Will Friedwald is an American music critic and writer. He is known for his books The Warner Brothers Cartoons, Scarecrow (1981), Sinatra! The Song Is You (1995), and The Good Life (1998).
Background
Will Friedwald was born on September 16, 1961, in the United States. His father was Herb Friedwald who was a jazz producer, jazz historian, and record label lawyer in New York. Herb was the founder of the short-lived jazz label, Kharma Records. Among other pursuits, Herb wrote liner notes.
Career
Will Friedwald is a freelance writer whose books include several about the short animated classics produced by Warner Brothers studios. The Warner Brothers Cartoons, written with Jerry Beck, is a filmography of more than eight hundred “Merrie Melodies” and “Looney Tunes” cartoons produced between 1930 and 1969. The book provides plots and release dates and a history of the studio. Also included is information about the creative staff, directors, writers, and voices of the characters, most of which were supplied by Mel Blanc. Highlighted are the most famous cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweetie Pie, Daffy Duck, and the Roadrunner.
The second cartoon book by Friedwald and Beck is Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. The third. Warner Bros. Animation Art: The Characters, the Creators, the Limited Editions, pays tribute, as did the previous books, to directors such as Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Bob McKimson, Tex Avery, and Chuck Jones.
Friedwald's Jazz Singing: America’s Great Voices from Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond was called “a keen exploration of the seminal figures of song and the evolution of the art form.” Friedwald considers Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby to be two of the most important influences on popular singing rooted in jazz. The singers he focuses on have voices based in the blues, jazz, and pop, but all have been inspired by jazz.
Most books about Frank Sinatra have concentrated on his personal life, his Rat Pack, and his celebrity. In Sinatra! The Song Is You Friedwald talks about Sinatra’s music and career, his beginnings as a big band singer and his recordings, from the earlier releases for Columbia and Capitol to his 1970s recordings for the Reprise label. In writing this tribute Friedwald talked to musicians, particularly Sinatra’s long-time guitarist A1 Viola, and contemporaries, such as Tony Bennett and Jo Stafford. Friedwald credits Sinatra’s arrangers - Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Axel Stordahl, and Gordon Jenkins. Riddle collaborated with Sinatra on twenty-one albums. Friedwald called two of these Sinatra’s best. Songs for Swing-in Lovers celebrates new love. Only the Lonely is a collection of tunes about heartbreak.
Tony Bennett collaborated with Friedwald in writing his memoir The Good Life.
Friedwald has written for newspapers that include the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Village Voice, Newsday, New York Observer, and New York Sun - and for magazines that include Entertainment Weekly, Oxford American, New York, Mojo, BBC Music Magazine, Stereo Review, and American Heritage.