The ‘30s was a perplexing decade, starting with a financial crisis and ending with the severe threat of a World War, but the music of times served as a pacifier.

I think the reason that the children of this generation didn’t ‘get’ their music (and by this, I mean myself and my peers who came of age in the ‘60s) was because the ‘60s was so much more political in its nature. In the ‘30s, politics were not an appropriate topic for popular music, because the music served the purpose of unifying people during a time of distress and hardship. Topics were often based on nostalgia, family, and true love, so the ‘Great American Songs’ from 1938-39 help to make my point.

Featured tracks include:

My Heart Belongs to Daddy – Eartha Kitt

The Nearness of You – Ella and Louis

Thanks for the Memory – Bob Hope and Shirley Ross

This Can’t Be Love - Nat King Cole

You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby – Bing Crosby

All or Nothing at All – Bob Dylan

All the Things You Are – Ella Fitzgerald

Darn That Dream - Mildred Bailey

Day In, Day Out – Nat King Cole

Good Morning – Judy Garland

I Concentrate on You – Frank Sinatra & Tom Jobim

I Didn’t Know What Time It Was – Charlie Parker

I Thought About You – Dinah Washington