Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, and the torch song tradition /

Also author of Pete Townshend: The Minstrel's Dilemma (1999) and Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and American Song (CH, May'03), Smith (communication, Purdue Univ.) here analyzes the songs of two more influential musicians. He examines each from four perspectives, devoting an introduction and then chapters titled "The Artist," "The Impulse," "The Oeuvre," and "The Exemplars" first to Mitchell, then to Costello. Canadian-born Mitchell (1943- ) launched her career in the late 1960s and quickly established herself as a significant performer and songwriter, a major musical voice of her generation. A decade younger than Mitchell, British-born Costello (originally Declan McManus) began his musical career in the mid 1970s. Smith focuses on recordings and songs, discussing each in great detail and including lyrics for some. He concludes that Mitchell and Costello represent "the state of the art of the celebrity singer-songwriter composite." The book includes a helpful list of published references but, oddly, no discography or illustrations. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Academic libraries supporting serious study of popular music at the upper-division undergraduate level and above. R. D. Cohen Indiana University Northwest