Fiddler's Curse: The Untold Story of Ervin T. Rouse, Chubby Wise, Johnny Cash, and The Orange Blossom Special (Revised and Updated) [Paperback]

Randy Noles (Author), John Hartford and Marty Stuart (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2007

One of the most bizarre stories in all of popular music is the history of "Orange Blossom Special," arguably the century's best-known fiddle tune. The man credited with its ownership, Ervin T. Rouse, endured tragedy, alcoholism and mental illness. He spent his last years fiddling for tips in isolated taverns at the edge of the Everglades, and died all but unknown. The man who claimed co-ownership, Chubby Wise, achieved fame as the seminal fiddler of the bluegrass genre, but struggled to overcome personal demons and to heal the scars of childhood abandonment and abuse. Johnny Cash, the tortured superstar who made the song a mainstream hit, quietly championed Rouse and earned the enmity of Wise. This trio's disparate legacies are here told - and forever linked with the legendary diesel steamliner. "Fascinating ... a compelling story told in an artful and human way. The writing reads like the best fiction." - Gainesville Sun

Product Details

• Paperback: 225 pages
• Publisher: Centerstream (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574242148
• ISBN-13: 978-1574242140
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #494,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( C ) > Cash, Johnny

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wraps bluegrass, country music, and the itinerant 1930s into one fascinating package, July 31, 2007

By 

Reja Jager - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fiddler's Curse: The Untold Story of Ervin T. Rouse, Chubby Wise, Johnny Cash, and The Orange Blossom Special (Revised and Updated) (Paperback)

This book is a great read for anyone who is interested in bluegrass, early country music, or rural American life in the 1930s. It takes distant musical legends that we now take for granted and gives them faces and voices. It draws an unforgettable bridge between early 20th century itinerant traveling musicians and the teething early world of recording and radio. It reads like "O Brother, Where Art Thou", but with real-life musical pioneers and heroes.

When I got my copy of this book, I started thumbing through it, and the next thing I knew, it was two hours later and I was still glued to it! Until I finished it --and I read some parts twice just because they were so interesting-- the dishes went unwashed, the family went unfed, the house went uncleaned, the instruments went untouched (and that is hardly an exaggeration!). I certainly recommend it!

Reja Jager
President, Northern Illinois Bluegrass Association

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating piece of Americana, July 25, 2007

By 

Mark Stielper - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fiddler's Curse: The Untold Story of Ervin T. Rouse, Chubby Wise, Johnny Cash, and The Orange Blossom Special (Revised and Updated) (Paperback)

I don't know what is more relentlessly compelling: the story of the "Orange Blossom Special" or the story of the man who wrote it.
In the end, of course, the stories end up being intertwined, and the author pulls both up out of the swamps of the Everglades and places them in the realm of legend. History was made by real people, and Ervin Rouse was about as real as you get--if you consider "truly strange" to be "real." But he produced from deep inside himself (real deep, it seems) one of the great tunes of our times. I love the story; I love the writing.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it! Love it! Love it!, January 5, 2011

By 

Chastity Lowell (MidWest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fiddler's Curse: The Untold Story of Ervin T. Rouse, Chubby Wise, Johnny Cash, and The Orange Blossom Special (Revised and Updated) (Paperback)

A big hooray for this book. I learned alot and have read it over and over. I tell everybody and anybody about this incredible story, whenever there is a mention of the Orange Blossom Special. The book comes with a CD. Loved that too! I cant find mine and need to replace it now. Here is the thing....there is another song..."Sweeter then the flowers"...which may be the most beautiful song in the world and thats on the cd too.

This book is special to my heart.