Texas Music [Hardcover]

Rick Koster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1998

The Definitive History of Texas Music From the 1920s to the Present

Texas is the land of Buddy Holly and Janis Joplin, Roy Orbison, and Ornette Coleman. It's where Stevie Ray Vaughn wailed his blues, and where Kirk Franklin praised the Lord. Texas Music covers all of these artists and more in this critically acclaimed history of music in the Lone Star State. From country and blues to rock and soul, jazz and folk to funk and rap, Texas Music has it all. This lively, informative, and fully updated history is a book to make Gene Autry, Buddy Holly, Willie Nelson, Barry White, George Jones, and Texans everywhere proud.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

While readers know that Texas is a mighty big state that has produced plenty of great music over the years, they may well be unprepared for the sheer number of musicians who were either born or spent their formative years there. Just about every musical genre has had more than its share of Texas influence: country from Gene Autry to LeAnn Rimes, blues from Blind Lemon Jefferson to Stevie Ray Vaughn, and rock from Buddy Holly to the Butthole Surfers?not to mention folk, jazz, disco, soul, rap, and even easy listening. Journalist Koster, who claims to have an immense record collection, presents an enormous amount of material in an engaging, humorous manner, helped along by frequent sidebars highlighting a "Criminally Underrated Artist" or a "Guitarist Who Changed Modern Music." This book is indispensable to any library where there is interest in music history, and Texas librarians who fail to purchase it should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.?Dan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, Pa.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Texas is a big place that has produced a lot of music and musicians. Consequently, a wide-ranging survey such as this contains some very brief sketches and some omissions. It would otherwise probably be an unwieldy book. Still, one wonders about the Texas-ness of the likes of Sly Stone, Steve Miller, and Steven Stills, all of whom came to pop fame while associated with other regions of the country. Because Koster seemingly includes every noted musician who ever drew breath in the Lone Star State, his coverage of such too obscure Texas notables as Omar and the Howlers, Greezy Wheels, and Jerry Jeff Walker is briefer than it ideally might be. The treatments of Leadbelly, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mance Lipscomb, etc., etc., are a treat, though, even if a reader may wish for greater depth and more detail. Koster set out in this fast-paced, pleasantly and informally written survey to just chronicle the contributions of Texas and Texans to the American musical heritage. At that, he largely succeeds. Mike Tribby

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (February 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312181930
• ISBN-13: 978-0312181932
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,561,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK, but, December 7, 2004

By 

Tim Royston "TEASERT1" (DFW) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Texas Music (Paperback)

I WAS HOPING TO READ MORE ABOUT CERTAIN ARTISTS LIKE "JOHN NITZINGER" AND "B.W. STEVENSEN" ,BUT THIS BOOK DOES HAVE GREAT RANGE IN IT'S ARTIST INFO!
KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR "NITZINGER", HE'S COMING BACK AT YOU!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative but flawed, August 27, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Austin, Tx) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Texas Music (Hardcover)

As someone who has been a fan of the Austin music scene since the late 70's, I enjoyed reading about the bands I've followed over the years. There are lots of interesting tidbits in the book, but on the negative side Mr Koster tends to use the same phrases and descriptions too many times. He also could have used a fact-checker, he says the Sex Pistols played at Randy's Radio when it was actually Randy's Rodeo and he mixes up Southwest Texas State Univ with Southwestern Univ, just to name a couple mistakes.

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who is a music fan and is interested in the history of music in Texas.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Correction:, April 1, 2002

By 

Joe Nick Patoski (Wimberley, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Texas Music (Hardcover)

Contrary to your listing of this book, I did not write a foreward or afterward for this book.