Book Description

The canzone napoletana-Neapolitan song-was one of the first international popular music of the modern era, traveling beyond the city of Naples and the borders of Italy. Its success was due largely to Italian emigrants, who composed, performed, recorded, sold, and consumed the music in the forms of sheet music, piano rolls, 78 rpm recordings, and performances. In Neapolitan Postcards contributors address the unexplored transnational aspects of the Neapolitan song. From its origins in Naples to its arrival-with such classic songs as 'Core 'ngrato' (1911) to 'Senza Mamma' (1925)-in New York City, Neapolitan song gained popularity among a larger American public even as Italian immigrants were victimized as racialized others. Its spread across the world over the course of the twentieth century became evident as singers and musicians like the Andrews Sisters, Charles Aznavour, Count Basie, Elvis Presley, Violeta Rivas, Caetano Veloso, Frank Zappa, and others recorded Neapolitan songs or incorporated it into their compositions.