Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music - Softcover

Millard, Bob

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062732447 ISBN 13: 9780062732446

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1993

Synopsis

Country Music spans eight decades of commercial country music - from the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers to Hank Williams and Patsy Cline to Randy Travis and Garth Brooks - taking you back to the 20s, 30s and 40s and to every year from 1950 to 1992. For each year, this book chronicles the debut artists, most important records, award winners and most significant events in the world of country music, including births and deaths. Illustrated with more than 200 rare photos, album covers and sheet music, and featuring sidebars that delve into the triumphs, tragedies and idiosyncrasies of country music, Country Music offers a year-by-year survey of 70 years of a truly American phenomenon.

About this title

From Booklist:

Although--as submitted for review--it needs a tad bit o' fine tunin' (Johnny Horton highballs it to Hillbilly Heaven in 1956, the year of his debut, as well as in 1960, when most of us thought he did), basically this is an entirely acceptable and entertaining chronology of America's most durable form of commercial music. Each of its chapters includes a brief narrative text and lists of milestone events (mostly musicians' births and deaths) and important recordings made during the chapter's period. From 1950 on, when year-by-year coverage begins, a star who debuted that year is featured, while from 1958 on, award-winning performers and recordings are listed. Sidebars highlight significant organizations, events, and other performers. Millard bases his effort in sound scholarship and throws his net widely enough to include Elvis and the other rockabillies and such are-they-really-country? folks as Linda Ronstadt, Olivia Newton-John, and John Denver. There are plenty of pictures, and although, sans index, the tome is not all that valuable for reference work, it's a nice fans' reference that few public libraries should pass up. Ray Olson

From Library Journal:

Following Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann's marvelous study, Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music ( LJ 9/1/93), this work by a regular contributor to Country Music magazine compresses 70 years (1920-92) of country music facts into a handy reference tool. Beginning with a summary of the roots of country music (1848-1919), Millard culls pertinent and obscure information and organizes it into a compilation of industry milestones, important recordings, debut artists, and profiles of entertainers. A bit more detail about the entertainers would have been nice, but Millard acknowledges that his study only touches the surface of a huge topic. Whereas Bufwack and Oermann concentrate on women in country music and explore its social and political history, Millard spans the industry as a whole. Recommended for most libraries.
- Kathleen Sparkman, Baylor Univ., Waco, Tex.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0062732447
• ISBN 13: 9780062732446
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 328