At 1619 Broadway(between 49th-53rd St.)in NYC, stands a building
called the Brill Building. To rock fans like me, it holds precious
symbolic value. In the late 50's to the 60's, it was the home to
famous songwriting teams. The main ones were:1.(Jerry Leiber/Mike
Stoller),2.(Gerry Goffin/Carol King),3.(Barry Mann/Cynthia
Weil),4.(Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich),5.(PF Sloan/Steve Barri),6.(Howie
Greenfield/Neil Sedacka),7.(Mort Shuman/Doc Pomus), and Phil Spector.
Almost everyone of them happened to be young Jewish kids from
Brooklyn,NY. I'm not sure, but Neil Diamond might have been a Brill
Building alumni also.        My question is: Has there ever been a
book or any authoritative published work, detailing their story?  Just
as the Motown band, the Funk Brothers are having a movie about them,
so the Brill Building guys need a similar vehicle to immortalize their
incalcable contribution to my happiness. I know there was a movie
loosely based on Carol King's life & Carol released a CD set called
Music From the Brill Building. But those aren't books. Was there ever
a book that I might have missed?

Hello bluestreak-ga,

Based on my research, I believe the answer is no.  I don’t believe
there has ever been a book or any authoritative published work,
detailing the story of the Brill Building songwriters.  I searched the
library of congress catalog, the online bookstores (Amazon, Barnes &
Nobel, Abe’s Books).  I also looked for book reviews, articles and
other publications that might refer to books that have been written or
that might be published soon.

The closest book that I found was “New York: Songs of the City” by
Nancy J. Groce (Watson-Guptill Publications, Incorporated, March 
1999) (http://btobsearch.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?userid=2BXOMW58AN&sourceid=0039384190&btob=Y&isbn=0823083497)

The Barnes & Noble Editors say the following about this book:

“Few, if any, cities have inspired more songs than New York. Of
course, for much of this century, New York was the center of popular
songwriting, with publishing houses, vast theatrical districts, the
legendary Tin Pan Alley, and even the Brill Building birthplace to
many a top ten hit in the 1950s and '60s. New York: Songs of the City
celebrates the songs that celebrate New York and recounts the stories
of the colorful men and women who composed said songs, from George M.
Cohan to Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin. The
book is lavishly illustrated with full-color reproductions of the
vintage sheet music that carried this music to a waiting public.”

In other publications, I found:

“Brill Building”, by Timothy Berg, St. James Encyclopedia of Popular
Culture, January 19 2002.
(http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/g1epc/tov/2419100195/p1/article.jhtml?term=%22brill+building%22)


"The Beatles, the Brill Building, and the Persistence of Tin Pan Alley
in the Age of Rock." , Timothy E Scheurer, “Popular Music and Society”
(1996, Volume 20, issue 4 (1996) pages 89-102)
“Popular Music and Society” is a quarterly academic journal published
by Routledge.
(http://www3.niu.edu/popms)


There are a number of recordings and videos that you might find
interesting:

“Neil Diamond: The Roof Party - Songs from the Brill Building World
Premiere (1993)”, VHS, Sony/Columbia

“The Brill Building sound: singers & songwriters who rocked the 60's”
1993, Plymouth, MN : ERA Records, 4 sound discs : digital, stereo. ; 4
3/4 in. + 1 booklet (29 p. : ill., ports. ; 29 x 14 cm.)

“Up On The Roof: Songs From The Brill Building, Neil Diamond (Audio
CD)
Audio CD (September 28, 1993), Sony
 
“Brill Building Sessions and More”, Carole King (Audio CD), February
13, 2001, Prism Classics

On Broadway: Hit Songs and Rarities From The Brill Building Era, Audio
CD (22 February, 1999), Number of Discs: 2, Label: Westside

The Songmakers Collection (2001), Starring: Bobby Darin, Burt
Bacharach,
Studio: A & E Home Video, DVD, Number of discs: 2

Inside the Brill Building: Complete Recordings 1959-1964, Barry Mann

“Girl Groups: Fabulous Females That Rocked the World” by John
Clemente, Krause Publications (September 2000)


I hope you have found this information helpful.  Please request
clarification if you would like more information.


Good Luck,
Googlenut-ga
***************************************************************
References:

Library of Congress Catalog
http://catalog.loc.gov/

Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.amazon.co.uk

Barnes & Noble.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

FindArticles.com
http://www.findarticles.com

AbeBooks.com
http://www.abebooks.com/


Google search terms:

brill building book
://www.google.com/search?q=brill+building+book&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off

"brill building" book
://www.google.com/search?q=%22brill+building%22+book&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off

brill building songwriters
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=brill+building+songwriters&btnG=Google+Search

brill building songwriters book
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=brill+building+songwriters+book&btnG=Google+Search

---

Clarification of Answer by googlenut-ga on 28 Nov 2002 14:37 PST

Hello bluestreak,

Thank you for the 5 star rating and the tip! Sure, I'll take a look at
your other search requests.  I have looked into some of yours before. 
You ask tough questions.

Googlenut

Dear Googlenut,                                                       
         I do accept your findings. You covered a lot of ground & I
appreciate your searching. I encourage you to continue working with me
on my many search requests. My requests that I'm especially anxious to
put behind me are:George Moreland,sports writer Harry Neily,tap idol
Pete Nugent,tap idol Eddie Rector,violinist Emil Hauser,violinist
Wilhelm Klepper, ballet teacher William Griffith,and dancer James
Thurston. Might I persuade you to take a look?

Nick Tosches wrote quite a lengthy article on the Brill Building in
the Dec. 2000 issue of Vanity Fair.  You can find that magazine piece
along with others chronicling that era in these Alan Freed archives: 
http://www.alanfreed.com/archives/archives_magazines.html

Hello Voila,                                                          
         I don't think I met you before. I love your attachment with
all those great articles. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't open any of
them. And I'd have loved to have read them. Thank you so much voila
for your work. Bluestreak