The Brill Building, located at 1619 Broadway in Manhattan, was home to the publishing firm of Aldon Music. Formed by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins, Aldon Music was dedicated to creating songs focused on the teenager, but with musical sophistication. Songwriting teams from the Brill Building were the most prolific in the rock and roll era. Goffin and King, Greenfield and Sedaka, and Mann all worked in this building.
As the simplistic, romantic and melodic music of the mid 19060's faded, singer songwriters began to emerge. Carole King was disenchanted with "assembly line" songwriting began writing more introspective and more personal, expressive songs. She was just one of the many artists who called the Brill Building their home during the 1960's and 1970's. Historically, there was a great divide between the songwriter and the recording artist, and it was the writers from the Brill Building who first bridged that divide, becoming the first singer-songwriters. Many artists from the Brill Building are shown below. It's amazing what talent came out of that building.
The building still exists, but has now become general office space. The singer/songwriter era of the 1960's and 1970's will probably never be duplicated. Think of the hundreds of classic songs that came from this talented group of artists. We're still singing their songs today, a testament to the staying power of great music.
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