We cease our coverage of the Great American Songbook here, in the mid-sixties, a time when ‘classic’ songwriters were pushing against the grain of the more popular ‘rock’ music that better represented the times.

If you are to search, you can surely find other great songs from the late ‘60s and ‘70s that may apply as part of the songbook, but they were few and far between, and they no longer represented mainstream tastes. Pop songs from the mid-‘60s on were moving rapidly away from the old school of songwriting, so this where we end the Songbook.

For a comparison, tune in next week as we start a new series that is the exact opposite of the Great American Songbook. Picking up about where we left off, we plan to play “Nuggets,” a series based on teen-aged garage-band tracks mostly from the mid-sixties.

Cheers! Meanwhile, featured tracks include:

Big Spender – Sweet Charity Soundtrack

Hey Look Me Over – Kermit Ruffins

Moon River – Andy Williams

Call Me Irresponsible – Bobby Darin

Days of Wine and Roses – Andy Williams

Don’t Rain on MY Parade – Nancy Wilson

Tender Is the Night – Steve Lawrence

Hello Dolly – Louis Armstrong

If My Friends Could See Me Now – Linda Clifford

People – Barbra Streisand

The Shadow of Your Smile – Tony Bennett