Customer Reviews

Finding Her Voice: The Saga of Women in Country Music

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

 

 

If you want to know more about Women in country music this is the book you need. It's very interesting.

Mary A. Bufwack writes in a gossipy like style that made this book an easy read. The author is enthusiastic about the subject. She tries to squeeze in the name practically of every girl who sang a song. She even devotes a chapter to the genres that are related to country like folk and more so rockabilly. There are plenty of pictures throughout the book.
Unlike the author I don't see the downfall of the gingham dress to be such a success. The girls in the beginning of the book just look so cute. This book has introduced me to several people such as Kay Adams and the Girls of the Golden West. For this I'm very grateful.

As one reviewer notes, this book begins beautifullly, with its account of mountain balladeers and the great,tragic, still little known folklorist ( She was NOT a singer), Emma Bell Miles. Afterwards the book is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it is geunuinely rich in information and human insight.Ms. Bufwack, and her co-author/lover, Mr. Oerman, clearly love the music and the women who make it. However, the book seems to suffer from a sort of split personality. Oermann knows the music business, but he is also an ex-publicist, and as a result, his prose does tend toward press-agent puffery. Ms Bufwack, an trained antropologist , is clearly deeply informed about aspects of country. asd befits a woman who once wrote the liner notes to a Wanda Jackson record, her knowledge of Rockabilly music and rockabilly women is deep. Still, she occcasionally seems determined to view the women of Country through feminist spectacles. That isnt entirely bad- too many feminists take a condescending attitude toward country women.
However, my biggest problem with this book is that there wasnt a cassette accompanying it!