The Real Book and Fake Books in All Keys and Styles
Fake books are large compilations of the tunes that musicians most commonly need to know to meet the demands of their audience. The lineage of fake books go back to the bootleg song sheets of the 1930s and the Tune-Dex song reference cards of the 1940s. But the most popular of the bootleg fake books originated at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. During the 1974-75 school year, two students created a bootleg fake book they called "The Real Book", because they tried to notate the authentic chord changes and melodic lines that professional jazz musicians would really play. This was in response to the simplified and un-hip changes shown in commercial fake books up to that time.
The Real Book
With its 400 tunes enabling musicians to have a more hip and contemporary repertoire, The Real Book was an immense underground success. The problem was that the books were illegally produced and distributed, without any regard to copyright law, or royalties paid to the composers who created the musical masterpieces. In those pre-Internet days, the Real Book was distributed illegally from musician to musician, typically out of someone's car trunk, or if in the "right" music store the staff thought you were "OK", a Real Book might appear from under the counter. This practice continues today to some extent, but the music industry is addressing it from two directions. One is through a much more vigorous prosecution of illegal books and websites under the laws of the Copyright act. The second is by making a legally authorized version of The Real Book available, and today this legal Real Book is our top seller.
Today's Real Book - Legal and Improved
We are pleased to offer our customers the first legitimate and legal editions of these books ever produced, now published legally by Hal Leonard. You won't even notice the difference, other than that all of the notorious errors have been fixed: the covers and typeface look the same, the song list is nearly identical, and the price for our edition is even cheaper than the original! Every conscientious musician will appreciate that these books are now produced accurately and ethically, benefitting the songwriters that we owe for some of the greatest tunes of all time!
