public Library: 780.92 RODGERS (click for location)
Goodreads
Kirkus Review:
Basically a musical bio of the man who wrote stage (and occasionally film) tunes for Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. From Dearest Enemy to The Sound of Music, he had the longest career (over 50 years and still going) of the great American theatrical composers. Rodgers started out by emulating Jerome Kern (Showboat) and has been credited and blamed for both rejuvenating and destroying the musical by bringing it full circle back to its sentimental origins. But Rodgers says nothing about this; indeed, he says virtually nothing about any of the (few) controversial aspects of his career; the main impression Rodgers' autobiography leaves is that of an incredibly happy and lucky life. He had supportive parents in the lean early years (not so very lean, either), a loving and loved wife, children, money, fame, friends (there are endless lists of dinner parties, guests, and transatlantic crossings), most of all success: A Connecticut Yankee, The Boys From Syracuse, Pal Joey, Oklahoma, South Pacific to name but a few. The main cross apparently was the alcoholic, debauched, and disappearing Hart; Rodgers had to literally lock him up in a room to make him write; his relief is palpable when he turns to Hammerstein. But will the words carry without the music?
A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life: A Portrait by His Daughter (1993) by Susan Loesser
Frank Loesser, composer of show tunes, was one of Meredith Willson’s mentors in Hollywood while he was working in television and radio. Frank’s daughter provides the reader with a glimpse into the funny, outspoken personality of the man behind the musicals Guys and Dolls and The Most Happy Fella.
Toronto Public Library: 782.14092 LOE LOE (click for location)
Goodreads
Kirkus Review:
Engaging life of brilliant lyricist, songwriter, and composer Frank Loesser (1910-69), whose genius with words brings life to this loving biography by his daughter (a journalist, editor, geologist, etc., who's been published in Life and Family Circle). Much of the charm here lies in Frank Loesser's never failing ingenuity as Susan Loesser quotes his lyrics, letters, and notes for stage productions. The composer spent his life in the emotional shadow of his older brother Arthur, a gifted classical pianist and teacher, and of their mother, Julia, for whom young Frank's Pulitzer-winning Broadway endeavors lacked intellectual refinement. Loesser could never satisfy either family member, even when his most ambitious work, The Most Happy Fella, was praised for its immense variety of musical forms and operatic scope. Loesser, though an apparent egomaniac, thought himself a comparative failure and would put himself down as just an entertainer writing for the moment, future glory not required. Meanwhile, the composer's first wife, Mary, Susan's mother, who was ``pathologically meticulous,'' survived her divorce from Frank by resorting to alcohol and working as a tough-talking Broadway producer. Loesser was a famous Hollywood lyricist before making the big leap to Broadway with Where's Charley?, writing both music and lyrics, then with the quintessential New York musical, Guys and Dolls, his greatest hit. Throughout, the author quotes passages cut out of her father's shows, including from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The composer died of cancer at 59--when, we learn, he was already being swamped from all sides by detested rock music that was making him old hat. Though foulmouthed, Loesser grows on you wonderfully through his daughter's eyes.
I Got The Show Right Here: The Amazing True Story of How an Obscure Brooklyn Horn Player Became the Last Great Broadway Showman (2003) by Cy Feuer
Meredith Willson was first approached about making a musical about his novel And There I Stood with My Piccolo by Cy Feuer and Ernie Martin, a successful team of Broadway producers. This novel is the humorous story of Cy Feuer and how he made it in show business.
Toronto Public Library: 792.60232 F264 F264 (click for location)
Goodreads
Kirkus Review:
Breezy, upbeat memoir from the impresario who produced Broadway musicals like Guys and Dollsand Can-Can, as well as the film version of Cabaret.
Born in 1911 to immigrant parents in Brooklyn, Feuer became a trumpet player with the encouragement of his mother. Actually, this enthusiastic Boy Scout wanted to play the bugle, but Mom thought the trumpet would be a more practical instrument. And she was right, because after the death of his father (manager of a Yiddish theater on Second Avenue), the family needed money, and Feuer quit school to play with various pick-up bands that provided music for political campaigns. Next he was accepted at Juilliard and soon began making big money playing with club bands. And on to California, where he arranged music for the movies, as well as making lots of good and useful friends like Frank Loesser, Jule Styne, and Susan Hayward. The pay was good and the life easy—he learned to play polo and tennis—but Feuer could never entirely forget that Hollywood was the land of painted sunsets and rocks you could move. Once his service making WWII training films was over, he was ready for more satisfying work than the studios provided. He moved back to New York and with business partner Ernie Martin produced musicals that were not (just) vehicles for star performers but had real content and logical storylines. Feuer vividly recalls shows like Where’s Charley?, Guys and Dolls, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, while giving a crash course in the often frustrating business of entertainment. He tells readers how to improve a production in out-of-town tryouts and what it was like to work with Ray Bolger, Liza Minnelli, George Kaufman, Cole Porter, Bob Fosse, and a host of others. He also wryly recalls such flops as the movie version of A Chorus Line.
Entertaining, informative, and shrewdly perceptive.
Also check out...
The Fifth String (1902) by John Philip Sousa
Not only was John Philip Sousa the most widely known composer of marches, but he was also a novelist. His novels include musical themes and high stakes, familiar to anyone with a passion for music. A young violinist comes across a violin with magic strings that can tamper with emotions, and even death.
Toronto Public Library: e-book
Meredith Willson: America’s Music Man (2005) by Bill Oates
This novel is an in-depth glance into the life of Meredith Willson before, during and after The Music Man hit Broadway. Author Bill Oates provides a different perspective from Willson’s autobiographies, giving him credit that he may not have given himself.
Toronto Public Library: Talk to your local librarian about obtaining a copy
Goodreads
Amazon
Not only was John Philip Sousa the most widely known composer of marches, but he was also a novelist. His novels include musical themes and high stakes, familiar to anyone with a passion for music. A young violinist comes across a violin with magic strings that can tamper with emotions, and even death.
Toronto Public Library: e-book
Meredith Willson: America’s Music Man (2005) by Bill Oates
This novel is an in-depth glance into the life of Meredith Willson before, during and after The Music Man hit Broadway. Author Bill Oates provides a different perspective from Willson’s autobiographies, giving him credit that he may not have given himself.
Toronto Public Library: Talk to your local librarian about obtaining a copy
Goodreads
Amazon