Customer Reviews

Bus Fare to Kentucky: The Autobiography of Skeeter Davis

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read them all (Loretta, Tammy, Dolly, Reba, Naomi Judd, Barbara Mandrell, even the rarer ones like Jan Howard and Jeannie C. Riley) and hands down Skeeter Davis' autobiography is the most moving and personal of the bunch of country music star autobiographies (I enjoyed most of the others too by the way). It is truly rare for anyone who is writing an autobiography to be the intimate and personal, quite a few are of the self-infatuated "and then I made this movie" or "my big #1 record at the time was" level. Skeeter's life is so much more than show business and it's wonderful to see a star with their feet both on the ground.

I was dumbstruck by that negative review posted, the only one I have ever read for this book anywhere. The usually jaded PEOPLE magazine as I recall referred to this book as "moving". I don't know why this person was so defensive especially considering Skeeter's religion which is such a active and vital part of her life. There are not many entertainers who when their mainstream careers are starting to crumble a bit who will spend most of their time on traveling the world spreading the good news of Jesus, most I suspect would have spent every waking hour trying to climb back to the top!! If Skeeter's brand of religion is not yours, why complain about it especially since this is HER autobiography!! Skeeter herself is a wonderfully open-minded person, writing with awe of the lovely Buddahist temples she had seen on her travels and pointing out it is not for her or anyone to judge anyone and their religious beliefs (or about anything), that alone is for God to do.

As far as her comments on ex-husband Ralph Emery, Emery himself first wrote negatively about Skeeter in his first (of several!) autobiographies, it certainly seems reasonable to expect Skeeter to air her side of the story. She does indeed have some shocking information about him but to have deleted it from her life story would have given a false picture of what was going on in her life.

Skeeter Davis is truly a beloved person and proved to be an outstanding writer with this book. Her followup book was a children's book THE CHRISTMAS NOTE that received rave comments from many acclaimed writers including Lee Smith, Rebecca Wells, and Terry Kay. Skeeter is one of the most talented people Nashville has ever produced.

This is one of the best, most moving biographies I have ever read. Mary Frances Penick, better known as Skeeter Davis, is an excellent writer, and the tale she tells of her rise from poverty to world renown is devastatingly heartbreaking, and yet tremendously inspiring.

I came to this book wanting to know more about one of my favorite records of all time, 1963's "The End of the World." From my first hearing of it as a teenager, I identified on many levels. Much later, when I had taught myself how to read music and write songs of my own, I came to understand just how good the song was. Let's face it: if you're going to call a song something so cosmic as "The End of the World," it had better be worthy. Even in my teens, I could sense the excellence of the melody and the lyric, and how appropriate both were to the theme; as I learned more about songwriting, my appreciation only increased.

When I found out about this book, I rushed to borrow it so that I could find out more about the background of this record I so admired. I did not expect to be so enthralled by the twists and turns of a story so full of tortured struggle as to make me wonder how the protagonist could have survived, much less achieved so much.

Many of Skeeter Davis' achievements were not made alone. With Betty Jack Davis, her soul mate and "blood sister," she performed and recorded under the name The Davis Sisters. Their innovative harmonies inspired many that came after them, including the Everly Brothers and the Beatles, and was even responsible for the invention of the double-necked steel guitar. As she describes it, instead of singing in alto below the melody, Skeeter--completely by instinct--sang above the melody. This was something apparently not done in this type of music before.

To hear the beauty of the result, listen to an Amazon clip of "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know." Or listen to the middle section of "The End of the World":

I wake up in the morning and I wonder
Why everything's the same as it was.
I can't understand, no I can't understand,
How life goes on the way it does.

One can only speculate how far the duo might have gone, had not Betty Jack suddenly died in an automobile accident on August 2, 1953.

The title of the chapter dealing with that tragedy is "The End of the World and the Day After," and it begins with an epigraph consisting of the lyrics I have just quoted. (The late author, however, erroneously wrote "Why" rather than "How" in the last line, contrary to what she sings on the record and contrary to the sheet music.) Skeeter Davis has said that she had Betty Jack in mind while singing the song, since it expresses so exactly how one feels when someone has died.

This book will make you understand why the depth of loss expressed in that record is signally appropriate to the case of the Betty Jack. It is not just that the love between Mary Frances Penick and Betty Jack Davis was so profound and so crucial to the survival of both, especially Betty Jack who had so little in life besides her music and Mary Frances. As the creator and the driving force of The Davis Sisters, Betty Jack had the seeds of greatness and was denied her full flowering. This fact becomes clearer and clearer as one reads her story.

True, Skeeter Davis achieved a greatness of her own. But I am sure she would rest with an extra measure of peace if she could know that "The End of the World" is not the only monument she has erected to Betty Jack's memory. The other one is this book.

Skeeter Davis was one of a kind! You never had to worry about where you stood with her because she stood her ground and stuck to her principles! This autobiography ranks among the best and I, like many have read many great Country Music Autobiographies, some great like Loretta Lynn's, Tammy Wynette's, Jeannie C. Riley's, Jan Howard's, Brenda Lee's and some downright stinkers and self promotion like Reba's and Barbara Mandrell's. Only Loretta's comes close to matching Skeeters point for point. Skeeter's story is moving and poignant without being overly sentimental and syrupy. I was riveted to her story from page one living her life with her as she rose from the depths of Kentucky poverty to Country and Pop stardom of the highest magnitude. She weathered many, many storms along the way, most particularly the loss of her dear friend and blood sister, Betty Jack Davis and her disastrous marriage to "devil incarnate" Ralph Emery. Her final battle was lost to cancer last September and the heaven gained a new angel for its angel band. Betty Jack and Skeeter are at last reunited in Hillbilly Heaven. Through it all Skeeter never waivered in her faith and she received the ultimate reward. The one reviewer who posted a one star review here obviously missed so much of Skeeter's witness that one has to wonder if he/she even read the book at all. Skeeter was truly one of a kind and this autobiography will make you laugh, cry, and rejoice all at the same time. Skeeter's music still stands the test of time and her autobiography should be updated by someone who knew her during the last few years of her life. I am sure there are many who were close to this loving, caring and god-fearing woman. We are richer for having had her with us!

What a great book,easy reading,insightful,she puts forth such a warm ,honest,sincere feeling. Another book you can't put down, it just draws you into it.

it was with trepidation that i bought this book in the first place.But being a skeeter fan i had to check it out.Am so glad i did .what a wonderfull and moving story of one of the great icons of country mucic.the reader is taken on a journy through the life and times of this lady and we get to see and feel how she lived.

This stuff is just too wild. Nobody could ever make this up.
If you ever feel like a cry, this is the book for you.
If you're tough and don't cry, this is the book for you too.
Real people in real life.

Growing up in 'shine' country. Walking to school and home 4 miles each way, with your dog and the dog
gets to spend the day with you. Your daddy riding a horse up the steps to the bedroom.
Arriving early for a gig then hiding outback in an alley with Elvis and singing gospel together.
It's all here. Riding in a car, changing seats with another person only to have that person die in your place minutes later.

Divorces, a crushing family disaster, then another then the crushing hand of fate pounds Skeeter.
I nearly cried for her several times till I hit page 261 and realized she had a much better life than I.

Ever wonder where the 'girl-group' sound of the early 60's came from?
For the 6 years from the late 1950's till the Beatles landed and the British invasion began
the 'girl' groups of the 60's were responsible for 48% of all record sales.
Only the Beatles could stop them. Skeeter started it all,not knowingly but out of necessity.

Of all the women on Earth, Skeeter was the woman Elvis wanted.
The funny looking little country girl with not a cent and not much in social skills.
Elvis couldn't have Skeeter. Why?
Yeah, it's all in this book.

A very real story honestly presented by Mary Pennick herself.
It's wild,weird,strange and all true.
Told beautifully by Skeeter Davis herself.

I look at the rear book cover and see the picture of Skeeter all grown up,
most of her lifes battles behind her. She turned out pretty terrific.
then I remember "the wind at your back is nice, but it's pushing into the wind that lifts you".

LUV Ya Skeeter.

I love her songs and always wondered who Skeeter Davis really is. Well I picked up this book and it got me from the first page to the last. What an amazing story. She had a tough life with (lucky enough) enough good moments to make life enjoyable. She describes her childhood, meeting Betty Jack (with who she got started in the music business), her solo career and more. Another great thing about this book are the pictures, although not many, they do help completing the view on her life and the story itself

What the person said in the Editorial Review by Kirkus Reviews is nonsense, particularly this part:
'later chapters--with their domestic scenes and descriptions of travel and interactions with admirers, including a patronizing account of an evangelical tour of Africa--will appeal only to hard-core Davis fans; nor do consecutive accounts of the deaths of Davis's mother, father, and youngest sister lighten the load.'

Why shouldn't she talk about that in the book?? It is interesting to read and is a part of HER story so has the be in it too! You shouldn't leave parts out of your life's story when writing an autobiography.

I'd recommend this book to anyone. It's a honest, open view on a sweet lady's life.

"Skeeter Davis should be in the Country Music Hall of Fame, but she will never be voted in because she was always considered an outlaw female in the country world. This autobiography written in the late 80s before her courageous battle with cancer that took her life, is a chronicle of her personal and show biz years in Nashville. This book gained much controversy because she had the audacity to speak of her horrendous marriage to Nashville power mogel Ralph Emery, who forbid her to ever appear on his Nashville Now show. We learn of the tragedy of the Davis Sisters, a one hit wonder, on their way to stardom when tragedy struck and Betty Jack Davis was killed in a car wreck. Betty Jack was not Skeeter's sister, just partner in song, but her memory is soaked in the pages. The book also talks about the hit years in "Nashville" and the crossover "girl group" appeal that Skeeter had and gained her not only country, but pop and international success, which includes her signature song' "The End of the World" Her crossover success was a blessing in disguise because many in Nashville rejected her, including the Opry when she criticised the police for arresting Jesus Freaks in a mall. She was suspended for a year or two because of her opinions.Skeeter became the country music ambassador around the world, and was a strong witness to her faith and conviction. This book is every bit of good as Loretta Lynn's autobiography, and I am amazed that a film has not been done. What we do not get to read about in this book is Skeeter's Aids work, her marriage to NBRQ rocker, and the cancer stuggles which all occurred after the book was published. "

I received this book as a gift simply because my family knows that I am hooked on music & biographies. I'm not what I would consider country music fan, nor have I ever even heard of Skeeter or the Davis Sisters. Nevertheless, this was one of the best books I've ever read. This is an incredible journey of triumph over tragedy, more tragedy and yet more tragedy (most of it attributable to Skeeter's naivety and her desire to please everyone). Skeeter kept an incredibly positive point of view throughout all the adversity her life threw at her, which is astounding considering all that she endured. In the end it gets a little too "Jesus Saves" for me, but that did not take away from her story or this woman's incredible struggle just to give her voice to her fans. I couldn't put it down and finished it in 3 days.

This great star of the Grand Ole Opry has written one of the alltime great country music autobiographies - moving, amusing, utterly interesting. Ranks right alongside Loretta's COAL MINERS DAUGHTER and Tammy's STAND BY YOUR MAN as one of the great country queen confessionals. You will end up loving this wonderful lady if you don't already!!