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Music rights are notoriously tough. So if this audio version suffers at all, it is from not having any music clips. It also has no illustrations, so you will miss the "Illustrated History" subtitle of this book. After that, it is the perfect audio book: gently and unassumingly read, with Ken Burns himself adding the epigrams, where you might usually hear Dylan McDermott or Amy Madigan. His is not a reader's voice, however, so Brian Corrigan carries the weight effortlessly. Great stories, organiz...
It's a selective history that is engaging because it's as much about America as it is music ... I have never listened to contemporary country music, but the musicians of country music's past, in many ways, created the soundtrack of a nation and so learning their story is to learn little more about ourselves
If you watched the accompanying documentary, much of what is in this book is verbatim what you heard in the documentary. But there is still lots of additional information in the book not discussed in the documentary. Also, there are hundreds of great photos in this book and that alone makes it worth checking out.
A fantastic history of country music from the early 1900's to about the death of Johnny Cash with lots of great pics and quotes.Even if you're not a fan of country music, the way it developed over the years and how one generation learned from the one before is truly fascinating.A great book for fans of music, country music. You won't find a better book about music.
One of the most enjoyable books I've read in a very long time.
I grew up on country music of the 90s (and 80s when the radio played songs from before I was born). Reba, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn, Sawyer Brown, and so many others. So when I saw this documentary was coming out, I knew I had to watch it.And I did. I watched the documentary before I read the book. Of the two, I would recommend watching the documentary. That way, you can hear the music they're referencing.But the book isn't bad. The book is basically word for word the script use...
I grew up watching Hee-Haw, and had a real fondness for country music as a kid. (This was before I got older and became a jazz snob, far too hip for Podunk country music.) My favorite songs were Marty Robbins’s “El Paso” and anything at all by Roger Miller. The first album I remember buying was a collection of country songs from the 1960s-70s, featuring artists like Faron Young, Ferlin Husky, Anne Murray, and Lynn Anderson. In the many years since then, I have occasionally revisited my country r...
I've been a country music fan since I was seven and listened and obsessed over my dad's Glenn Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy album (I especially loved the puffy cover artwork). That same year, I fell in love with Tanya Tucker and her Greatest Hits. This book reminded me how much I miss album cover artwork and when I was 13 my dad took me to see Willie Nelson. I loved this book; the photos and the stories (Marty Stuart and Connie Smith!). I read it with my Spotify account so I could listen to whate...
Very good companion to the PBS series. My only complaint, and I've found this with all Ken Burns companion books, is that many times the text is word-for-word the same as the script. You'd think writing for print would present differences to a television script. But whatever, it works. Because of that, I recommend you own the book or the DVD but not both because of the redundancies.
Country Music: An Illustrated History by Dayton Duncan, (Kenneth Burns), is a 2019 Knopf Publishing Group publication. I love Ken Burn’s PBS documentaries. However, I will make a sheepish confession – Often times I tuned in to these documentaries, even though the subject matter wasn’t always one I was all that interested in, just so I could listen to Peter Coyote narrate the series. I love his voice! While I haven’t seen all the Ken Burns documentaries, the ones I have seen were absolutely incre...
The accompanying volume to the PBS mini-series of the same name, this book is everything you'd expect from Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns--thoroughly researched history, fascinating stories, and a compelling narrative that leaves you wanting more. Tracing the arc of country music from its "hillbilly" and Western swing roots in the 1920s and 1930s to the rise of the "Nashville sound" and the Grand Ole Opry in the 1950s and 1960s, to its more recent crossover into rock and pop, Dayton and Burns paint...
Loved this book! Would’ve given it 6 stars if I could... so many good stories & pictures. Highly recommended!
A lot of fascinating vignettes.Odd that it actually read better out of order much of the time.I read about a third of it but time to return to the library.The TV series is wonderful though.Would be a nice coffee table book for those who love country music in all of it's vastness.
Why does it always seem like country music is having an identity crisis? Does R&B have identity crises? Does pop? Does hip-hop? Sure, but somehow with country music there always seems to be a tension between some idea of "real country" and whatever genres, ideas, or textures are influencing the sound of music made by artists who consider themselves country.In his landmark book Country Music USA: 50th Anniversary Edition, Bill C. Malone (with co-author Tracey E.W. Laird for the most recent editio...
I am not a diehard country music fan, but this series was nothing short of brilliant. This lavishly illustrated companion book is the perfect compliment to the eight-part, sixteen hour TV series. I decided to watch each episode first, then read the matching chapter. It was a great way to catch some information missed at first watch. Two elements really stood out for me. First, the incredible stories of the musicians themselves, often born dirt poor, but with big talent and bigger dreams. From th...
A COMPLETE THOUGH NOT EXHAUSTIVE ATTEMPT TO COVER COUNTRY WESTERN MUSIC AND THEIR STARS; A CHRONOLOGICAL STEP BY STEP PROCESS OF WHERE IT CAME FROM AND IN SOME RESPECTS WHY WE HAVE COUNTRY MUSIC IN OUR HISTORY. THE BOOK CAPTURES WHAT WAS IN THE PBS DOCUMENTARY AND I LEARNED SO MUCH ABOUT THE NAMES AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE OLD SINGERS, SONGWRITERS AND PRODUCERS AND HOW THEY CAME TO INFLUENCE TODAY'S MUSIC; IT ALSO CONTINUES THE DEBATE ON WHAT IS COUNTRY MUSIC AND IS IT CHANGING; ALSO BRINGS TO LI...
I didn't want to watch all sixteen hours of the Ken Burns PBS series of the same title, so I picked up this companion book. With it, I could review all the parts I was especially interested in and the later episodes I hadn't watched. Plus Burns' preface, Duncan's afterword, and all those photographs. Although as an old-time banjo player, my primary focus has been on the musical styles that PRECEDED country music, there was still a great deal of interest here. One of the best parts is on the dedi...
I always enjoy Ken Burns' work on PBS and have not yet gotten the opportunity to see this series.The narration is excellent here, including the portions by Ken himself. The only thing that would possibly have made it better would be if at least some of the artists' quotes were in their own voices. This is a thorough trip through the history of country music from its beginnings and the tidbits about the industry wove through the politics of America much more than I previously thought.Note that th...
I enjoyed reading this companion to the documentary series except that it was so big that it was difficult to hold. Lots of great pictures & information that I missed listening to the documentary. Made me go to YouTube numerous times to listen to songs, particularly when they spoke about different versions of the same song which, if they played on the PBS series, they only played as snippets instead of the whole version.
Too much information to be a coffee table book. Yet it is wonderfully illustrated with priceless, nostalgic photos from bygone days. Well-researched and I thought very thorough. It brings to light the people and forces that shaped country music from its genesis to what it is today. On top of that, it is a wonderful read.