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And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey
The Pulitzer Prize–winning historian talks with some of twentieth century’s most iconic musicians―“Riveting . . . Just about every interview has a revelation” ( San Francisco Chronicle ).
Through the second half of the twentieth century, Studs Terkel hosted the legendary radio show “The Wax Museum,” presenting Chicago’s music fans with his inimitable take on music of all kinds, from classical, opera, and jazz to gospel, blues, folk, and rock. Featuring more than forty of Terkel’s conversations with some of the greatest musicians of the past century, And They All Sang is “a tribute to music’s universality and power” ( Philadelphia Inquirer ). Included here are fascinating conversations with Louis Armstrong, Leonard Bernstein, Big Bill Broonzy, Bob Dylan, Dizzy Gillespie, Mahalia Jackson, Janis Joplin, Rosa Raisa, Pete Seeger, and many others.
As the esteemed music critic Anthony DeCurtis wrote in the Chicago Tribune , “the terms ‘interview’ or ‘oral history’ don’t begin to do justice to what Terkel achieves in these conversations, which are at once wildly ambitious and as casual as can be.” Whether discussing Enrico Caruso’s nervousness on stage with opera diva Edith Mason or the Beatles’ 1966 encounter in London with revered Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar, “Terkel’s singular gift for bringing his subjects to life in their own words should strike a chord with any music fan old enough to have replaced a worn-out record needle” ( The New York Times ).
“Whether diva or dustbowl balladeer, Studs treats them all alike, with deep knowledge and an intimate, conversational approach . . . as this often remarkable book shows, Studs Terkel has remained mesmerized by great music throughout his life.” ― The Guardian
“[Terkel’s] expertise is evident on every page, whether debating the harmonic structure of the spirituals or discerning the subtleties of Keith Jarrett’s piano technique . . . As ever, he is the most skillful of interviewers.” ― The Independent
“What makes And They All Sang a rousing success isn’t just Terkel’s phenomenal range and broad knowledge, it’s his passionate love of the music and his deep humanity.” ― San Francisco Chronicle
Through the second half of the twentieth century, Studs Terkel hosted the legendary radio show “The Wax Museum,” presenting Chicago’s music fans with his inimitable take on music of all kinds, from classical, opera, and jazz to gospel, blues, folk, and rock. Featuring more than forty of Terkel’s conversations with some of the greatest musicians of the past century, And They All Sang is “a tribute to music’s universality and power” ( Philadelphia Inquirer ). Included here are fascinating conversations with Louis Armstrong, Leonard Bernstein, Big Bill Broonzy, Bob Dylan, Dizzy Gillespie, Mahalia Jackson, Janis Joplin, Rosa Raisa, Pete Seeger, and many others.
As the esteemed music critic Anthony DeCurtis wrote in the Chicago Tribune , “the terms ‘interview’ or ‘oral history’ don’t begin to do justice to what Terkel achieves in these conversations, which are at once wildly ambitious and as casual as can be.” Whether discussing Enrico Caruso’s nervousness on stage with opera diva Edith Mason or the Beatles’ 1966 encounter in London with revered Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar, “Terkel’s singular gift for bringing his subjects to life in their own words should strike a chord with any music fan old enough to have replaced a worn-out record needle” ( The New York Times ).
“Whether diva or dustbowl balladeer, Studs treats them all alike, with deep knowledge and an intimate, conversational approach . . . as this often remarkable book shows, Studs Terkel has remained mesmerized by great music throughout his life.” ― The Guardian
“[Terkel’s] expertise is evident on every page, whether debating the harmonic structure of the spirituals or discerning the subtleties of Keith Jarrett’s piano technique . . . As ever, he is the most skillful of interviewers.” ― The Independent
“What makes And They All Sang a rousing success isn’t just Terkel’s phenomenal range and broad knowledge, it’s his passionate love of the music and his deep humanity.” ― San Francisco Chronicle
301 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2005
89 people are currently reading
351 people want to read
About the author
Studs Terkel
76 books415 followersLouis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for "The Good War", and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.
Terkel was acclaimed for his efforts to preserve American oral history. His 1985 book "The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two", which detailed ordinary peoples' accounts of the country's involvement in World War II, won the Pulitzer Prize. For "Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression", Terkel assembled recollections of the Great Depression that spanned the socioeconomic spectrum, from Okies, through prison inmates, to the wealthy. His 1974 book, "Working" also was highly acclaimed. In 1995, he received the Chicago History Museum "Making History Award" for Distinction in Journalism and Communications. In 1997, Terkel was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters. Two years later, he received the George Polk Career Award in 1999.
Terkel was acclaimed for his efforts to preserve American oral history. His 1985 book "The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two", which detailed ordinary peoples' accounts of the country's involvement in World War II, won the Pulitzer Prize. For "Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression", Terkel assembled recollections of the Great Depression that spanned the socioeconomic spectrum, from Okies, through prison inmates, to the wealthy. His 1974 book, "Working" also was highly acclaimed. In 1995, he received the Chicago History Museum "Making History Award" for Distinction in Journalism and Communications. In 1997, Terkel was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters. Two years later, he received the George Polk Career Award in 1999.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
September 18, 2011
It took me awhile to get into this book because the first section consisted of interviews with classical artists and those from the opera. Sadly my musical knowledge in those areas is lacking.
Once I reached the musicians I was familiar with, the book was a gift! Songs played in my head as they were mentioned and their synthesis described. Many of the artists have since passed away, so it was wonderful to remember them and learn more about them in their own words. The ones that really resonated with me were interviews with Alan Lomax,Pete Seeger,Bob Dylan, Mahalia Jackson, Ravi Shankar, Lil Armstrong, and Leonard Bernstein.
Studs Terkel was a master at allowing people the space to speak their mind and lay out who they are and what is important to them. His interviews form a legacy that is gift to us all.
Once I reached the musicians I was familiar with, the book was a gift! Songs played in my head as they were mentioned and their synthesis described. Many of the artists have since passed away, so it was wonderful to remember them and learn more about them in their own words. The ones that really resonated with me were interviews with Alan Lomax,Pete Seeger,Bob Dylan, Mahalia Jackson, Ravi Shankar, Lil Armstrong, and Leonard Bernstein.
Studs Terkel was a master at allowing people the space to speak their mind and lay out who they are and what is important to them. His interviews form a legacy that is gift to us all.
February 21, 2019
Terkel’s books are usually quite excellent oral histories where the reader never explicitly sees the questions being asked. The actual questions being written detracted from the work. This book would be greatly appreciated by musicians and those who love music theory. There were some interesting parts, perspectives and facts but it drags at times when there was no familiarity with some artists and music scenes.
March 18, 2010
What stands out in this book is how well Terkel was prepared for any guest. He knows and incredible amount about them (contrasted to annoying radio types who will do an interview and even admit, “I haven’t read the book”.)
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Aaron Copeland, interviewed in 1961:
“Composers have very bad reputations as conductors. They’re known to be generally inadequate on the podium. It’s understandable, because after all, composing and conducting are two very different activities … You might know, and most composers would know, how they want their music to go. But you might not have the technical ability to indicate to an orchestra how that should happen. Koussevitskey used to say to me, even when the composer doesn’t technically conduct as well as a professional conductor, he nevertheless gives to the music some quality that no conductor could quite give, and I think there’s some truth to that. You have a great advantage as a composer, and that is that the orchestral musician is willing to admit that you really ought to know how this piece should go.”
“I think that young composers today are living in a rather difficult time. It’s because music is in a great state of turmoil, much more of a turmoil than the great public at large knows about. The very basic constructural principles of music are in question now … Everyone says the one universal language is music. Theoretically it should be, but actually, when I was in Japan I heard kinds of music that seemed very strange to me, so that when you think about it more specifically, and not in that overall sense, then it’s obvious that people do create kinds of music that other people might not understand.”
Includes interview with Lil Armstrong, Louis Armstrong’s wife.
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Aaron Copeland, interviewed in 1961:
“Composers have very bad reputations as conductors. They’re known to be generally inadequate on the podium. It’s understandable, because after all, composing and conducting are two very different activities … You might know, and most composers would know, how they want their music to go. But you might not have the technical ability to indicate to an orchestra how that should happen. Koussevitskey used to say to me, even when the composer doesn’t technically conduct as well as a professional conductor, he nevertheless gives to the music some quality that no conductor could quite give, and I think there’s some truth to that. You have a great advantage as a composer, and that is that the orchestral musician is willing to admit that you really ought to know how this piece should go.”
“I think that young composers today are living in a rather difficult time. It’s because music is in a great state of turmoil, much more of a turmoil than the great public at large knows about. The very basic constructural principles of music are in question now … Everyone says the one universal language is music. Theoretically it should be, but actually, when I was in Japan I heard kinds of music that seemed very strange to me, so that when you think about it more specifically, and not in that overall sense, then it’s obvious that people do create kinds of music that other people might not understand.”
Includes interview with Lil Armstrong, Louis Armstrong’s wife.
June 30, 2008
Classic Studs Terkel. Fascinating from start to finish, inspiring and informative. Will make you wish you could hear all of the interviews. It certainly gave me a list of albums to check out from the library. Terkel is a gift for American history--I always feel closer to an understanding of my nation and her experiences and the people who have come before us. Lovely.
January 2, 2021
I’m not sure how much business a rock guy like me has reading a book mostly about opera and jazz artists. Partly I wanted to read something by Studs Terkel, known for his portraits of ordinary people. Partly I wanted to see if I could learn something about creativity that transcended genre. Apart from a few profiles, there wasn’t anything here that won me over to opera or to Turkel.
Let’s start with the interviewing style, or at least the form these interviews take on the page. On the positive side, Turkel seems to be able to get his subjects to speak candidly. He certainly doesn’t have to draw many of them out. On the negative side… many, many of these are like listening to Grandpa Simpson get a roll going. Paragraph after paragraph with no response from Turkel at all. Turkel doesn’t seem to mind these folks, unbidden, telling him their life stories, and maybe this is what’s meant by the documentation of oral history. If not, then there’s either an arrogance on the part of the subject assuming that one wants to hear your life story, or a failure on the part of the interviewer to steer the conversation to what’s important, or a similar failure on the part of the editor to focus on what’s important and cut out irrelevancies. It was probably pretty hard to put a leash on late-career Turkel or his famed subjects, but it would have made this a better book.
When Turkel does steer the interviews, he does so uttering little more than somebody’s name, or a name of a character, or a quotation. “So we come to Peter Grimes, Benjamin Britten, and you,” when interviewing Jon Vickers, or “Now we come to the Russian, Mussorgsky. ‘A Children’s Song,’” when interviewing Irmgard Seefried. (And no, I don’t know who Vickers or Seefried are.) To me, this style reads as stilted and non-conversational.
Part of me wanted Terkel to do more to show me why these people were important and unique. (“Most opera singers are X, but she stood out because she was Y.”) But this is not aimed at someone unfamiliar with these titans of their genres and their incessant name-dropping. Instead, this is a why-of-course-it’s-self-evident-they-are-important exercise. They knew Toscanini! They sang Wagner! They would have liked to have worked with Caruso! Frankly, it turned me off to opera. It seems to be Turkel’s preferred genre, and it seemed odd that a guy known for taking notice of the common person loved this musical form that, at least in this book, comes across as status-based, who-you-know, insular, and self-congratulatory. I mean, even if you were interviewing heavy metal musicians, they might scream “Heavy metal rules!”, but they don’t worship the ground upon which Black Sabbath and Metallica walk the way these opera folks do with Caruso. They take themselves and their art form overly seriously, and Terkel encourages them to do so.
The pieces about folk and blues artists are better than the rest; my favorite interviews being those with Mahalia Jackson, Alan Lomax, and Pete Seeger. The Bob Dylan one is not that great; Terkel comes across as awkward. ("Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?" What a way to open an interview.) Nothing, though, can prepare you for how out of touch and ineffective Terkel is when interviewing Janis Joplin. It would have helped if he placed her work in some kind of context. He doesn’t mention her band, Big Brother & The Holding Company, and he doesn’t mention anything about blues rock in general. (Jimi Hendrix? Eric Clapton and the bands he played with? The fact that Joplin’s band features a vocalist rather than a guitarist?) Maybe this is because he had some understanding about blues but absolutely none about rock, avoiding the genre, even its progenitors. Considering that this book was published in 2005, Terkel could have written something about the “27 club” that touched on not just Joplin and Hendrix but also Robert Johnson. Joplin’s early death is not even mentioned; instead, like your square dad, Turkel points out that much of the crowd at Joplin’s show was stoned, and that she herself has a “powerful animal quality”, seeming to undercut her artistic merit.
I think this could’ve been better as two books: one on opera, and one on folk, blues, and jazz. The Dylan and Joplin interviews should be left to rock writers. I know that Turkel was a disc jockey for decades, and he was proud of the latitude the radio station managers afforded him. (That would have been a good book as well, examining why such radio programming disappeared.) But the connections between artists and genres in this book are not drawn clearly enough, and all Turkel wants to give us for explanation is a seven-page introduction on his love for music and his luck, and small paragraphs before each profile. These might be the artists Turkel loved best, but this is likely not his best work. While I might give “Working” a shot someday, I won’t return to this one.
Let’s start with the interviewing style, or at least the form these interviews take on the page. On the positive side, Turkel seems to be able to get his subjects to speak candidly. He certainly doesn’t have to draw many of them out. On the negative side… many, many of these are like listening to Grandpa Simpson get a roll going. Paragraph after paragraph with no response from Turkel at all. Turkel doesn’t seem to mind these folks, unbidden, telling him their life stories, and maybe this is what’s meant by the documentation of oral history. If not, then there’s either an arrogance on the part of the subject assuming that one wants to hear your life story, or a failure on the part of the interviewer to steer the conversation to what’s important, or a similar failure on the part of the editor to focus on what’s important and cut out irrelevancies. It was probably pretty hard to put a leash on late-career Turkel or his famed subjects, but it would have made this a better book.
When Turkel does steer the interviews, he does so uttering little more than somebody’s name, or a name of a character, or a quotation. “So we come to Peter Grimes, Benjamin Britten, and you,” when interviewing Jon Vickers, or “Now we come to the Russian, Mussorgsky. ‘A Children’s Song,’” when interviewing Irmgard Seefried. (And no, I don’t know who Vickers or Seefried are.) To me, this style reads as stilted and non-conversational.
Part of me wanted Terkel to do more to show me why these people were important and unique. (“Most opera singers are X, but she stood out because she was Y.”) But this is not aimed at someone unfamiliar with these titans of their genres and their incessant name-dropping. Instead, this is a why-of-course-it’s-self-evident-they-are-important exercise. They knew Toscanini! They sang Wagner! They would have liked to have worked with Caruso! Frankly, it turned me off to opera. It seems to be Turkel’s preferred genre, and it seemed odd that a guy known for taking notice of the common person loved this musical form that, at least in this book, comes across as status-based, who-you-know, insular, and self-congratulatory. I mean, even if you were interviewing heavy metal musicians, they might scream “Heavy metal rules!”, but they don’t worship the ground upon which Black Sabbath and Metallica walk the way these opera folks do with Caruso. They take themselves and their art form overly seriously, and Terkel encourages them to do so.
The pieces about folk and blues artists are better than the rest; my favorite interviews being those with Mahalia Jackson, Alan Lomax, and Pete Seeger. The Bob Dylan one is not that great; Terkel comes across as awkward. ("Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?" What a way to open an interview.) Nothing, though, can prepare you for how out of touch and ineffective Terkel is when interviewing Janis Joplin. It would have helped if he placed her work in some kind of context. He doesn’t mention her band, Big Brother & The Holding Company, and he doesn’t mention anything about blues rock in general. (Jimi Hendrix? Eric Clapton and the bands he played with? The fact that Joplin’s band features a vocalist rather than a guitarist?) Maybe this is because he had some understanding about blues but absolutely none about rock, avoiding the genre, even its progenitors. Considering that this book was published in 2005, Terkel could have written something about the “27 club” that touched on not just Joplin and Hendrix but also Robert Johnson. Joplin’s early death is not even mentioned; instead, like your square dad, Turkel points out that much of the crowd at Joplin’s show was stoned, and that she herself has a “powerful animal quality”, seeming to undercut her artistic merit.
I think this could’ve been better as two books: one on opera, and one on folk, blues, and jazz. The Dylan and Joplin interviews should be left to rock writers. I know that Turkel was a disc jockey for decades, and he was proud of the latitude the radio station managers afforded him. (That would have been a good book as well, examining why such radio programming disappeared.) But the connections between artists and genres in this book are not drawn clearly enough, and all Turkel wants to give us for explanation is a seven-page introduction on his love for music and his luck, and small paragraphs before each profile. These might be the artists Turkel loved best, but this is likely not his best work. While I might give “Working” a shot someday, I won’t return to this one.
February 14, 2025
An interesting compilation of radio interviews, mostly from the late 1950's -- early 1960's. Good lesson on the evanescence of popularity, as many of the subjects, once household names, are little -known today (particularly the opera singers). It was refreshing to hear from so many women, particularly Lil Hardin Armstrong, a founding pianist of the earliest jazz combos who, as Louis Armstrong's wife, was largely responsible for launching his name into fame. Also, some real characters shine through: John Jacob Niles and Julian Lee Rayford, who was a one-man font of popular street cries now lost to time. Bob Dylan a disappointing hash of bullshittery, but what's to be expected? John Hammond Sr., a producer, worked to advance integrated venues. Ravi Shankar's pride in the unmatched history of Indian classical music shines through.
May 28, 2023
This is Studs Terkel doing what he does best - drawing out the essentially interesting parts of people's stores, synthesizing them, distilling them into habitable spaces and giving us the essence. Truly he is one of the great "oral historians" ever. Here he draws out some of the most interesting stories of early to mid 20th century musical greats and lets them tell their tale. I confess I found myself trying to skim ahead to the figures I knew best, or were my kind of music. Good work by Terkel, but in the end appeals to those of us in old age, peering back into time. There were few "aha" moments in the collection of interviews, and a feeling of nostalgia as nuch as anything, at this point in the historical timeline.
February 6, 2019
couldn't get into it. lame, considering how much i love studs terkel and music. perhaps i'll try again sometime.
June 27, 2022
Great book by an even greater author.
June 23, 2023
Very interesting.
May 17, 2025
If they did not sing, they played an instrument or composed or managed musicians. Interesting mix of personalities
February 1, 2008
You don't know music like Studs knows music.
Oh, you may think you know, but you don't. Studs Terkel has spent most of his adult life talking to people, and most of those people have been musicians. In his long and storied career, he has interviewed some of the greatest names in music. This is a collection of a few of them.
In this book, he talks to opera stars, blues singers, concert pianists, jazz trumpeters, scat musicians and folk song bards. They tell Studs about their relationship with music - what got them into it, and what they get out of it - and what struck me is that most of them come from the point of view that they make music because they can't imagine doing anything else. For some it's a craft, for others it's freedom, but for all of them it's a look into what makes them sing.
If you have a musician on your Christmas list, this'll be a good buy....
Oh, you may think you know, but you don't. Studs Terkel has spent most of his adult life talking to people, and most of those people have been musicians. In his long and storied career, he has interviewed some of the greatest names in music. This is a collection of a few of them.
In this book, he talks to opera stars, blues singers, concert pianists, jazz trumpeters, scat musicians and folk song bards. They tell Studs about their relationship with music - what got them into it, and what they get out of it - and what struck me is that most of them come from the point of view that they make music because they can't imagine doing anything else. For some it's a craft, for others it's freedom, but for all of them it's a look into what makes them sing.
If you have a musician on your Christmas list, this'll be a good buy....
December 19, 2015
And They All Sang: Adventures of and Eclectic Disc Jockey by Studs Terkel (The New Press 2005) (780.92) is typical Terkel; it's a series of forty interviews with "musical figures of our time." The book is a little outdated; the most contemporary of the interviewees are Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan (from 1962) and Ravi Shankar. Also of interest to me were interviews with the Rev. Thomas Dorsey (writer of "Precious Lord Take My Hand" aka "the Black National Anthem," Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger. Note: I was lucky enough to find a hardcover copy of this book with dust jacket in pristine condition at a local used book store for seventy-five cents! My rating: 7/10, finished 3/6/11.
January 22, 2016
An interesting read by legendary DJ (and author) Studs Terkel - it concentrated way too much on opera singers for my liking, but it did have interviews with people like Lil Armstrong, Dizzie Gillespie, Pete Seeger, Earl Hines, etc so it wasn't a complete loss. Though, having said that, I have to admit that I generally found something of interest in every interview, and I plowed through it very quickly - generally a good sign. Not really my cup of tea, but if you can pick it up cheap (as I did, as an academic remainder) its worth having in your library.
September 22, 2008
i didn't like this as much as other studs books, but i think maybe it was because i really struggled to relate to the first half to two-thirds, because it was solely about opera. opera... well, i find it pleasurable to listen to, but i don't have the background or context to read much about it, especially in the familiar style studs is so good at.
December 26, 2007
Studs is still here, folks. This is a compilation of interviews on his radio program that are priceless and document not only where Studs was in his own life, but the subjects as well. They come off in a wonderfully elegant stream-of-consciousness way. Great and quick read.
March 17, 2009
A great series of interviews with prominent 20th-century musicians, done by one of our greatest journalists. Half the book is focused on classical music (a good portion of that is opera, which doesn't interest me), but the other half is jazz, folk, and other idioms. A great read!
December 9, 2010
If you've ever seen an interview with this darling man, you'll know why I fell so madly in love with him. I'll admit, though, that I read only the interviews of the musicians I already knew and admired. But I look forward to discovering the rest.
January 4, 2013
Irreplaceable interviews with musicians of the 20th century, by one of the great cultural historians of the 20th century. He runs the gamut from John Jacob Niles to Bob Dylan, and everyone in between.
January 26, 2008
This is probably the most inspiring book I've read about music. Or anything.
October 16, 2007
Studs is a great storyteller. Lots of cool interviews with music and entertainment legends. Read this one for sure!
Currently reading
February 8, 2009Conversations with some of the greatest musicians (Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie Louis Armstrong, Janice Joplin, Leonard Bernstein, and lots more) by the late, great Studs Terkel.
May 18, 2010
Leonard Bernstein said it best, “In the olden days, everybody sang. You were expected to sing as well as talk. It was the mark of a cultured man to sing, to know music.”
December 19, 2013
Great historical record
May 11, 2010
Studs affirms the old Woody Guthrie phrase, “Take it easy, but take it.”
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews