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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Contemporary popular music > Country & western

Sweet Dreams - The World of Patsy Cline (Paperback): Warren R. Hofstra Sweet Dreams - The World of Patsy Cline (Paperback)
Warren R. Hofstra; Contributions by Beth Bailey, Mike Foreman, Douglas Gomery, George Hamilton IV, …
R658 Discovery Miles 6 580 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

One of the most influential and acclaimed female vocalists of the twentieth century, Patsy Cline (1932-63) was best known for her rich tone and emotionally expressive voice. Born Virginia Patterson Hensley, she launched her musical career during the early 1950s as a young woman in Winchester, Virginia, and her heartfelt songs reflect her life and times in this community. A country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success, Cline embodied the power and appeal of women in country music, helping open the lucrative industry to future female solo artists. Bringing together noted authorities on Patsy Cline and country music, Sweet Dreams: The World of Patsy Cline examines the regional and national history that shaped Cline's career and the popular culture that she so profoundly influenced with her music. In detailed, deeply researched essays, contributors provide an account of Cline's early performance days in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, analyze the politics of the split between pop and country music, and discuss her strategies for negotiating gender in relation to her public and private persona. Interpreting rich visual images, fan correspondence, publicity tactics, and community mores, this volume explores the rich and complex history of a woman whose music and image changed the shape of country music and American popular culture. Contributors are Beth Bailey, Mike Foreman, Douglas Gomery, George Hamilton IV, Warren R. Hofstra, Joli Jensen, Bill C. Malone, Kristine M. McCusker, and Jocelyn R. Neal.

Twentieth Century Drifter - The Life of Marty Robbins (Hardcover): Diane Diekman Twentieth Century Drifter - The Life of Marty Robbins (Hardcover)
Diane Diekman
R754 Discovery Miles 7 540 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins is the first biography of this legendary country music artist and NASCAR driver who scored sixteen number-one hits and two Grammy awards. Yet even with fame and fortune, Marty Robbins always yearned for more. Drawing from personal interviews and in-depth research, biographer Diane Diekman explains how Robbins saw himself as a drifter, a man always searching for self-fulfillment and inner peace. Born Martin David Robinson to a hardworking mother and an abusive alcoholic father, he never fully escaped the insecurities burned into him by a poverty-stricken nomadic childhood in the Arizona desert. In 1947 he got his first gig as a singer and guitar player. Too nervous to talk, the shy young man walked onstage singing. Soon he changed his name to Marty Robbins, cultivated his magnetic stage presence, and established himself as an entertainer, songwriter, and successful NASCAR driver. For fans of Robbins, NASCAR, and classic country music, Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins is a revealing portrait of this well-loved, restless entertainer, a private man who kept those who loved him at a distance.

Crowe on the Banjo - The Music Life of J.D. Crowe (Paperback): Marty Godbey Crowe on the Banjo - The Music Life of J.D. Crowe (Paperback)
Marty Godbey
R502 Discovery Miles 5 020 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In this first biography of legendary banjoist J. D. Crowe, Marty Godbey charts the life and career of one of bluegrass's most important innovators. Born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, Crowe picked up the banjo when he was thirteen years old, inspired by a Flatt & Scruggs performance at the Kentucky Barn Dance. Godbey relates the long, distinguished career that followed, as Crowe performed and recorded both solo and as part of such varied ensembles as Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys, the all-acoustic Kentucky Mountain Boys, and the revolutionary New South, who created an adventurously eclectic brand of bluegrass by merging rock and country music influences with traditional forms. Over the decades, this highly influential group launched the careers of many other fresh talents such as Keith Whitley, Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, and Doyle Lawson. With a selective discography and drawing from more than twenty interviews with Crowe and dozens more with the players who know him best, "Crowe on the Banjo: The Music Life of J. D. Crowe" is the definitive music biography of a true bluegrass original.

Natural Acts - Gender, Race, and Rusticity in Country Music (Hardcover, New): Pamela Fox Natural Acts - Gender, Race, and Rusticity in Country Music (Hardcover, New)
Pamela Fox
R2,197 Discovery Miles 21 970 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

"'All I gotta do is act naturally, ' Buck Owens sang, and Pamela Fox knows where the acting comes in. From early hillbilly acts to alt.country, "Natural Acts" lays bare, with wide-ranging scholarship and incisive analysis, the ideologies of authenticity on which country music rests. As engrossing and useful as any book I know on country music."
---Eric Lott, author of "Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class"

"The first completely mature book of country music historical criticism. It is a deep investigation of country music's power to articulate the displaced pleasures and anxieties of a society wracked by structural change. Historically rigorous, Fox uncovers documents that demonstrate the ongoing power of minstrelsy in barn dance programs across the country past World War II; musically and lyrically astute, she shows how the best honky-tonk music simultaneously critiques the dangers of that setting while seductively luring listeners to those sawdust and alcohol drenched environments; with her ear attuned to the formal complexities of autobiography, Fox directs our attention to the contradictory performance of identity that characterizes the life stories of Reba McEntire, Naomi Judd, Dolly Parton, and others. "Natural Acts" is provocative, stunning, and engagingly written. Country music studies has come of age."
---Barry Shank, The Ohio State University

Whether found in country barn dances, the plaintive twang of Hank Williams, the glitzy glamour of Dolly Parton, or the country-pop sound of Faith Hill, country music has always maintained an allegiance to its own authenticity. Its specific sounds and images have changed over the past century, but country music has consistently been associated with rusticity, a notion connected to the working class and rooted in ideals like unspoiled rural life and values and humble origins. The music suggests not only uncomplicated musical arrangements and old-time instruments such as the banjo and fiddle, but performers who identify with their everyday fans.

"Natural Acts" explores the ways that country musicians---particularly women artists---have established a "natural" country identity. Pamela Fox focuses on five revealing moments in country performance: blackface comedy during country music's "Golden Age" of pre-1945 radio and stage programming; the minstrel's "rube" or hillbilly equivalent in the same period; postwar honky-tonk music and culture; the country star memoir or autobiography of the '80s and '90s; and the recent roots phenomenon known as alt.country.

Pamela Fox is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University. She is the author of "Class Fictions: Shame and Resistance in the British Working-Class Novel, 1890-1945" and coeditor (with Barbara Ching) of "Old Roots, New Routes: The Cultural Politics of Alt.Country Music."

Photo: Lulu Belle Wiseman and Red Foley, 1930s. Courtesy of Country Music Hall of Fame (R) and Museum.

Old Roots, New Routes - The Cultural Politics of Alt.Country Music (Hardcover): Pamela Fox, Barbara Ching Old Roots, New Routes - The Cultural Politics of Alt.Country Music (Hardcover)
Pamela Fox, Barbara Ching
R2,199 Discovery Miles 21 990 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

"Old Roots, New Routes" takes an in-depth look at the many influences, meanings, and identities of this contemporary music form. Because the definition of the term alt.country changes continually, even the genre's own mouthpiece, the Web site nodepression.com, declared its terrain to be "alternative country (whatever that is)."

Despite alt.country's murky parameters, its origins, indeed, its patron saints, are generally acknowledged to range from the Carter Family and Hank Williams---as interpreters of traditional American country---to the country-rock fusions of Gram Parsons and Steve Earle.

Just as other musical genres before it have distanced themselves from the popular and commercial center, from the start alt.country has positioned itself as a different kind of music than the slick country sounds emanating from Nashville hit machines such as Garth Brooks and Shania Twain. And yet alt.country's embrace of authenticity and disdain for commercialism---while simultaneously injecting into a traditional, working-class music form an often cosmopolitan flavor and "Generation X" values---has resulted in a fascinating hybrid full of contradictions.

In "Old Roots, New Routes," Pamela Fox and Barbara Ching bring together a range of scholars to investigate as never before this significant contemporary music form, providing in addition new ways to approach the worlds of country and alternative music more generally. Individual essays explore the work of a variety of artists, including Neko Case, Jay Farrar, Justin Trevino, and alt.country "hero" Gram Parsons, along with promotional rhetoric, album art, advertising, and fan Web sites, to offer readers a comprehensive understanding of how alt.country functions as a distinct musical form.

Pamela Fox is Associate Professor of English and currently the Director of the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University. She is the author of "Class Fictions: Shame and Resistance in the British Working-Class Novel, 1890-1945."

Barbara Ching is Associate Professor at the University of Memphis. Her previous books include "Wrong's What I Do Best: Hard Country Music and Contemporary Culture" and "Knowing Your Place: Rural Identity and Cultural Hierarchy," coedited with Gerald Creed.

The First Generation of Country Music Stars - Biographies of 50 Artists Born Before 1940 (Paperback): David Dicaire The First Generation of Country Music Stars - Biographies of 50 Artists Born Before 1940 (Paperback)
David Dicaire
R982 R910 Discovery Miles 9 100 Save R72 (7%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This volume focuses on fifty of the most important entertainers in the history of country music, from its beginnings in the folk music of early America through the 1970s. Divided into five distinct categories, it discusses the pioneers who brought mountain music to mass audiences; cowboys and radio stars who spread country music countrywide; honky-tonk and bluegrass musicians who differentiated country music during the 1940s; the major contributions that female artists made to the genre; and the modern country sound which dominated the genre from the late 1950s to the mid - 1980s. Each entry includes a brief biography of the chosen artist with special emphasis on experiences which influenced their musical careers. Covered musicians include Fiddlin' John Carson, Riley Puckett, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Bob Willis, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Sr., Dale Evans, June Carter Cash, Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, Roy Clark, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard.

Grassroots Music in the Upper Cumberland (Paperback, Annotated edition): William Montell Grassroots Music in the Upper Cumberland (Paperback, Annotated edition)
William Montell
R884 Discovery Miles 8 840 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

"This book is, in a sense, a folk history of the music cultures of this area, and one full of rich detail and cultural surprises." --Charles K. Wolfe The bi-state Upper Cumberland region--as discussed in William Lynwood Montell's new book, Grassroots in the Upper Cumberland--includes eight counties in Tennessee (Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, and Putnam) and eight counties in Kentucky (Adair, Clinton, Cumberland, Metcalfe, Monroe, Pulaski, Russell, and Wayne). It is an area uniquely rich in traditional music. The importance of family ties and a deeply ingrained sense of community led to the flourishing of a distinct musical legacy from the 1700s up to the present day. In this pathbreaking study of a region's music, William Lynwood Montell brings together an enormous trove of information about the folk practices, the transmission of musical skill and style, and the influence of traditional music on popular music (and vice-versa). Written by experts on the individual counties, each chapter focuses on one county and contextualizes its music within the broader musical legacy of the region. The result is a comprehensive look at the full musical spectrum of this area that avoids the often scattershot approach of statewide studies of music. As the book moves from county to county, the reader encounters a rich, living tradition of music. While the region's music is distinctive, it is nothing if not diverse, and various authors cover a variety of musical styles: English ballads, gospel, bluegrass, modern country, and even rock 'n' roll all find their unique expression in the musical mosaic of the Upper Cumberland. Among the many notable musicians from the region who come under close scrutiny are Archie Lee, Richard "Blind Dick" Burnett, Finley "Red" Belcher, Blake Williams, Lester Flatt, Steve Wariner, Mandy Barnett, Lola Jean Dillon, and John Anderson, to name just a few. A celebration of local musicians and their stories as well as a look at how a musical legacy is transmitted from one generation to the next, this book will be of interest to students of traditional music and to music fans alike.

The Bluegrass Reader (Paperback, New Ed): Thomas Goldsmith The Bluegrass Reader (Paperback, New Ed)
Thomas Goldsmith
R589 Discovery Miles 5 890 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Like rock 'n' roll, bluegrass exploded out of a post-World War II atmosphere in which more Americans opened their ears to more different kinds of music than ever before. All around the country, musicians were searching for new sounds and approaches: country blues went fully electric in Chicago, bebop boiled over as jazz hit the hippest notes yet, and country music followed Hank Williams into newer, sexier, harder-hitting territory. The developments in bluegrass proved every bit as galvanic. In The Bluegrass Reader, Thomas Goldsmith joins his insights as a journalist with a lifetime of experience in bluegrass to capture the full story of this dynamic and beloved music. Inspired by the question "What articles about bluegrass would you want to have with you on a desert island?" he assembled a delicious, fun-to-read collection that brings together a wide range of the very best in bluegrass writing. Goldsmith's judicious selections include a fascinating combination of older, more obscure, and previously unavailable writings with pieces that are classics in the history of writing about bluegrass: Alan Lomax in Esquire, Mayne Smith's groundbreaking dissertation, Ralph Rinzler's Sing Out piece on Bill Monroe, and Mike Seeger's Folkways liner notes. The Bluegrass Reader also features writers as disparate as Marty Stuart, David Gates, and Hunter Thompson writing for such magazines as The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, and Muleskinner News. In an age where musical trends flit by like models on a runway, bluegrass has endured changes while faithfully checking its advances against the formative years. Goldsmith follows its history through three roughly twenty-year periods: from 1939 to 1959, from1959 to 1979, and from 1979 to the present. Goldsmith's substantial introduction describes and traces the development of the music from its origins in Anglo-American folk tradition, overlaid with African American influences, to the breakout popularity of Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss, and the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. He introduces each selection with a wealth of additional information, making The Bluegrass Reader both enjoyable and invaluable for new fans of the music as well as for its lifetime devotees.

Grievous Angel - An Intimate Biography of Gram Parsons (Paperback): Jessica Hundley, Polly Parsons Grievous Angel - An Intimate Biography of Gram Parsons (Paperback)
Jessica Hundley, Polly Parsons
R722 Discovery Miles 7 220 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

There has never been a better time for a book on Gram Parsons. At the thirty-year anniversary of his death, his sound, a mix of country and rock 'n' roll, is absolutely everywhere. Popular musicians of today trace their inspiration to pick up a guitar to when they first heard his music. His songs and his style have had a lasting effect on the music of our time. Now, together with Parsons's daughter, Polly, Jessica Hundley has created an intimate and extensive biography that brings together never-before-seen photos and illustrations, unpublished letters, and in-depth interviews with some of the many artists whose work was shaped by Parsons, including Keith Richards, Emmylou Harris, Wilco, and Ryan Adams, among many others. Grievous Angel is the tribute that the legions of Parsons fans have been waiting for--a book that brings to life the story of the Southern boy who revolutionized the way music sounds.

Ring Of Fire - The Johnny Cash Reader (Paperback): Michael Streissguth Ring Of Fire - The Johnny Cash Reader (Paperback)
Michael Streissguth 2
R762 Discovery Miles 7 620 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Johnny Cash is bigger than life, surrounded by myths and legends, a notoriously hard-drinking, hard-drugging man who sings searing songs of death, loss, God, and work. Since his debut in 1955, he has come to embody country music as well as the spirit of defiance and rebellion that drives rock, and has garnered an immense audience along the way, selling more than fifty million albums and winning ten Grammy awards. He is universally acknowledged as one of the musical giants of the century.In "Ring of Fire," some of our best music writers consider Cash decade by decade in a collection of thirty-two classic articles and essays. They follow him from his birth in 1932 to his meteoric rise to fame in the late '60s and early '70s, through his two-decade slump and his musical resurgence in the 1990s, through the phenomenal new albums he has made in the face of his recently diagnosed nerve disease. "Ring of Fire" takes the Reader format and transforms it into the best kind of biography: complex, insightful, and multifaceted.

Fiddling Way out Yonder - The Life and Music of Melvin Wine / Drew Beisswenger. (Hardcover): Drew. Beisswenger Fiddling Way out Yonder - The Life and Music of Melvin Wine / Drew Beisswenger. (Hardcover)
Drew. Beisswenger
R1,461 Discovery Miles 14 610 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

From a small mountain town in West Virginia, elder fiddler Melvin Wine has inspired musicians and music enthusiasts far beyond his homeplace.

Music, community, and tradition influence all aspects of life in this rural region. "Fiddling Way Out Yonder: The Life and Music of Melvin Wine" shows how in Wine's playing and teaching all three have created a vital and enduring legacy.

Wine has been honored nationally for his musical skills and his leadership role in an American musical tradition. A farmer, a coal miner, a father of ten children, and a deeply religious man, he has played music from the hard lessons of his own experience and shaped a musical tradition even while passing it to others.

"Fiddling Way Out Yonder" examines the fiddler, his music, and its context from a variety of perspectives. Many rousing fiddlers came from isolated mountain regions like Melvin's home stomp. The book makes a point to address the broad historical issues related both to North American fiddling and to Wine's personal history.

Wine has spent almost all of his ninety-two years in rural Braxton County, an area where the fiddle and dance traditions that were strong during his childhood and early adult life continue to be active today. Utilizing models from folklore studies and ethnomusicology, "Fiddling Way Out Yonder" discusses how community life and educational environment have affected Melvin's music and his approaches to performance.

Such a unique fiddler deserves close stylistic scrutiny. The book reveals Wine's particular tunings, his ways of holding the instrument, his licks, his bowing techniques and patterns, his tune categories, and his favorite keys. The book includes transcriptions and analyses of ten of Melvin's tunes, some of which are linked to minstrelsy, ballad singing traditions, and gospel music. Narratives discuss the background of each tune and how it has fit into Melvin's life.

While his music is tied to community and family traditions, Melvin is a unique and complex person. This biography heralds a musician who wants both to communicate the spirit of his mountains and to sway an audience into having an old-fashioned good time.

Drew Beisswenger is a music librarian at Southwest Missouri State University. His work has been published in "Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin," the "EMIE Bulletin," "Mid-American Folklore," and the "Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies."

Can't You Hear Me Callin' - The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass (Hardcover, New): Richard D. Smith Can't You Hear Me Callin' - The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass (Hardcover, New)
Richard D. Smith
R1,274 Discovery Miles 12 740 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Elvis Presley chose one of his songs, "Blue Moon of Kentucky," for his first single. A young Jerry Garcia traveled cross-country to audition for his band. Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, and even Frank Sinatra were fans. Considering the range of stars and styles that claim him as an influence, no single artist has had as broad an impact on American popular music as Bill Monroe.

Born in 1911 in rural Kentucky, Monroe melded the fiddle tunes, ballads, and blues of his youth into the "high lonesome" sound known today as bluegrass, making him perhaps the only performer to create an entire musical genre. His distinctive bluegrass style profoundly influenced country, early rock 'n' roll, and the folk revival of the 1960s. A Grand Ole Opry star for more than sixty years, Monroe was a searing mandolinist who redefined the instrument, a haunting high-range vocalist, and a god-like figure to generations of admirers who became famous in their own right.

When Monroe died in 1996, he was universally acclaimed as "the Father of Bluegrass," but the personal life of this taciturn figure remained largely unknown. His childhood feelings of isolation and abandonment - "lonesomeness" he called it - fueled his reckless womanizing in adulthood and inspired his most powerful compositions. From his professional breakthrough in the Monroe Brothers duet act to his bitter rivalry with former sidemen Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs to his final days as a revered elder statesman of bluegrass, Monroe's career was filled with trials and triumphs. Now, veteran bluegrass journalist Richard D. Smith has interviewed a multitude of Monroe's surviving friends, lovers, colleagues, and contemporaries to create a three-dimensional portrait of this brilliant, complex, and contradictory man. Compellingly narrated and thoroughly researched, Can't You Hear Me Callin' is the definitive biography of a true giant of American music.

Listen To The Stories - Nat Hentoff On Jazz And Country Music (Paperback, 1st Da Capo Press Ed): Nat Hentoff Listen To The Stories - Nat Hentoff On Jazz And Country Music (Paperback, 1st Da Capo Press Ed)
Nat Hentoff
R526 R461 Discovery Miles 4 610 Save R65 (12%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Here is Nat Hentoff's deeply felt exploration of jazz, blues, country, and gospel--and the musicians who bring the music to life. Hentoff has not only loved music all his life, he has lived it by being friends with many of the musicians he writes about in this collection. Hentoff poignantly describes the early days of Roy Eldridge and the last years of Billie Holiday and Bird. He tells amazing stories of the Count, Duke, and Dizzy. "Full of insightful behind-the-scenes encounters" ("San Francisco Chronicle"), "Listen to the Stories" covers new recordings and old legends, remarkable lives and unforgettable music.

In the Country of Country - A Journey to the Roots of American Music (Paperback, 1st Vintage Books Ed): Nicholas Dawidoff In the Country of Country - A Journey to the Roots of American Music (Paperback, 1st Vintage Books Ed)
Nicholas Dawidoff
R609 R535 Discovery Miles 5 350 Save R74 (12%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

From the author of the bestselling The Catcher Was a Spy comes an exhilarating exploration of the performers, places, and experiences which form country music--a genre which is uniquely and authentically American. 40 photos.


From the Hardcover edition.

Country - The Twisted Roots Of Rock 'n' Roll (Paperback, 3): Nick Tosches Country - The Twisted Roots Of Rock 'n' Roll (Paperback, 3)
Nick Tosches
R744 Discovery Miles 7 440 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Celebrating the dark origins of our most American music, Country reveals a wild shadowland of history that encompasses blackface minstrels and yodeling cowboys; honky-tonk hell and rockabilly heaven; medieval myth and musical miscegenation; sex, drugs, murder; and rays of fierce illumination on Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others, famous and forgotten, whose demonology is America's own. Profusely and superbly illustrated, Country stands as one of the most brilliant explorations of American musical culture ever written.

It's a Long Story - My Life (Large print, Hardcover, Large type / large print edition): Willie Nelson It's a Long Story - My Life (Large print, Hardcover, Large type / large print edition)
Willie Nelson; As told to David Ritz
R1,397 Discovery Miles 13 970 Ships in 10 - 15 working days
Buck 'Em! - The Autobiography of Buck Owens (Hardcover): Randy Poe Buck 'Em! - The Autobiography of Buck Owens (Hardcover)
Randy Poe
R855 R754 Discovery Miles 7 540 Save R101 (12%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

EBuck 'Em! The Autobiography of Buck OwensE is the life story of a country music legend. Born in Texas and raised in Arizona Buck eventually found his way to Bakersfield California. Unlike the vast majority of country singers songwriters and musicians who made their fortunes working and living in Nashville the often rebellious and always independent Owens chose to create his own brand of country music some 2 000 miles away from Music City a racking up a remarkable twenty-one number one hits along the way. In the process he helped give birth to a new country sound and did more than any other individual to establish Bakersfield as a country music center.THIn the latter half of the 1990s Buck began working on his autobiography. Over the next few years he talked into the microphone of a cassette tape machine for nearly one hundred hours recording the story of his life.THWith his near-photographic memory Buck recalled everything from his early days wearing hand-me-down clothes in Texas to his glory years as the biggest country star of the 1960s; from his legendary Carnegie Hall concert to his multiple failed marriages; from his hilarious exploits on the road to the tragic loss of his musical partner and best friend Don Rich; from his days as the host of a local TV show in Tacoma Washington to his co-hosting the network television show EHee HawE; and from his comeback hit Streets of Bakersfield to his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.THIn these pages Buck also shows his astute business acumen having been among the first country artists to create his own music publishing company. He also tells of negotiating the return of all of his Capitol master recordings his acquisition of numerous radio stations and of his conceiving and building the Crystal Palace one of the most venerated musical venues in the country.THEBuck 'Em!E is the fascinating story of the life of country superstar Buck Owens a from the back roads of Texas to the streets of Bakersfield. THClick here to watch a video extra on YouTube for Buck 'Em.

I'll Be Here in the Morning - The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt (Hardcover, New): Brian T Atkinson I'll Be Here in the Morning - The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt (Hardcover, New)
Brian T Atkinson; Foreword by "Cowboy" Jack Clements, Harold F Eggers
R868 R788 Discovery Miles 7 880 Save R80 (9%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The writer of such influential songs as Pancho and Lefty, To Live's to Fly, If I Needed You, and For the Sake of the Song, Townes Van Zandt exerted an influence on at least two generations of Texas musicians that belies his relatively brief, deeply troubled life. Indeed, Van Zandt has influenced millions worldwide in the years since his death, and his impact is growing rapidly. Respected singer/songwriter John Gorka speaks for many when he says, ""Pancho and Lefty changed-it unchained-my idea of what a song could be." In this tightly woven, intelligently written book, Brian T. Atkinson interviews both well-known musicians and up-and-coming artists to reveal, in the performers' own words, how their creative careers have been shaped by the life and work of Townes Van Zandt. Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Rodney Crowell, Lucinda Williams, and Lyle Lovett are just a few of the established musicians who share their impressions of the breathtakingly beautiful tunes and lyrics he created, along with their humorous, poignant, painful, and indelible memories of witnessing Van Zandt's rise and fall. Atkinson balances the reminiscences of seasoned veterans with the observations of relative newcomers to the international music scene, such as Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Josh Ritter, and Scott Avett (the Avett Brothers), presenting a nuanced view of Van Zandt's singular body of work, his reckless lifestyle, and his long-lasting influence. Forewords by "Cowboy" Jack Clement and longtime Van Zandt manager and friend Harold F. Eggers Jr. open the book, and each chapter begins with an introduction in which Atkinson provides context and background, linking each interviewee to Van Zandt's legacy. Historians, students, and fans of all music from country and folk to rock and grunge will find new insights and recall familiar pleasures as they read I'll Be Here in the Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt.

Earl Scruggs - Banjo Icon (Paperback): Gordon Castelnero, David L. Russell Earl Scruggs - Banjo Icon (Paperback)
Gordon Castelnero, David L. Russell; Foreword by Bela Fleck
R1,054 Discovery Miles 10 540 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

As Earl Scruggs picked his banjo with machine gun precision at his 1945 debut at the Ryman Auditorium, he set in motion a successful career and enduring legacy that would eclipse anything the humble farm boy from North Carolina could have imagined. Scruggs's revolutionary three-finger roll patterns electrified audiences and transformed the banjo into a mainstream solo instrument pursued by innumerable musicians. In Earl Scruggs: Banjo Icon, Gordon Castelnero and David L. Russell chronicle the life and legacy of the man who single-handedly reinvigorated the five-string banjo and left an indelible mark on bluegrass and folk music. After his tenure with the father of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe, Scruggs formed (with Lester Flatt) the Foggy Mountain Boys, also known as Flatt and Scruggs; the Earl Scruggs Revue with his sons; and finally his Family & Friends band. Scruggs released more than forty albums and reached millions of fans through performances on The Beverly Hillbillies and his music's inclusion in the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde. Over his long career, Scruggs received numerous accolades and collaborated with stars such as Billy Joel, Elton John, Sting, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Vince Gill, Travis Tritt, the Byrds, and Steve Martin. Through interwoven interviews with the Scruggs family and more than sixty notable musicians and entertainers, Castelnero and Russell reveal that, despite the fame Scruggs achieved, he never lost his humility and integrity. This biography testifies to Scruggs's enduring influence and sheds light on the history of bluegrass for musicians, students, and anyone entranced by Scruggs's unmistakable sound.

Folk Music in Overdrive - A Primer on Traditional Country and Bluegrass Artists (Paperback): Ivan Tribe Folk Music in Overdrive - A Primer on Traditional Country and Bluegrass Artists (Paperback)
Ivan Tribe
R1,002 Discovery Miles 10 020 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Folk Music in Overdrive is a reader of music scholar Ivan Tribe's more significant published articles, revised and updated, from their original publication in magazines such as Bluegrass Unlimited, Precious Memories: Journal of Gospel Music, Old Time Music, and Goldenseal: West Virginia Traditional Music, as well as two never-before published essays. Tribe delivers essays on well-known solo artists, such as Charlie Monroe and Mac Odell; country music duos like husband and wife team Joe and Stacy Isaacs or the brotherly duos of The Bailes, Callahan, and Goins brothers; famous and lesser known sidemen, such as fiddlers Tater Tate and Natchee the Indian, or dobro player Speedy Krise; and musical groups such as the enigmatic Coon Creek Girls. This collection represents an important contribution to music studies and spans bluegrass as a genre from its beginnings to the present.These thirty-nine revised articles had been originally built around interviews with the musical figures and their close associates; but revision yielded new information from a variety of sources, much from Bear Family boxed sets as well as counsel, advice, and knowledge shared by other music scholars. The musicians and bands that Tribe profiles here were both bluegrass pickers and singers themselves, as well as some musicians who are often characterized as traditional country musicians. Some led bands for all or part of their careers while others ranked as noted sidemen or band members. Others composed songs that have become popular, indeed often standard, fare in the bluegrass field. As part of the Charles K. Wolfe Music Series, formed in honor of the late music scholar, Folk Music in Overdrive succinctly advances traditional music scholarship and Wolfe's own love of early country and bluegrass.

Waylon - Tales of My Outlaw Dad (Paperback): Terry Jennings, David Thomas Waylon - Tales of My Outlaw Dad (Paperback)
Terry Jennings, David Thomas
R653 Discovery Miles 6 530 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

In a signed copy of his autobiography, Waylon Jennings penned a personal note to his son, Terry Jennings, ending it with the words, "I did my best. Now it's your turn." It is with this spirit in mind that Terry has finished telling the true story of his father's remarkable, unvarnished life. Born when Waylon was a mere nineteen years old, Terry had an intimate view of his father's antics, as the two shared an incredibly close relationship. More like brothers than a father and son, by the time Terry was thirteen he was a regular on the road, smoking marijuana with his dad and observing the wild ways that laid the foundation of the infamous country-music sensation, "The Outlaws." When it came to "The Outlaws," Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson were active players in the debauchery, as Waylon led a reckless lifestyle centered around his music, hard drugs, and women. Critical acclaim, sold-out tours and mob-like pandemonium were unfortunately overshadowed by darker personal challenges he faced including multiple divorces, crippling debt, and severe depression stemming from his best friend Buddy Holly's premature death. Terry Jennings witnessed all of the above and was a willing participant. As he followed his father on the road he began working with the crew, managing Waylon's career and becoming his closest confidante. Despite their closenes, though, the rules of the road ultimately prevailed. Eventually Terry found himself nursing a drug habit that eclipsed his father's; more than once Waylon even stole Terry's girlfriends. While it is no secret that Waylon was no saint, this is an honest look at a loving and complicated father-son relationship that will resonate for generations of country music fans.

The Heart Of Rock & Soul - The 1001 Greatest Singles Every Made (Paperback, New Ed): David Marsh The Heart Of Rock & Soul - The 1001 Greatest Singles Every Made (Paperback, New Ed)
David Marsh
R1,100 Discovery Miles 11 000 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

In The Heart of Rock & Soul, veteran rock critic Dave Marsh offers a polemical guide to the 1,001 greatest rock and soul singles ever made, encompassing rock, metal, R&B, disco, folk, funk, punk, reggae, rap, soul, country, and any other music that has made a difference over the past fifty years. The illuminating essays,complete with music history, social commentary, and personal appraisals,double as a mini-history of popular music. Here you will find singles by artists as wide-ranging as Aretha Franklin, George Jones, Roy Orbison, the Sex Pistols, Madonna, Run-D.M.C., and Van Halen. Featuring a new preface that covers the hits,and misses,of the'90s, The Heart of Rock & Soul remains as provocative, passionate, and timeless as the music it praises.

Ways That Are Dark - A Musical Companion to Horace Kephart's Our Southern Highlanders (Standard format, CD): Daniel Gore Ways That Are Dark - A Musical Companion to Horace Kephart's Our Southern Highlanders (Standard format, CD)
Daniel Gore
R355 R282 Discovery Miles 2 820 Save R73 (21%) Out of stock

Inspired by Our Southern Highlanders, Horace Kephart's classic account of life in the Great Smoky Mountains during the early twentieth century, Ways That Are Dark is an audio CD containing fourteen bluegrass songs, most of which are original compositions. Tim O'Brien and Peter Rowan are among the notable performers appearing on the recording.

Like Kephart's book, this CD celebrates the language, lore, and customs of southern Appalachia. An encounter with a wild pig, the killing of a prohibition agent, a bear hunt, a feud -- the people and events originally described by Kephart come alive in the words and music of these songs. As Daniel Gore, the CD's creator, notes, "When I first read Our Southern Highlanders, music seemed to fill the pages. The dialogue was lyrical, and every story sounded like a song".

K. D. Lang (Paperback): Rose Collis K. D. Lang (Paperback)
Rose Collis
R217 R181 Discovery Miles 1 810 Save R36 (17%) Out of stock

Since k. d. lang's emergence in the mid-80s, Rose Collis has keenly observed the fascinating odyssey that has taken this unusual singer from performance art, via anarchic Country and Western, to world-class, Grammy award-winning chanteuse status. This insightful, eclectic and often witty Outline explores lang's career and life to date, placing her in the context of the social and political times that have influenced both author and subject. She shows how lang's androgynously sexy image, her Canadian identity, her commitments to animal rights and the fight against AIDS. and her openness about her sexuality have all played their part in marking her out as both an important and influential musician and lesbian icon.

Whisperin' Bill Anderson - An Unprecedented Life in Country Music (Standard format, CD): Bill Anderson Whisperin' Bill Anderson - An Unprecedented Life in Country Music (Standard format, CD)
Bill Anderson; Contributions by Peter Cooper
R851 R639 Discovery Miles 6 390 Save R212 (25%) Out of stock
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