The Story of Fake Books

About this book

"Fake books - anthologies of songs notated in musical shorthand - have been used by countless pop and jazz musicians in both professional and amateur settings for more than half a century. The Story of Fake Books : Bootlegging Songs to Musicians traces the entertaining and previously unknown account of the origins of fake books of pop songs, which evolved through the bootlegging of a now obscure musical subscription service, Tune-Dex. Barry Kernfeld chronicles the history of fake books from their increased popularity among musicians to the prosecution of publishers by the government and the music industry, resulting in America's first full-blown federal trial for criminal copyright infringement. Through accounts by jazz musicians Steve Swallow and Pat Metheny, The Story of Fake Books also reveals the definitive history of the most popular fake book, one that has acquried a legendary status among jazz musicians : an anthology of jazz tunes called The Real Book. Drawing from information in FBI files, entertainment trade papers, and federal court records, Kernfeld's pioneering research brings together aspects of pop music history and copyright law to disclose the predecessors of current-day battles over pop-song piracy."--Jacket.