Customer Reviews

The Nashville Sound

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When Atlanta journalist Paul Hemphill wrote his first book, The Nashville Sound (Simon & Schuster) in 1970 he captured a snapshot of a truly honest and integral brand of American music on the verge of gentrification. Although he had no way of knowing it, the times they were a changin', and so was the country music industry.

Prior to the `70s the very words "country" and "industry" were at odds. Country music was an untapped tune made "by the folks for the folks" embracing estranged working class anthems forged in America's backwoods, small towns and luminous Southern cities. Songwriters with prickly tongues and unhurried twangs raged against the man and lamented the women who caused them grief, which only fueled their humble and creative fires.

Through impeccable research and interviews with country music innovators, including Chet Atkins, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash and the likes, Hemphill drafted the definitive work on the bittersweet sounds rising from Music City USA. The book was a commercial and critical success. The Chicago Sun-Times even called it, "The best book ever written about country music."

Thirty-five years after The Nashville Sound hit the streets Hemphill's work remains as solid, honest and evocative as it always has in this age of vanilla tunes, plastic production and beaming yes men man-handling the media. Rarely do such works of music journalism stand up to the test of time.

The Nashville Sound served as the gateway for Hemphill to embark on a lengthy and distinctively Southern career as a writer, penning several other works of both fiction and non-fiction, including Leaving Birmingham which earned him a Pulitzer Prize nomination.

After three-and-a-half decades Everthemore Books has repackaged The Nashville Sound (280 pages) to reacquaint the music and its old heroes with a new generation of country music lovers. Hot on the heels of Hemphill's fifteenth offering Lovesick Blues; the Life of Hank Williams (Viking), The Nashville Sound brings the writer full-circle, offering a glimpse into his voice at its humblest beginnings.

This might have been the best book written about country music in 1970, but back then we were used to having people ridicule country music. The author overuses words such as whiny and corny, and he seems to be poking fun at the fans and performers he talks about.

Much of this book comes across as frozen in time, and I enjoyed that aspect of it--before Opryland, before Dolly Parton's fame, before Stringbean's murder. The chapter about traveling with Bill Anderson was especially good. The chapter about Glen Campbell, although I'm not one of his fans, fit well into the context of the book. (I watched his show regularly.) The book brings back good memories.

The chapters about Tate City and Billy Dilworth, however, had nothing to do with the Nashville Sound. There was SO much that could have gone into this book, so many people to talk about, instead of the apparent ridicule and the twice-told story of Bob Dylan.

The heading is lifted directly from the author's introduction to this revised edition. He may have taken that line from Barbara Mandrell's 1981 hit. "The Nashville Sound" is an excellent portrayal of the Country scene circa 1970, before the industry went off the deep end and before "murder was committed down on Music Row". This reviewer is unable to credit the singer who coined that last one. NS is written almost colloquially. One can imagine having a few beers with Mr. Hemphill in Tootsie's, as he spins tales about the guys and gals he met in Nashville, out on the road, in honky tonks, Days Inns, long bus rides and the state fairs. The author takes close up and personal looks at such veterans as Merle Haggard, Bill Anderson, Tex Ritter, Johnny Cash and Bob Luman. Do we remember "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers"? That one went to # 7 in 1972. Readers should enjoy the background on the growth of Bakersfield, CA as a country hot spot. There is also a gaze at Glen Campbell, though this listener does not consider GC to be sufficiently country. For his part, the author takes a straight shot at the "country" status of Roger Miller, the Fort Worth native with 32 chart hits to his credit. One can take minor issue with the author on some of the facts herein: This reviewer's copy of Joel Whitburn's bible lists "Cry, Cry, Cry" and "Move It On Over" as the first hits for Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. Still, there is no doubt that Hemphill has his facts straight. This fan never made to Nashville until 2004. While downtown had made a revival, it was obviously a shadow of its' halcyon self. Ryman Auditorium and Mr. Acuff's Music Store were there but one can only dream what went down in the 50s, 60s and early 70s. It ain't easy being a New York City native while trying to educate oneself about true country music. For years, we suffered with that one pathetic so-called "country" station (WHN). Yet, there is hope! Armed with a good CD collection-which one can build on Amazon- and "The Nashville Sound", we can reconstruct the good old days, gone forever.