Country: The Music and the Musicians - Tapa dura

When "Country" was first published in 1988, it was a solid gold hit. Now the book has been updated and provides more information about recent stars and events on the country scene as well as a current discography. Here is the story of the music and its people - the great, the near-great, and the forgotten. It begins with the early days in the 1920s, when such immortals as the Carter family and Jimmie Rodgers made country music a commercial success, and continues through the radio days of the 1930s and 1940s with the likes of Gene Autry and Bob Wills. Then come the '50s and '60s, when country music produced such legends as Flatt & Scruggs, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Kitty Wells, and Patsy Cline. Today's stars are all here too - Reba McIntyre, Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Willie Nelson, Alabama, and many more. Profusely illustrated with hundreds of photographs from the Country Music Foundation's archives, Country is a volume that everyone who loves down-home music will want to own. The Country Music Foundation in Nashville, Tennessee, brought together 17 authorities to write the essays, including Chet Flippo, contributing editor to "Rolling Stone"; David Gates from "Newsweek"; Paul Hemphill, author of "The Nashville Sound"; Bill Ivey, director of the Foundation; Robert Palmer, former "New York Times" music reporter; and Neil Rosenberg, author of "Bluegrass: A History".