[bksvol-discuss] Miles Davis and Country Music
- From: "Estelnalissi" <airadil@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2010 20:42:23 -0400
Dear Chela,
Congratulations on adding another book about music and a musician to the
collection.
Recently a book about Country Music which Mayrie Renae scanned and I proofread
was added, too. Chalk up another one to music.
In The Country of Country will be a great read for Country, Bluegrass and or
Gospel fans. It tracks the history of Country music through biographies of some
of the mainstays of country through interviews with the musicians and their
families, friends and associates, with detailed attention to the musician's
strengths and style and impact on the country music listeners and industry.
The author doesn't try and make saints of these people. He talks about them
fairly and nonjudgmentally, though his personal taste does show. He's got a
great understanding of musicality.
I love reading about artists and found this book fascinating. I admit I prefer
nonfiction articles to long nonfiction books, but this book was an exception.
Maybe it's because each bio was long enough to add much to my knowledge but was
about as long as a relatively lengthy article.
I got lots of ideas of recordings I hope to add to my collection, and the
details about singers like buck Owens, Jimmy Rogers, Kitty Wells and two of my
favorites, Mel Haggard and Bill Monroe will remain with me.
With the collection growing so wonderfully large, I like it when volunteers
point out books they especially liked working on. With my new puppy, Pippin,
and other things changing in my life, my every spare moment goes to
proofreading. It's been a long time since I've browsed lists of new books, even
though I love doing it.
Here are the short and long synopses of In The Country of Country.
brief synopsis
With a keen sense of musicality and personality, Nicholas Dawidoff traces the
development of country music from its first recording to Garth Brooks riding in
on the new wave. with quotes from articles to interviews with singers and
songwriters including Merle Haggard, Kitty Wells, Johnny Cash, Bill Monroe and
more.
long 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.
Eee Haw! and Always with love,
Lissi
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