The only complete guide to country music, performers and first-rate recordings, this easy-to-use book leads country lovers to the cream of the crop in all styles, from the 1920s hillbilly music to today's crossover craze with rock and pop. Covers over 1,000 artists and more than 5,500 of their best albums.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Country, plus much that isn't,
By
This review is from: All Music Guide to Country: The Experts' Guide to the Best Country Recordings (Paperback)
I've been listening to country music for more than four decades, plus recently brushing up on music history while researching Faron Young's life. This book contains much good information, but I wonder how the writers define "country." In spite of all their hits, the Wilburn Brothers rate a two-inch column and David Houston gets three inches. Yet many, many performers I've never heard of (and non-country ones I have heard of) get a page or more. How often has Grateful Dead ever been played on a country station? Faron Young--a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame--is allotted one page, but Neil Young gets six. How many times did he appear on the country charts? None that I recall. Even the historical Carter Family is limited to two pages. There would have been room to give more information about more performers if the book had fulfilled the promise of its title.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Effort,
By
This review is from: All Music Guide to Country: The Experts' Guide to the Best Country Recordings (Paperback)
I'm a big fan of this series, which is prized among buffs for its reliable and informative album ratings. This volume gets big points for unusually inclusive coverage, which makes sense for the "big tent" that is country music. We get everything from rockabilly to country-oriented rock acts to straight-up honky tonk. Also, you get good coverage of some fairly obscure artists (finally, Michael Hurley in a reference book!).Complaints? I've got a few. The editing in this volume is not up to the series' usual standards. Some of the biographical sketches are sloppily written and some artists seem to have been left out unintentially (for example, Area Code 615 is mentioned many times in the text, but doesn't get an entry). Also, as long as I'm complaining, some of the decisions about who to include are a little loopy -- the Greatful Dead but not John Prine? And music reference books go stale fast -- the latest entries in this one are from mid 1996, so a new edition is called for. With all that said, I spent half the night reading through this one, promising myself that I'd go to sleep after I read just one more entry... If you're anything more than the most casual country fan, you need this book.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
At Last: A good book on Country Music!,
By A Customer
This review is from: All Music Guide to Country: The Experts' Guide to the Best Country Recordings (Paperback)
I have collected all the books on country music I can find and there are not that many really good ones. This is a good one, in particular if you are shopping for CDs or building a collection. Lots of extras too, like maps, history of country music, etc. A keeper.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Nathan Abshire helped bring the blues and honky tonk to Cajun music and re-popularized the accordion with his recordings during the 1950s and '60s, but still never managed a living from his music. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
final chart hit, three minor hits, top country hits, honky took blues, urban cowboy movement, progressive bluegrass, bluegrass collection, hardcore honky tonk, popular concert attraction, new country singers, minor pop hit, bluegrass hits, more minor hits, definitive retrospective, one minor hit, hardcore country, minor country hits, popular concert draw, box set containing, last chart entry, new traditionalist movement, two minor hits, country music classics, bluegrass album, most country artists Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Thomas Erlewine, Warner Brothers, Grand Ole Opry, Hank Williams, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Sugar Hill, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Los Angeles, Buck Owens, New York, Bill Monroe, Bob Wills, Flying Fish, Elvis Presley, Jimmie Rodgers, Top Five, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Van Zandt, Patsy Cline New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Nathan Abshire helped bring the blues and honky tonk to Cajun music and re-popularized the accordion with his recordings during the 1950s and '60s, but still never managed a living from his music. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
final chart hit, three minor hits, top country hits, honky took blues, urban cowboy movement, progressive bluegrass, bluegrass collection, hardcore honky tonk, popular concert attraction, new country singers, minor pop hit, bluegrass hits, more minor hits, definitive retrospective, one minor hit, hardcore country, minor country hits, popular concert draw, box set containing, last chart entry, new traditionalist movement, two minor hits, country music classics, bluegrass album, most country artists Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Thomas Erlewine, Warner Brothers, Grand Ole Opry, Hank Williams, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Sugar Hill, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Los Angeles, Buck Owens, New York, Bill Monroe, Bob Wills, Flying Fish, Elvis Presley, Jimmie Rodgers, Top Five, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Van Zandt, Patsy Cline New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 137
books:
See all 137 books this book cites
3
books
cite this book:
- Back in the Saddle Again by Gene Autry on 9 pages
- Sing Me Back Home by Merle Haggard on 5 pages
- Stand By Your Man by Tammy wynette on 5 pages
- Patsy Montana: The Cowboy's Sweetheart by Patsy Montana on 4 pages
- All Music Guide: Best CDs, Albums and Tapes by Michael Erlewine on 4 pages
See all 137 books this book cites
- All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide To Popular Music, 4th Edition by Hal Leonard Corp. in Copyright
- All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul (3rd Edition) by Vladimir Bogdanov in Copyright
- All Music Guide to Jazz : The Definitive Guide to Jazz Music by Vladimir Bogdanov in Copyright
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