Country Music, U.S.A. [Paperback]

Bill C. Malone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

Since its first publication in 1968, Bill C. Malone's Country Music, U.S.A. has won universal acclaim as the definitive history of American country music. Starting with the music's folk roots in the rural South, it traces country music from the early days of radio to the beginning of the twenty-first century. This second revised edition includes an extensive new chapter that continues the story from 1985 to 2000, along with an annotated listing of books and recordings which came out during that time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Described as "the Bible for country music history and scholarship" on its original publication, it is quite simply the cornerstone--and a highly readable one at that--of any shelf devoted to the country's Southern/Western rural class music and should be in any library of America's music heritage. (Bill Cunningham Texas Books in Review 2004)

Review

From reviews of previous editions: "If anyone knows more about the subject than [Malone] does, God help them." --Larry McMurtry, from In a Narrow Grave "With Country Music, U.S.A., Bill Malone wrote the Bible for country music history and scholarship. This groundbreaking work, now updated, is the definitive chronicle of the sweeping drama of the country music experience." --Chet Flippo, Editorial Director, CMT: Country Music Television and CMT.com "Country Music, U.S.A. is the definitive history of country music and of the artists who shaped its fascinating worlds. . . . Malone shows the reader why country music touches the hearts of its music fans throughout the world and is truly a national treasure." --William Ferris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and Coeditor of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 646 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 2nd edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292752628
• ISBN-13: 978-0292752627
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #783,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Extensive Treatise on Country Tunes, May 24, 2004

By 

grasshopper4 (Arkansas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Country Music, U.S.A. (Paperback)

An encyclopedic, rich, and interesting history of country music, this tome is essential for anyone interested not solely in country but also in American popular music. Each chapter serves as a through treatment of a particular genre or period of country music, and the work as a whole reveals a compelling history of American folk and popular culture. There are fascinating stories in this work, but don't expect to blaze through this volume in a day or two. If you're interested in a more compact and oftentimes more focused history, I'd recommend another of Malone's major works: Southern Music/American Music.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Start here!, October 20, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Country Music, U.S.A. (Paperback)

This is the place to start any indepth consideration of country and western music. In fact Dr. Malone's survey and Nick Tosche's COUNTRY THE BIGGEST MUSIC IN AMERICA are my two favorite introductory volumes. Each book is radically different from one another with Dr. Malone's history by far the more authoritative and serious consideration while the Tosche's book operates more as stream of consciousness fan's notes.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good information, very dry writing, November 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Country Music, U.S.A. (Paperback)

This is a book contains loads of great information. It is a great intro to the origins of country music. However, the amount of information is overwhelming and the writing is very boring. Still, its unlikely that any book will give be as comprehensive as this one.