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Customer Reviews (7)

air castle of the south
a goodread. very interesting.Air Castle of the South: WSM and the Making of Music City (Music in American Life)

Legendary Radio
The Legend, WSM AM 650 is without doubt the greatest radio station that ever existed anywhere.Heard in some 38 states in the evening, WSM has brought millions ofhours of listening pleasure to millions of people since 1925.No other radio station even comes close to the programming and content of this great radio station.This book chronicles The Legend from it's infancy to it's prowness in today's radio world.Great reading and information for a true American icon and institution.

A great history of the building of Music City
Havighurst traces the history of Nashville's signature broadcaster from the very first utterance, "This is Ward-Belmont, Nashville", to the destruction of Opryland and its replacement by Opry Mills.

You'll read about how one of the most popular broadcasts for a decade was the daily passing of the Pan American passenger train. How all of the local programming was performed live in the studios at Seventh and Union, and how a couple of those shows live on today. Yes, the Grand Ole Opry and Friday Night Opry. You'll read about the Opry from the very beginning, including details about all of its former homes. You'll read how Nashvillians turned their nose at this hillbilly music and how the show survived and thrived despite local indifference. Some wanted to cancel it, but it was just too popular.

Read how a local insurance company turned a small promotional gadget into a media empire, how a man from Oklahoma saved that empire when the insurance company morphed into American General and discarded the entertainment business, and how that empire was nearly destroyed by corporate greed and ineptness.

You'll read how the Ryman escaped the wrecking ball. How the recording industry was born in Nashville by a group of moonlighting radio engineers. The term "Music City" was coined on WSM.

Two radio stations. Nashville's first TV station. Two cable networks. The Ryman Auditorium. The Wildhorse Saloon. The General Jackson. Opry Mills. And of course the beloved Opryland.

It all came from one radio station. The story is amazing. I enjoyed this book, and if you have any interest in learning about the building of Music City, you will too.

A pleasure to read
This book is a fascinating, engaging read.It feels more like a great story than a history book, but is a really interesting insight into the beginnings of WSM, the early history of radio, country music, the Opry, the start of many a famous name in broadcasting, and Nashville itself.Thoroughly enjoyable, I would recommend this to every reader I know.

Well Done!!
Havighurst has compiled a tremendous amount of information on this subject into a story which comes to life. I can't imagine any one writing a more definitive work on WSM and that era. He has succeeded, for this reader, into making WSM a living, breathing character unto itself within this story. I'm not even a huge country music fan but no matter, Havighurst's storytelling style and obvious passion for telling this story won me over early on. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. He made me feel as if I was right there in the early days of radio, watching and listening as all the early pioneers of the industry shaped the airwaves. Great read for anyone interested in how radio began and evolved and it's impact on not only country music but the world as well. ... Read more

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A journey to the main public venue for the most vigorous American folk music tradition ... Read more

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Jimmy Martin was just twenty-two years old when Bill Monroe asked him to join the Blue Grass Boys.That invitation was the start of a career that spanned half a century and culminated with MartinÂ's induction into the International Bluegrass Music AssociationÂ's Hall of Honor.Always an enigmatic figure, Martin was as famous for his temper as he was for his talent.

On assignment from the Oxford American magazine, fiction writer and music critic Tom Piazza drove from his home in New Orleans to Nashville to interview Martin and found himself pitched headlong into a world he couldnÂ't have anticipated.MartinÂ's mercurial personality drew the writer into a series of escalating encounters (with mean dogs, broken-down cars, and near electrocution), culminating in a harrowing and unforgettable expedition, with Martin, to the Grand Ole Opry.

Though, or perhaps because, visits to the Opry like the one Piazza recounts were common for Martin, and though he frequently played on its stage and always hoped to become a member, he died before seeing his dream fulfilled.True Adventures with the King of Bluegrass is the funny, scary, and powerfully poignant portrait of one of the legends of American music.

Co-published with the Country Music Foundation Press ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

True Adventures with the King of Bluegrass: Jimmy Martin
The book was informative but a bit disappointing in that it did not cover Mr. Martin's early life.It is a shame that a man with such potential ended up as an alcoholic.

So-so sketch
This is a pretty thin book in more than one way. The article that takes most of the room here is rambling and somewhat amateurishly-written (and poorly edited: "alright"? "Try and arrange..."?) The long sequence backstage at the Opry is interesting and cringe-inducing, but does little really to add any depth to the personality--just a longer look at a tiresome drunk, very sad.

Jimmy Martin is a fascinating, larger-than-life figure, to be sure, and this does give a taste of that, but it's an article, not a book. There's a possibly useful overview of Martin's recordings at the back.

A great, albeit quick, read!
I'm so tired of music biographies where the subject is either villainized or practically canonized; none of us are perfect saints, nor are we completely evil.That's why I always find it refreshing when a writer presents the true person, most of whom are a little of both.Piazza has done that here.

Martin is something of a tragic figure; a mad genius.In candid interviews, Piazza has found all the good in the man, as well as peeled back some of the bad.He shows that if Martin had been born in another era, or been a king of another genre, he would have been a hero, but in the holier-than-thou bluegrass scene, the hard-living Martin was considered something of a black sheep, despite his obvious brilliance.

This is a great book, and definitely one of the best music biographies ever written.

A Snapshot of the King of Bluegrass
Tom Piazza has written a piece which captures with photographic detail several hours spent in the company of the Mad 3-chord Genius (as Marty Stuart writes in his forward) and Self-Proclaimed King of Bluegrass, Jimmy Martin.This "book" is essentially a fleshed out magazine article, but it's a good one.Less than 100 pages and written in a style that moves right along while giving you a "you are there" first person sense,it's an enlightening way to pass an hour or two.

Mr. Piazza has a keen and insightful sense of Jimmy Martin's musical genius and place in Bluegrass History, and to me the most poignant moments in the book are when the writer is moving to shield or protect the intoxicated, loud-mouthed King of Bluegrass from injuring his already mussed reputation.As he observes, much of what makes Jimmy Martin "great" also dooms him to the edges of the limelight and that Grand Ol' Opry Membership that Jimmy Martin yearns for so badly will likely never happen, exactly for the reason of his unwillingness to back down or compromise.

This isn't a "biography" so much as a thumbnail sketch of who Jimmy Martin is framed in a skillful depiction of a few volatile hours spent with a prime example of the "Tortured Artist".

I can't help but wonder if a well-written first-person account of a weekend spent with Van Gogh would have been eerily similar.

sequel please!!!
What a great little book!

Jimmy Martin, arguably the greatest bluegrass singer who ever lived, is one of music's most colorful and fascinating studies.I've seen films about him, and even wrote a song about him ("Jimmy Martin", recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recently), and listened to many recordings.This book gracefully captures the absurdity of the singer's life, a wry yet sympathetic document.

Marty Stuart's introduction is fabulous and makes me want to read his book as well.

This is one of the few books I've ever read where I'm audibly laughing.It is a hilarious, frightening, and sad ride.I just wish it was longer. ... Read more

Product Description
Bluegrass, folk, blues, Cajun, Celtic, and country music---these traditional genres have recently fostered a popular explosion of music and dance festivals throughout the United States. From Every Stage: Twenty Years of America's Roots Music is a photo narrative, capturing the emotion, excitement, and energy of performances by greats and up-and-comers in the broad spectrum of roots-derived music in America.

Stephanie P. Ledgin brings thirty years of writing and photojournalism to this lavishly illustrated book. Two hundred photographs, 130 black-and-white and 70 color, depict singers, instrumentalists, and dancers in action and in unguarded, spontaneous backstage moments.

Folk icons Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie and Odetta grace the stage. The stars of bluegrass shine in photos of Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, David Grisman, Ricky Skaggs, and Béla Fleck. Scottish fiddle wizard Johnny Cunningham, fiery Irish fiddler Eileen Ivers, Piedmont blues guitarist John Jackson, and "zydeco" Queen Ida join such legendary artists as John Hartford, Doc Watson, and Jean Ritchie. Country greats Emmylou Harris, Marty Stuart, Wynonna Judd, Randy Travis, and comedienne Minnie Pearl perform at prestigious venues. Finally, several interviews with pivotal personalities, all published here for the first time, lend voice and character to this trove of images.

An eloquent foreword by CBS News Sunday Morning anchor Charles Osgood, also host of The Osgood File, provides entrée to this vibrant panorama. ... Read more

Product Description
Louisiana Fiddlers shines light on sixty-two of the bayou state's most accomplished fiddlers of the twentieth century. Author Ron Yule outlines the lives and times of these performers, who represent a multitude of fiddling styles including Cajun, country, western swing, zydeco, bluegrass, Irish, contest fiddling, and blues.

Featuring over 150 photographs, this volume provides insight into the "fiddlin' grounds" of Louisiana. Yule chronicles the musicians' varied appearances from the stage of the Louisiana Hayride, honky tonks, dancehalls, house dances, radio and television, and festivals, to the front porch and other more casual venues. The brief sketches include observations on musical travels, recordings, and family history.

Nationally acclaimed fiddlers Harry Choates, Dewey Balfa, Dennis McGee, Michael Doucet, Rufus Thibodeaux, and Hadley Castille share space with relatively unknown masters such as Mastern Brack, "Cheese" Read, John W. Daniel, and Fred Beavers. Each player has helped shape the regionÂ's rich musical tradition. ... Read more

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Award-winning oral history, with over 100 historical photographs, takes an entertaining look at the folkways and colorful character of rural fiddlers in the Midwest in the early 1900s. The text and images celebrate the days of "house party" socials, barn dances, and old-time fiddler contests, based on interviews by the author with elder musicians and dancers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fascinating look at our WI music tradition
I read this cover to cover and it is a fascinatin glimpse into our cultural past here in WI.I very much enjoyed the pictures and the vignettes of fiddlers.It is definitely not a dry university text.
Inna Larsen, member of the hardanger fiddlers association of America

Rural Roots Music
The fiddlers featured in this book generally play the old-time fiddle tunes that form an important base for contemporary musical forms such as bluegrass, western swing, country and western, and other genres.There are terrific photographs of fiddlers and good stories from the musicians' life experiences.The book provides a great background on square dance and local music-making traditions, and the engaging presentation of the photographs adds to the undertanding of the social context and history of American fiddling.

Great pictures & stories
That pretty much says it all, I guess.One caveat: the book deals pretty much exclusively with Wisconsin fiddlers & traditions, so "the rural midwest" isn't really an accurate description of the area covered.

Delightful book about old fiddling in Wisconsin
"Farmhouse Fiddlers Music and Dance Traditions in the Rural Midwest" by Phil Martin

In far too many homes, "Grandpa'sfiddle" adorns a wall, is tucked away under a bed, or stored in theattic, never again to ring out the old tunes, nor to collect the dust ofdancers. Our nation's tradition of house-party fiddling has largely beenstilled, though there are many areas where fiddling is still strong, thoughprimarily because of bluegrass and contest fiddling. We are fortunate thatthere are those willing to spend the effort to seek out those who were apart of the old traditions and share their memories with us.

The past hasalways been intriguing, yet enigmatic; it belongs to us, yet itdoesn't--understanding it takes a special sort of knowledge, which PhilMartin sought out and presents in his book, "Farmhouse Fiddlers."The author explains, through narrative and quotation, the way peopleentertained themselves, retelling tales of fiddling and dancing gatheredfrom those who lived during the era of the close-knit farm community. Mr.Martin's book gives a compelling, slightly romanticized view of the life ofnorthern farmers, primarily of Wisconsin, and how they lived--his tellingreminiscent of the sentimentality of a Garrison Keillor-told tale or KenBurns' series, "The Civil War". It is interesting that fiddlinghas become such a sentimental link to our past, reminding us of simplertimes and wholesomeness--surprisingly so, considering how the fiddle wasonce viewed by some as the "devil's box."

Although wellresearched, this book is not a textbook, nor is it presented with thestuffiness and "folklore-bigotry" I have come to expect fromfolklorists, although there are plenty of notes cited in the text. Nor isit a tunebook; there is nary a note of music in it. It is a book to read,enjoy, and leave on one's coffee table. It explains much about the societyof that era and might lead the reader to muse on the problems of our ownsociety, by comparison. The reader will find tales of fiddlers and othermusicians, stories of traveling bands, accounts of how things evolved,waxed and waned, regarding fiddling, music, instrumentation, travel, work,neighborhoods, and towns. The author first sets the ambience of the farmcommunity with narrative, then uses quotations to bring a more in-depth,personalized view of the social structure of the time. He also makes gooduse of interesting old photographs, which are well reproduced.

If you areinterested in "days-gone-by", fiddling, dancing, or Wisconsin,this book will tickle your fancy. I found the book to be quite interesting,though at the beginning, when narrative dominates, I feared the book wouldlack "punch." As I read further, though, I found myself more andmore interested in descriptions of how and why the old traditions began andended, thoughtfully explained through the use of quotations. In this dayand age, when it seems everything can be explained in a contrived 30 minutetelevision show, this book refreshingly gives us insight, and a feeling ofhome. ... Read more

Product Description
This book provides information on some 14,500 recordings of 3,500 old-time folk and country songs recorded between 1921 and 1942. Each performance receives a full citation, including the date and place of recording, original and variant artist, and title credits. Whenever possible, songs are traced back to their original lyricists and composers or to major published and unpublished folksong collections. Entries are grouped into broad subject categories: ballads, popular songs, religious songs, and instrumentals.

Based on 35 years of research in public and private collections of recordings, broadsides, pamphlets, and sheet music, this valuable resource allows a fresh understanding of pre-World War II country music and its intricate connections to the blues, old world folk music, and the broad spectrum of American popular song. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Country Music Sources
This is a well-researched discography of early folk and country recorded music by the late Gus Meade.It was completed and published after his passing with the able assistance of Dick Spottswood, a noted music archivist from the Washington, D.C. area.
The selections are sorted by the subject matter of the music which makes it a little difficult to zero in on a specific recording by recording label or artist.Even so, navigation is not that difficult and the references provided are invaluable formusic historians and collectors alike.
This is a necessary addition to the library of anyone interested in collecting music and recordings from the first half of the 20th century.I have been able to find additional detail about the many 78 rpm discs in my collection that is not available from any other source.

The most useful book in my library
Since I got this for Christmas, I have probably used it several dozen times.I use it mainly to cross reference songs on my Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Americana collections but really it could serve as the bedrock of any thesis on early American music.This is a fine book, put together by Meade and many others.

DJ & Collectors' Delight
What a wonderful job Gus Meade in putting this thing together. I wasn't fully sure what to expect, but the organization and thoroughness of the research makes this one of the most accessible books of discographical information ever printed. Yes, there are classification categories that I might have wanted to see used, but this is a minor cavil in the face of the all the ones that are used.

a magnificent achievement
This is one of those books that was a "life's work" for its principal author (Gus Meade), but we never would have seen the fruits of his labor without the help of two colleagues who completed this volume after his death--his son Douglas and leading folk scholar Dick Spottswood.It is the most valuable listing of traditional music I have ever seen, everything from British ballads to topical songs, cowboy songs, minstrel music, sentimental songs, blues and hornpipes!There is a wide range of 19th century music here, and some from the early 1900s.Pre-1942 recordings of the songs are listed (including LP/CD reissues), but the book is also valuable for its citations of early published versions (including songbooks), composer/author credits and commentary on the often-similar songs.For anyone interested in the field of traditional American music, this volume is a must. ... Read more

Product Description
Exploring Roots Music: Twenty Years of the JEMF Quarterly reprints twenty-seven representative articles published in the JEMF Quarterly over the years, until it ceased publication in 1985. It also includes many illustrations and an introduction that seeks to place the journal in historical perspective and illuminate its central importance to the study of American culture. It will be of interest to all who appreciate the value of our vernacular music and care about its preservation--folklorists, musicians, record collectors, librarians, archivists, record producers, and most of all, those who merely love to listen to the m ... Read more

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Country music is booming in Britain. In America, country artists enter the Pop charts at No. 1. Here is a compendium of all of country music's great performers, writers, muscians and producers, among them Tammy Wynette, Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline, K d Lang, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson ...It includes names not normally associated with country - Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and Costello, and Ray Charles - and enbraces related genres, such as Cajun and bluegrass. ... Read more

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With country music as popular as ever-what other form of music has been honored on an official state quarter? Country Music’s Most Wanted hits the stage to bring you tales of country music’s famous and infamous.

Alan Jackson delivered mail to Hee Haw before he made it big. Garth Brooks was booed off the stage during an eleventh-grade talent show. Kris Kristofferson landed a borrowed helicopter on Johnny Cash’s lawn so he could pitch Cash a song. You’ll read about Vernon Dalhart, Kenny Chesney, Hank Williams, The Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw, the Carters, the Cashes, the Webbs, and so many more artists of yesterday and today. With more than fifty lists, Country Music’s Most Wanted gives you those stories and people, plus fun discussions of the best train songs, phone call songs, humorous songs, and tequila songs (you provide the salt and limes).

Country music’s vibrant past, successful present, and bright future are all represented in this humorous look at the stars and legends of Music City. From the first million-selling record in 1924 to the songs you heard on the radio last night, Country Music’s Most Wanted has a tractor-full of fun country music trivia! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Cream of the Crop
There are a lot of trivia books on the market. Most of them do not live up to their hype or our hope. This book is a happy exception. Peppiatt manages to have it both ways -- it is a fast-moving collection of short, punchy, themed chapters, while at the same time, it goes into some obscure, loving, fascinating detail. It also covers a great deal of ground on the country landscape, from recounting the time Garth Brooks was booed off the stage at an 11th grade talent show; to Ferlin Husky's alter egos, Simon Crum and Terry Preston; to Six Degrees of Red Foley. All in all, it's something any fan of country music will devour, and it just might make a few non-fans want to hear more. Good job! ... Read more

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Throughout his career, Johnny Cash has been depicted -- and has depicted himself -- as a walking contradiction: social protestor and establishment patriot, drugged wildman and devout Christian crusader, rebel outlaw hillbilly thug and elder statesman. Leigh H. Edwards explores the allure of this paradoxical image and its cultural significance. She argues that Cash embodies irresolvable contradictions of American identity that reflect foundational issues in the American experience, such as the tensions between freedom and patriotism, individual rights and nationalism, the sacred and the profane. She illustrates how this model of ambivalence is a vital paradigm for American popular music, and for American identity in general. Making use of sources such as Cash's autobiographies, lyrics, music, liner notes, and interviews, Edwards pays equal attention to depictions of Cash by others, such as Vivian Cash's publication of his letters to her, documentaries and music journalism about him, Walk the Line, and fan club materials found in the archives at the Country Music Foundation in Nashville, to create a full portrait of Cash and his significance as a cultural icon.

Customer Reviews (4)

Putting Cash in perspective
Leigh Edwards does a fine job of showing how complex the world of country music is; the genre is so often written off as simplistic, but many of the truly good performers are real artists with genuinely paradoxical works and images.

Edwards has done her research and the combination of archival, scholarly, and fan materials provides a more complete picture of Cash and his place in American music.

Questioning Gender is Looking for Trouble
Like the "Boy Named Sue" who wants to kill his evil father but then forgives him for having given him a girl's name, I was put off at first by the perspective adopted in this book, but (to borrow from the song's lyrics), "I came away with a different point of view".

Leigh Edwards makes heavy use of academic jargon and political correctness. Introducing the issue of race relations in the first pages of her book, she states in the endnotes that she uses the term "American Indian" as "the most commonly used term in current academic discussions, but [she does so] with the knowledge that the issue of naming for indigenous groups is a contested one because of the power dynamics of colonialism and imperialism." Likewise, she underscores that she uses the name "America" as a placeholder, but notes that "the term is contested in much American studies scholarship".

Placing "America" between quotation marks at first seemed to me like putting the innocent behind bars, or desecrating the Ragged Old Flag. Johnny Cash, for one, never used brackets or put gloves when talking about the issues he cared about. He had no qualms about calling a Pima Indian: a Pima Indian. He talked straight, and his songs have the immediacy of truthfulness.

Bono, the singer from the Irish band U2, once declared that "nothing is as macho as Johnny Cash's voice". And he added: "We're all sissies in comparison to him." But Leigh Edwards takes a girlie perspective on Johnny Cash and, in doing so, she sissifies him. For her, Johnny Cash's identity is ambivalent: he first establishes a heroic working-class masculinity and then explores the uncertainties and "queerness" in that identity. She goes as far as endorsing the radical assertion of another media critic who claimed Cash as a lesbian icon "because he allows fans to identify with troubled and suffering masculinity". Questioning gender is looking for trouble. Remember that in A Boy Named Sue the hit-and-run father declares that he gave his son a girl's name to harden him because "Son, this world is rough and if a man's gonna make it, he gotta be tough."

The author explains that "As a literary critic, my method of interpretation is to analyze thoroughly the polyvalence of cultural texts and to place them in relevant socio-historical and theoretical contexts." But is a gender perspective really relevant to assess Cash's contribution to the American psyche? And why all this emphasis on class and race, when all that seemed to matter to Cash was his personal relationship with God? "I'm a Christian, don't put me in another box", he once warned an interviewer. And he remarked: "Being a Christian is not for sissies."

At least that's what I thought. But as I wrote in the beginning, this book confronted me with another perspective, and I came away with a different point of view. For a start, I realized that gender issues are not only limited to women, nor even to "troubled masculinities". Macho types and straight shooters, too, can be the subject of a gender analysis. Likewise, the local context of "working-class Southern whites" is relevant to the topic at hand, if only to understand the "Southernization of America" that didn't start nor stop with a president hailing from Texas. Country music is as much Dixie Chicks as it is Toby Keith.

As the author shows, Cash's persona brings disparate or even opposed ideologies into close relationship with one another. Cash embodied the tensions in the American character without resolving them. And, in doing so, he encouraged listeners to engage with America's most fundamental paradoxes, from the violence of a free democracy founded on slavery to the whipsaw between individual rights and national identity, between patriotism and social protest.

So if a researcher wants to offer a course on Johnny Cash based on gender studies, media studies, cultural studies and the "plural masculinities' approach", so be it. But I still won't enroll in that course. As the Boy Named Sue concludes: "I still hate that name!"

New Johnny Cash book
I was so pleased with the promptness of delivery, and the book is awesome, i highly recommend it.

A fascinating analysis and multi-faceted story of an American icon!
Leigh Edwards truly captures not only another perspective of the life of Johnny Cash, but a captivating look at one person's influence on American society.This academic work, while written from a thoughtful research perspective, is a literary art that presents the impact of Johnny Cash (the man and the music) on a cultural/sub-cultural level of a pivotal era in the 20th century and beyond. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

OK!
So you hate modern Country radio, hate the corporatization of America and music, and think there's a lot of good American music out there that isn't being heard by most people.So do I, so do a lot of your subjects, and so does anyone who's likely to read this book. But that's not basis enough for an interesting book.There are a few artists who I do want to check into because I read this book, but the writing "reveals" precious little except about the author.When a writer writes repeatedly about the difficulty of obtaining interviews with people, you can be pretty sure he doesn't have much to say.

Taking a Road Less Taken
The job of covering NASCAR, which is Monte Dutton's day job, is an all-consuming endeavor if you let it be. Dutton is one of those contrarians who values his independence and insists on carving a life outside racing. True to the Roots is a result of that. Dutton provides a folksy and informative picture of real country music, which he calls Americana Music. He's taken the time, usually during his NASCAR travels, to visit little-known masters of country music in such far-flung and unlikely places as Key West, Berkeley, Ca., Chicago, New York City and Las Vegas, while also hitting the better-known locations, such as Nashville, Austin, and Luckenbach, Tex. In vignettes and profiles that are infused with his own experiences and memories, Dutton gives us a memorable snapshot of a world that is overshadowed by the commercially driven Nashville country music scene. It is a measure of the depth and reach of the book that the most memorable thing in the book for me was not about country music, but about my own profession of writing. In his fascinating profile of the great songwriter James McMurtry, son of writer Larry McMurtry, Dutton quotes the son as saying his dad told him that writing a book is "either going to work or it'll BE work." (emphasis added). This is a great lesson for any writer of books, as Dutton himself knows, having the unmitigated gall to tackle an unrelated book project while consigning the bulk of his life to writing pretty much non-stop about stock car racing.

Where the Music Is Real
I doubt that very many of you are country music fans, but I'm willing to bet that you all listen to FM radio at some point during your week, even if it's only on your car radios while you're stuck in traffic. If you listen to only one or two types of music, I'm also willing to bet that you soon grow tired of hearing the same 30-35 songs that are considered "playlist worthy" by the corporate types who decide what you should be listening to and buying. You find that you only get any real variety by switching to "oldies" stations or to an entirely different type of music. That happens to all of us because a handful of corporations, including Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting, now own the majority of the biggest FM stations in this country and they have a common playlist, by genre, for all of their stations. A listener can no longer even pick up his telephone to request a song that's not already on the playlist because local stations aren't allowed to play anything not already sanctioned by corporate headquarters.

That's bad for listeners, but it's even worse for singers and musicians who don't conform to the cookie-cutter music that the corporate types prefer to broadcast. There are thousands of singers and bands out there who scrape for a living because they refuse to conform to the mediocrity demanded by today's FM radio and because they refuse to give up their dreams. Monte Dutton's True to the Roots tells the story of a few of those dreamers who are living their dreams while making what has come to be known as Americana music.

Dutton is a writer whose main beat, the NASCAR circuit, takes him to that part of the country that thrives on the kind of music that radio largely continues to ignore. True to the Roots is the result of the numerous interviews with Americana performers that Dutton completed between late 2003 and early 2005, interviews with an articulate group of singers who all seem to be very aware that the likelihood of them becoming big recording stars is very small. They realize that they don't fit into the corporate boxes that would make that kind of success likely and they are fine with that because they believe that smoothing out their rough edges in order to fit into those boxes would be the same thing as "selling out." And that's something they refuse to do.

It's no coincidence that most of the singers interviewed by Dutton live and work in Texas. Texas is a hotbed of live music and much of it is country or Americana, by label. Live music, by uniquely wonderful singers and bands, is within a short drive of Texas music lovers pretty much seven days a week. Particularly lucky are music fans who live in or around Houston, Dallas, and especially Austin.

Since I'm one of the lucky fans who live in Houston, most of the artists interviewed by Dutton for his book were already familiar to me. But even if you've never heard of most of the people in True to the Roots, I think that you'll be intrigued with what they have to say. You might even find that they open up a whole world of music to you that you never knew existed, a world that will change forever the way that you listen to music. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not becoming curious enough to find the music of people like Billy Joe Shaver, Robert Earl Keen, Jack Ingram, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jerry Jeff Walker, Slaid Cleaves, Tom Russell, Django Walker (Jerry Jeff's son) or James McMurtry (son of author Larry McMurtry).

Along the way, Dutton also spoke with lesser-knowns who eke out a living playing in Holiday Inns or as house-bands in small clubs throughout the Southwest. They keep their dreams alive despite having to work the day jobs that make their music possible, and what they have to say is every bit as insightful as what someone like Brad Paisley, the biggest star interviewed by Dutton, has to say about the state of the music business today.

But my favorite chapter of the book is the one about James White who as a young man freshly released from the military decided to open up his own honky tonk in his old Austin neighborhood. That was 43 years ago and The Broken Spoke is still one of my favorite honky tonks in the whole state. White has seen many of country music legends come through his front doors, from Ernest Tubb to Bob Wills, but he is just as excited about providing a venue for today's musicians as he was when the legends worked his place. He realizes that he is helping keep alive the kind of root music that Nashville so shamefully neglects and discourages today. He is proud of The Broken Spoke and he should be. I'm proud of him and all those singers and pickers who make my life so much more fun than it would be without them.

A worthwhile read.
I'm not a country music or Americana music fan, or at least I wasn't before I read this book.Dutton's book was recommended to me by a friend, and when I picked it up I couldn't put it down.His writing style makes you feel like you are standing right next to him when he's speaking with some legendary, or soon-to-be legendary singers and songwriters.It's a good time and a great read.Strongly recommend! ... Read more

Product Description
Takes the reader on a journey across the seamy underbelly of country music and early rock and roll alongside a cast of hillbillies, rockabillies and wannabillies who never grabbed the spotlight but nonetheless gave their lives and talent to the music they loved. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Groovy, down-to-earth look at early country history
Biographical essays of well-known as well as fairly obscure musicians and industry types.Escott has made a career out of telling outrageous, sometimes salacious, tales -- he gets to the rawer, visceral side of the story pretty quickly, which is relatively easy when you're talking to folks who worked in the scraggly, scruffy early years of country, rock and blues.He's an engaging, consersationalwriter, and this latest collection is a delight. Includes essays on artists such as Dale Hawkins, Don Everly, Johnny Horton, Tim Hardin and a particularly cruel skewering of Pat Boone.In one of the most fascinating sections, Escott profiles the founders of record labels such as Decca, King, Starday and Hi -- a fascinating and very illuminating appoach to presenting the history of popular music.Beautifully laid out, well written and highly recommended.

Fantastic
This Book was all that.Staxx is as Important as Motown.It's a Incredible Story.especially when A Black Label Blows up Down South in the 60's.you only ever here about Sun Records &Sam Phillips and his discovery ofElvis Presley.so this is Very Important on a Social Front.The Many GreatArtists on Staxx.this Book is strong from start to Finish.

Outstanding!
This book is simply amazing. I was only marginally interested in Stax before reading the book, but you will be moved by this story.

The passion shows through and I was unable to put it down.

Out of the hundreds ofbooks I've read, this is one of the finest.

Fascinating read for C & W or Rockabilly Fans
This book is as raw and soulful as the greatest country and rockabilly music gets. Great essays on contemporay stars Dwight Yoakum and Marty Stuart (two of the few "real" artists in today'sGarth-in-the-park, yuppiefied, mall rat Urban Country scene).Also, a lookat Pat Boone (how could such a soulless singer come from Tennessee!), thegreat, but sadly forgotten Johnny Horton and an ex-country wannabe whobecame a segragationist candidate for Govenor of Mississippi.

Excellent, and exhaustive, history of 1 of Soul's best.
Bowman's love for the music and personnel of the Stax label is plainlyclear as he weaves its exciting, sometimes turbulent, history into a storythat is as entertaining as it is informative.The interviews with theinvolved parties is what makes the book what it is, elevating the historyfrom what could be a dry textbook, to a feel of a story told over dinner. The demise of Stax is truly a heartbreaking story that reflects America's,and specifically the South's, experience of the time.Fantastic work! ... Read more

Product Description
You Wrote My Life explores country lyrics through perceptive essays by leading historians, sociologists and observers of American culture. Essayists including Charles Reagan Wilson, James C. Cobb and Ruth Banes consider the country music audience and many of the social issues featured in the songs by looking deeply into our culture, these commentators reveal the heart and soul of America's favorite popular music. ... Read more

Product Description
This book highlights 50 of the most important entertainers in contemporary country music, providing a brief biography of each artist with special emphasis on experiences that influenced their musical careers. The artists are divided into five categories: "The New Traditionalists" (artists such as George Strait, Reba McEntire, and Clint Black who established the mainstream country sound in the 1980s); "Alternative Country" (artists such as Steve Earle and Bela Fleck who made country music on their own terms); "Groups" (ensemble acts such as Alabama, the Dixie Chicks, and Rascal Flatts that have carried on the traditions of the Carter Family and other prominent groups of the 1920s and 1930s); "Country-Pop" (artists such as Garth Brooks and Shania Twain who firmly established the "countrypolitan" sound as the cash cow of Nashville); and "New Country" (the next generation of country-pop artists, with particular attention paid to international megastars such as Keith Urban, and teen sensations, including LeAnn Rimes and Taylor Swift). ... Read more

Product Description
Mark Heard was an enigmatic singer/songwriter whose impact on Folk/Country Rock continues despite his death in 1992. Artists such as Buddy and Julie Miller, Bruce Cockburn, Brooks Williams, and Pierce Pettis all acknowledge his legacy as a songwriter and impact on them personally. This book will highlight Mark's lyrics and photography and remember him through the words of his closest friends and family. This book is accompanied by a double CD set of previously unreleased music entitled 'All She Wanted Was Love'. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

disappointingly bland
I will keep this short to avoid being cruel:this has to be the first book written by the author.I bought it hoping to gain insight into the intriguing work of an obscure musician but instead found bland cliche after cliche in what amounts to a collection of anecdotal recollections and needless detail , with little expansion on Heard's life beyond his everyday tedium.It explores Mark's spiritual journey but with little depth.This disorganized history is repetitious, dull and just a monotonous read.I know there has to be more depth to this life but a litany of accolades, all similar, (and pages of lyrics that can be found on the records)is very unsatisfying.
Skip this, listen to the records.

for mark heard fans only
I bought this book hoping it would be like Christy Moore's superb autobiography, "One Voice: My Life In Song", in other words something that helps me look more closely at his lyrics and really understand logically what inspired each one and the story behind each one (along with learning about the author). It does not do that, and in fact is a very different sort of book: a tribute by some friends. If you don't count yourself a fan, don't buy this book; just listen to the music.But if you loved Mark Heard, this book will both drive you nuts for its lack of organization, and fascinate you for hours as you try to pull the details out of it like a Chinese puzzle. It would have been nice if Dickerson had had a very tough and clear, organized editor to force him into more order here. But considering how hard (he says) it was to get this into print in the first place, it's a welcome tribute that I'll return to (for the lyrics) for a long time. Still, do buy the music.

Treasure of the Broken Land
Even if you don't have the foggiest idea who Mark Heard was, you should read this book if you are haunted by beauty or if you struggle with the holy terror of trying to figure out how to live out your vocation in a world that has "packaged our virtues in cellulose dreams/ and sold us the remnants `till our pockets are clean.""Hammers and Nails", like Heard's music that inspired it, is by turns deeply probing, morally profound, gravely sad, and indefatigably and tenaciously joyful.Heard wrestled with a gift that was both a vocation to art and a cross to bear.Dickerson's book follows the "tricks of the tracks" as Heard "sails down the rails" of his life, and the ride is a good one, if tragically brief.Even if it only included Heard's article on making music (written for Image, a journal of the arts and religion); or even if it only contained the numerous poems and song lyrics by Heard that are scattered throughout; or again, even if it only contained Dickerson's reminiscences and meditations on the meaning of music, art, vocation, and life, it would be worth the price.The fact that it has all these woven into the tapestry that was Heard's too-brief life makes it a book worth owning.My fear is that this book, like Heard's my-God-why-did-he-have-to-die-so-young music, will be neglected by an age that cares not to be disturbed by beauty, preferring trifles and slapdash cosmetics to a profound engagement with the severe beauty of life.Heard's life and music will comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and Dickerson's book is an introduction to that music that I hope will ensure that Heard does not go unheard.(I should add that Dickerson's other recent book, "Following Gandalf", is similarly profound, readable, and delightful.)

Mark Heard a good biography for a great artist!
I have been an admirer of Mark Heard's music for several years now and was pleased to read about this book's release.It is much less a straightforward biography and much more a book of reflections from a long and distinguished group of friends (Pierce Pettis, Buddy and Julie Miller, Tonio K and T-Bone Burnette).I was very interested in the chapters dealing with Mark's opinions on popular culture, his dealings with the church, and "CCM" music industry.The only drawback to the book was the large amount of song lyrics presented, which after awhile seemed more and more like filler. I thought the book would have been more interesting if the author would have presented Mark's journal writings instead, but beyond that the book was a fascinating read.

As an added bonus Hammers & Nails features some of Mark's photography. ... Read more

Product Description
This handsome illustrated history traces the transformation of the banjo from primitive folk instrument to sophisticated musical machine and, in the process, offers a unique view of the music business in nineteenth-century America.

Philip Gura and James Bollman chart the evolution of "America's instrument," the five-stringed banjo, from its origins in the gourd instruments of enslaved Africans brought to the New World in the seventeenth century through its rise to the very pinnacle of American popular culture at the turn of the twentieth century. Throughout, they look at how banjo craftsmen and manufacturers developed, built, and marketed their products to an American public immersed in the production and consumption of popular music.

With over 250 illustrations—including rare period photographs, minstrel broadsides, sheet music covers, and banjo tutors and tune books— America's Instrument brings to life a fascinating aspect of American cultural history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

excellent book
this book is an excellent overview and history of the Banjo. It is only for those really interested in the pedigree of this great instrument.

An Important book but not what you think it is.
If you buy this book because the title might indicate it is an overall look at the banjo, its playing, its musics, and its place in society, that is not what this book is or pretends to be.

This is a history of the physical development of the banjo and its construction and manufacture during the 19th Century.There are some small references to the different musics the instrument was used for, but not many. There is elaborate and detailed discussion of the main lines of construction of the banjos during this period.The authors also write well and thoroughly about the business dynamics of the chief producers
of the banjo during the 19th Century.

While this book is obviously the work of two of leading banjo collectors in the world and of interest to banjoists and instrument makers of all kinds, it is an important picture of America social and economic history as well. Someone interested in the rise and development of capitalist industry, fetishism of "the finer things in life" by the middle class, and how culture wars were waged in the 19th Century would profit from reading this book.

For the artistically inclined there are a number of beautiful plates of 19th Century Banjos as works of art. It is clear that the authorspriviledge the decoration and physical beauty of the instruments as much as they do the instruments "playability."

This work is great in itself.I found it very readable and believe someone who did not know much about banjos would also find this readable.

If you are interested in the social and cultural history of the instrument to the present day, what you need is
That Half-Barbaric Twang: The Banjo in American Popular Culture Culture by Karen Linn.

If you are interested in the African origin of the instrument, its development from African playing styles, as well as the roots of contemporary "frailing" and clawhammer and much else about the musical tradition of the banjo, especially as used in traditional folk musictry African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia: A Study of Folk Traditions by Cecelia Conway. Both books are available here on Amazon

Impressive book that seems like a museum exhibit's companion
If one were to collect instruments, art and ephemera to organize and document an exhibition about the banjo, a good place to start would be to review Gura's and Bollman's "America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century." This impressive book actually seems like a comprehensive companion to a museum's exhibition which could have the same name, and I could envision such a treatise being a museum gift shop's best-seller.

James Bollman is recognized as one of our Nation's foremost banjo collectors, and his outstanding assortment of Victorian-era banjos and related paraphernalia is one of the finest in the world. He was very pivotal as a project consultant to the fine exhibition that took place in 1984 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology called "Ring the Banjar!: The Banjo in America from Folklore to Factory," curated by Robert Lloyd Webb.That exhibit's catalogue had some wonderful information, photographs and illustrations. After seeing it, I was personally inspired to research and write an article about "Banjos at the Smithsonian Institution" which subsequently appeared in Bluegrass Unlimited magazine (Vol. 27, No. 5, November, 1992).

Philip Gura, historian and Professor of English and American Studies at the University of North Carolina, is an expert in the history and culture of America's music industry. I found Gura's 2003 charming book, "C.F. Martin and His Guitars 1976-1873," to be well-researched, thoughtfully written, beautifully illustrated, and professionally executed.

In "America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century," Gura and Bollman begin by documenting the banjo's evolution from the plantation to the stage. An interesting overview of the minstrel tradition and early performers is given. The authors show how the popularity of banjos increased, largely due toeffective marketing. As the banjo made its way from the minstrel stage to Victorian parlors and concert halls, the physical development of the instrument was also affected. Part III of the book addresses "selling the banjo to all America," focusing on the efforts of Philadelphia's S.S. Stewart. It's interesting that Stewart's adoption of the "cause" of the banjo (nothing short of everything about it) set him apart from other makers. The book's fourth part, "manufacturing the real thing," delves into how the Boston banjo makers (Fairbanks, Cole) began to challenge Stewart's preeminence in the mid-1880s and eventually design and build the acknowledged standards of the banjo world.

Ragtime is given cursory treatment in this book. Another direction that banjo music took was into classical music, and the book could have devoted something to that incarnation of the instrument. I found it curious that this book makes no mention of Alfred A. Farland, "the progressive banjoist," who caused quite a stir in the banjo world in the mid-1890s when he played concertos, Beethoven sonatas, and even Rossini's "William Tell Overture" on the instrument. He was also known as the "Scientific Banjoist of Pittsburgh, Pa."

It also becomes quite apparent that the major banjo makers in the late 19th Century were located mainly in the urban north, and the great majority of major makers are discussed. However, this book should have at least acknowledged J.B. Schall, from Chicago, who built a large number of banjos about 1870-1907. Of a list of manufacturers of "classic" banjos in Akira Tsumura's "Banjos: The Tsumura Collection," most are addressed. Rettberg & Lange (New York 1897-1929) aren't mentioned, and only very brief mention is made of Weymann & Son (who made banjos in Philadelphia from 1864-1935) and Charles Bobzin (who operated in Detroit from 1892-1915).

While this book is beautifully laid out with over 250 illustrations, some of the very special banjos featured in the MIT exhibition, at the Smithsonian Institution, and in private collections such as Akira Tsumura's or David Vachon's, might have further enhanced Gura and Bollman's book. Some of the instruments are credited as from the collection of Peter Szego or Philip Gura, and the other uncredited photographs are apparently from the extensive collection of James Bollman. While the many full page color illustrations are definitely nice, perhaps the book could've added many more by placing two to four per page. Banjo afficinados typically enjoy such "eye candy," and photos speak a thousand words.

Keep in mind that this book only covers the banjo in the 19th Century. There is a cursory link to the banjo in the 20th Century, and there's only minor mention of firms such as Gibson, Paramount, Bacon and Day, and Weymann. While the authors state that "the stories of these companies and their instruments are fairly well known and...belong to the history of the new century," I hope that Gura and Bollman will consider pulling all these tales together into a sequel that documents the banjo in the Twentieth Century. All in all, they've done a very fine job covering a hundred years of the instrument's early history in America. Banjo-players and others interested in the instrument's history should certainly add this book to their library.(Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

A must for banjo ladies
James Bollman's collection of banjos and banjo memorabilia is stunning and this volume may be the only way in which I would ever be able to view it in my home a photograph at a time. The history is a resource for historians and reenactors alike.The vintage photos are mostly ones I've never seen before. This collection has the most vintage photos of lady banjo playersI have ever seen. The 1860's photo of a young woman playing the banjo on page 93 has enough detail for a reenactor to duplicate her dress and accessories as well as her banjo. The same is true of an 1895 photograph of a woman playing a Fairbanks Electric. The turn of the century all woman banjo band on page 10 is inspiring. It's great to know that there have always been lady banjo players and these photos give the lady reenactor a place tostart when planning a period costume to go with a period banjo.There is a section of breath taking color plates in this book that allow you not only to see detail on some rare banjos, but also depict antique banjo clocks and memorabilia. I never knew such pieces existed until this book. A great book and a must have for anyone interested in vintage instruments and pickers.

Another "must have" for vintage banjo lovers and collectors
At last, another important book has emerged to stand with the few other necessary references on early American 5-string banjos.

Unlike the two fine Tsumura books which are primarily photographic essays of considerablemagnitude, Gura and Bollman's treatise combines a highly readable andinformed history with a remarkable collection of rare antique photographsand ephemera plus 4 lengthy sections of recent photographs of exquisiteinstruments and banjo related objects.Any one of these three aspectswould be sufficient reason to own the book.

The frequently startling andpersonal photographs impart a very human feeling as we progress through thestory of the evolution of the banjo in American culture.Amazingly, theyrepresent just a minor fraction of Jim Bollman's immensecollection.

Special praise is due Peter Szego for his magnificentphotographs of the wonderful early banjos from his own collection.

I findit hard to remain objective as I turn the pages and imagine what it musthave been like to pose for one of those Dageurreotypes, rudely dressed,banjo in hand, daring the photographer to capture my soul.And again, whenI turn to that favorite Boucher or Fairbanks banjo and long to feel andplay it.

Well done, gentlemen, and thank you! ... Read more

Product Description
During the final years of Bill Monroe's life, bluegrass fiddler Gene Lowinger took a series of on- and off-stage photographs of Monroe on the road - preparing for shows, performing, interacting with fans and audiences - and in informal settings with family, friends, and fellow musicians. As a bandmate, Lowinger was given unique access to Monroe's private life, and this book presents these photos as well as other photos documenting Lowinger's involvement with the bluegrass scene beginning in the early 1960s. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A really rich narrative
Gene Lowinger is a fine writer and he has a lot to tell about. This is a great book if you listen to bluegrass music and revere the bluegrass pioneers. Lowinger has great anecdotes about Bill Monroe and life in the band. But it's an absorbing book even if you don't care about bluegrass. Lowinger's life has had twists and turns, ups and downs, and with his modest, wry, thoughtful narrative, I started each of the chapters eagerly. The book has other virtues. I'm not a musician and I don't listen to Classical music, but Lowinger's comparison of bluegrass and Classical music, from ther perspective of a performing musician, is extremely interesting. Photographers may well be interested in Lowinger's strategies and techniques as he photographs Bill Monroe and others. Especially with all the photographs, the text is brief. I'd have liked it longer.

More about Gene than Monroe ,but good.
The first time I saw Monroe(1965 at the Ash Grove)Gene was the fiddler.I was a kid didn't know much,but enjoyed the show.All the Blue Grass Boys were kids at that time,I think Peter Rowan was about three or four years senior to me.Later on ,through live tapes of Monroe's shows I heard a good deal of Gene's fiddling.
Working for Monroe was a tough job,as a few people who have tried told me so.I think Bobby Black's book "Come Hither To Go Yonder" gave a more in depth description of the experience.We all wanted to be a Blue Grass Boy and these books are a wonderful insight for us.
If you have any interest in the dynamics of being a Blue Grass Boy,and not from the southern culture,this book has insight in spades.Jewish cowboy indeed!
I'd like to read any memoir of a Blue Grass Boy,Peter Rowan are you going to do one?
So,of course the book is well written,affordable and one more account of a city kid working for the master of Blue Grass.Buy it and enjoy. ... Read more