In these autobiographical writings, one of the twentieth century's most influential musicians describes his own life and relates anecdotes of his dealings with such notable figures as George Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Fats Waller. Shilkret's writing also discloses an insider's view of the 1930's radio broadcasting scene and the burgeoning corporations that sponsored it. Appendixes list Shilkret compositions, tracks of commercially-available Shilkret recordings, motion pictures in whose production Shilkret was involved, and more. An extensive discography, bibliography, and index make the work useful to researchers and historians. A selected sample of never-before commercially-available recordings by Nathaniel Silkret and the Symphonic Pops is included on the audio CD packaged with the book.