[ Back to LQ | Metro | Metroactive Central ]

Country Music Laid Out on a Coffee Table

A not-so-grand-ole look at the history of country and western music

---

The Grand Ole Opry History of Country Music
By Paul Kingsbury
Random House; 257 pages; $40 cloth


---

Reviewed by Gordon Young

Coffee-table books aren't supposed to be deep, especially when they deal with a trade practiced, however loosely, by Billy Ray Cyrus. So don't expect The Grand Ole Opry History of Country Music to offer any profound insight into what used to be known as "folk music" or just plain "hillbilly."

Instead, author Paul Kingsbury explains that the word country "suggests who makes the music and who listens to it" while evoking "a picture of life far from the hurly-burly of the big city." Sounds good to me.

Don't count on outspoken portrayals of country's movers and shakers, either. Col. Tom Parker, who squeezed every cent he could out of Elvis, is gently described as "wily." True, I suppose. I'd also mention "greedy" and "ruthless," but paper costs are pretty high these days and there's a lot of ground to cover.

And while it's acknowledged that Hank Williams "fell into a bottomless well of drink and self-pity," there are no good drinking stories and no mention of the uncomfortable notion that Hank's music probably would have suffered if he hadn't had such a lousy life.

Fair enough. After all, this is a book designed to celebrate the ragged but unbroken line stretching from Eck Robertson, country music's first recording artist, to the likes of Dwight Yoakam, a performer who probably shares more fans with Pearl Jam than Dolly Parton.

It's a handsome primer on one of America's greatest musical creations. I would call it a fine resource guide--complete with a handy timeline--if the damn thing had an index. Nice photos, though, including a wonderful shot of Porter Wagoner's bridgework on page 153, and that's what counts most for a book that will be looked at more than it's read.

[ Books Index | Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]