Three Chords and the Truth: Hope, Heartbreak, and Changing Fortunes in Nashville - Hardcover

Leamer, Laurence

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060175052 ISBN 13: 9780060175054

Publisher: Harpercollins, 1997

Synopsis

The Fan Fair, held annually in June at the Tennessee State Fair Grounds, becomes the setting for a revealing inside look at the world of American country music, providing a vivid mosaic of rising and falling stars, managers, songwriters, executives, and producers. 200,000 first printing. Tour.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

An exhaustive journey into the heart and cash-glutted soul of today's country-music scene that overturns many long-held perceptions about the field--and its fans. As a symbol of the current state of country music, Leamer (The Kennedy Women, 1994, etc.) could hardly do better than the annual Nashville Fan Fair. Originated as a vehicle for fans to chat with their favorite performers and get an autograph or even a picture, the Fan Fair had, by 1996, become yet another example of marketing excess. The curious thing about this turn of events is that country music, so often derided by city slickers as tacky, has, Leamer argues, been made more so by such ``big-city'' companies as Sony Music, BMG, and Frito-Lay, which have rushed in to exploit one of the most lucrative entertainment markets. Leamer interviews fans and musicians, and offers in-depth profiles of stars such as the diva Reba McEntire, whose growing distance from her fans symbolizes country-music aficionados' worst fears; Garth Brooks, a success- obsessed superstar anxious to press the flesh with the record buyers who have made him the biggest-selling male solo artist of all time; and Shania Twain, who emerged from crippling poverty in the woods of northern Ontario and who, despite overwhelming hype, clearly does have a distinctive talent. The old ``covenant'' between country performers and their fans, which Leamer describes as requiring one to be ``as truthful to the past as to the present,'' is being swept aside and the identity of the music diluted by an industry on the prowl for young warblers who look good in jeans and a Stetson; questions about the music and its value place a distinct (and distant) second. As Joe Galante, head of a major label's Nashville office, laments, ``We're strip mining this business,'' attempting to inflate fragile talents into superstars. A disturbing, solid outing whose lessons will interest fans of all styles of pop music. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

"The dramatic rise of country music has been one of the greatest changes in American popular culture," Leamer opines. He goes on, however, to lament that the music is languishing. In fact, album sales have dipped, which is but one particular concern he addresses in a book built around Fan Fair, an annual Nashville event during which fans meet current stars. This relatively intimate gathering has become a mainstay of the country ethos, but the Country Music Association, "trying to sell a new upscale country music to advertisers," is, Leamer suspects, planning to move the wingding "downtown to the sleek new arena" and render its present "folksy intimacy" only a memory. The conflict between contact with the fans and mass marketing remains a theme as Leamer also details some of the stars' woes. For example, Garth Brooks had a major falling out with his record company; Leamer paints Brooks as disaffected--conscious of his fame and his hold on his audience yet unsure what to do with either. Other artists share Brooks' uncertainties, and in telling their stories, Leamer creates portraits of the real people behind the publicity packets. The business side of country seems to be threatening to make the music irrelevant. Should this happen, Leamer's book will be a snapshot of country before it was finally adulterated into just another safe corporate product. Mike Tribby

Edition details

• Publisher: Harpercollins
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0060175052
• ISBN 13: 9780060175054
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 464