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Latest comment: 2 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
The quotation from Alec Wilder in the second sentence of the lead, praising Carmichael as the "the most talented, inventive, sophisticated and jazz oriented of all the great craftsmen" of pop songs in the first half of the 20th century, is rather misleading in context. I have not read Wilder's book on the subject (American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950) but it is my understanding that Wilder divided his discourse on composers into categories of merit. He put Carmichael into the category of "great craftsmen" which, for Wilder, was lower than that of the highest echelon reserved for (if I'm not mistaken) Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, and Harold Arlen. Thus, Wilder was actually calling Carmichael "the most talented, etc." within the group he rated as craftsmen rather than as something more grandiose. Of course, all such ratings are subjective, and since the quote in the lead is misleading anyway, perhaps we should just remove it. Goodtablemanners (talk) 02:47, 30 November 2021 (UTC)Reply
