The View from Nashville: On The Record With Country Music's Greatest Stars

The host of Nashville Now shares a collection of anecdotes and reminiscences about some of country music's greatest stars, including Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Brenda Lee, Dolly Parton, Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, and many others. 60,000 first printing. Tour.

Over the past four decades, country-music DJ Emery has played the music of the genre's stars and interviewed them for his shows On the Air and Nashville Now. The armchair vignettes in this collection portray some of the artists Emery has met over the years: Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, Patsy Cline and many others. Perhaps because of Emery's friendships with many of his subjects, the portraits have an easygoing and nostalgic tone, an approach that has mixed results. His close relationship to his subjects often results in flat praise: Dolly Parton is "the most extraordinary, larger-than-life star I've seen"; Brenda Lee "is one of the funniest people I know." He often refers to Vince Gill's humor, but his examples of the singer's jokes don't translate to the page. But Emery's insider role also results in very moving accounts of the tragedies he has witnessed, from untimely deaths to ruined careers. His elegiac profile of Conway Twitty offers a heartfelt appreciation for the prolific songwriter; his good-bye to Tammy Wynette recalls the singer's confrontation with Hillary Clinton, who has used the song "Stand by Your Man" as an example of subordinate femininity; and his chapter on Patsy Cline shows how her initial record contract forced her into poverty and, at times, debilitating depression. Emery assumes that his subjects are inherently interesting, a view that many, including country-music buffs, will share. Those looking for a well-rounded portrayal of the Nashville industry, however, may find Emery's View myopic.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This collection of memoirs from the veteran Nashville musician, disc jockey, and broadcast personality is full of good-natured humor and thoughtful insights. Emery begins on a somber note, with a recap of Conway Twitty's untimely death and the ensuing battle of his estate with his third wife, Dee, and his children, who viewed Dee as opportunistic and flightyparticularly when she moved to have his body exhumed and cremated, only to withdraw the request a few days later. While many of his subjects (Patsy Cline, Tex Ritter, Carl Perkins) are likewise dead, Emery's tone seldom sounds morose after the Twitty section. Instead, hes apt to recall humorous instances, such as Maverick Records founder Fred Foster's run-in with old-time Nashville bigshot Wesley Rose, who objected to Fosters making ``race records,'' and how Foster was reassured by legend-in-the-making Owen Bradley, who told him, ``You keep doing what you're doingmaking great records.'' Some of Emery's best stories concern unlikely country music figures, such as Ray Charles, who recorded a crossover hit with ``I Can't Stop Loving You,'' and George Bush, who defends his taste for country music despite his patrician background. Emery's perspective is refreshing: though no longer young, and obviously a conservative politically, he keeps alive a positive attitude toward change. He can condemn the ``reverse discrimination'' of a word like ``hillbilly'' and at the same time express indignation over some Nashville establishment icons treatment of black country musician Charley Pride . . . and never lose his credibility. His telling of white country singer Faron Young's support of Pride is among the most poignant vignettes in the collection. (Co-author Cox also co-authored Tanya Tuckers autobiography.) Fans of any kind of music can open this at any pageand enjoy it. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen) (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

A successful country music career as a radio broadcaster and television host has afforded Emery the unique opportunity to build a close rapport with some of the industry's most famous stars. Winner of six Country Disc Jockey of the Year awards and an inductee into the Disc Jockey Hall of Fame, Emery has earned his rightful place in the annals of country music. In his folksy, down-to-earth style, he updates readers on Nashville happenings. He visits with some of the city's most famous residents and reminisces about those who have recently passed on (Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, Carl Perkins, Faron Young, Colonel Tom Parker, and Mooney, Loretta Lynn's husband). Expect demand; Emery's first two books (Memories, Pocket, 1992; More Memories, Putnam, 1993) were best sellers.AKathleen Sparkman, Baylor Univ., Waco, TX
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The view from Nashville is largely folksy in this compilation of country music^-related profiles and vignettes. Emery came to national fame hosting The Nashville Network's "bellwether show," Nashville Now, but before that he had been, since 1957, a country DJ hosting an all-night show. He has known and worked with practically every country star to hit the charts in his lifetime, and here offers 21 caring, insightful pieces, most biographical sketches, about the music. Following two helpings of Emery's memoirs, this book is "more of a behind-the-scenes reflection on the people and times that shaped" Nashville. Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn are limned, and Conway Twitty, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Hank Williams recalled. Especially affecting is a little dissertation concerning the persistent rumor that Williams had been fired by the Grand Ole Opry shortly before his untimely death (apparently he hadn't). Essential reading for country music fans and historians, the book informs in tones as comfortable as an old shoe. Mike Tribby