In the Country of Country: People and Places in American Music

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Synopsis
This is the story of an American treasure that records and evokes the lives of people who often weren't written up in newspapers, but whose experiences of momentous events--the Depression, the Dustbowl, the Second World War--transformed their lives and would be the catalyst for an original American art form: country music. In the Country of Country is an exhilarating transcontinental journey from Maces Springs, Virginia, home of The Carter Family, to Bakersfield, California, where Buck Owens held sway and railway crossings where Doc Watson, Sara Carter, Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, and Jimmie Rodgers (The Father of Country Music) first learned to play their guitars, fiddles, and mandolins. Nicholas Dawidoff has traveled to the places where country music first emerged and talked to the musicians, writers, and singers who created this deceptively simple-worded, string- driven, melodic music. Here are indelible portraits of Johnny Cash, behind whose black apparel lies a Faustian dilemma between fame and creativity; Merle Haggard, a man as elusive as he is gifted; Patsy Cline, who would happily curl her girlfriends' hair as she curled their ears with her sailor's mouth; and Harlan Howard, the king of country songwriters. Inherent in Dawidoff's chronicle is a critique of contemporary country music--the pop/rock hybrid known as Hot Country that often stands in sharp contrast to the spirit of old- time country music. In the Country of Country is a book full of wonderful stories that together reveal an underappreciated piece of American culture. The picture captions and end material are present including the notes on Sources, Chapter notes of source interviews, articles and misc materials, bibliography, Discography, Index and credits.
Copyright:
1997

Book Details

Book Quality:
Excellent
Book Size:
371 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780679415671
Publisher:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Nicholas Dawidoff
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
History, Entertainment, Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Music
Submitted By:
Mayrie ReNae
Proofread By:
Lissi
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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