Earthy, sexy, and vivacious, the life of beloved country singer, Patsy Cline, who soared from obscurity to international fame to tragic death in just thirty short years, is explored in colorful and poignant detail. An innovator?and even a hell-raiser?Cline broke all the boys' club barriers of Nashville's music business in the 1950s and brought a new Nashville sound to the nation with her pop hits and torch ballads like ?Walking After Midnight," ?I Fall to Pieces? and "Crazy." She is the subject of a major Hollywood movie and countless articles, and her albums are still selling 45 years after her death. Ellis Nassour was the very first to write about Cline and did so with the cooperation of the stars who knew and loved her?including Jimmy Dean, Jan Howard, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Roger Miller, Dottie West, and Faron Young. He was the only writer to interview Cline's mother and husbands. This updated edition features not only a complete discography and a host of never-before-published photographs, but includes an afterword that details controversial claims about her birth, the battle between Cline's siblings for her possessions, the amazing influence Cline had on a new generation of singers and, in Cline's own words from letters to a devoted friend, her excitement as her career soared to new heights and her marriage descended to new depths.

All the information since the earliest Billboard charts were originally compiled in 1942 is gathered into this one essential reference on country music that has been updated and expanded to capture today's top recording artists and their biggest songs. Original.

Tennessee Off the Beaten Path features the things travelers and locals want to see and experience––if only they knew about them. From the best in local dining to quirky cultural tidbits to hidden attractions, unique finds, and unusual locales, Tennessee Off the Beaten Path takes the reader down the road less traveled and reveals a side of Tennessee that other guidebooks just don't offer.

“Fans of live music will get a kick out of” this Texas Country Music Hall of Famer’s “fond but brutally honest memories, playing gigs with Willie Nelson” (Publishers Weekly). When it comes to Texas honky-tonk, nobody knows the music or the scene better than Johnny Bush. Author of Willie Nelson’s classic concert anthem “Whiskey River,” and singer of hits such as “You Gave Me a Mountain” and “I’ll Be There,” Johnny Bush is a legend in country music, a singer-songwriter who has lived the cheatin’, hurtin’, hard-drinkin’ life and recorded some of the most heart-wrenching songs about it. He has one of the purest honky-tonk voices ever to come out of Texas. And Bush’s career has been just as dramatic as his songs—on the verge of achieving superstardom in the early 1970s, he was sidelined by a rare vocal disorder. But survivor that he is, Bush is once again filling dance halls across Texas and inspiring a new generation of musicians. In Whiskey River (Take My Mind), Johnny Bush tells the twin stories of his life and of Texas honky-tonk music. He recalls growing up poor and learning his chops in honky-tonks around Houston and San Antonio. Bush vividly describes life on the road in the 1960s as a band member for Ray Price and Willie Nelson. Woven throughout Bush's autobiography is the never-before-told story of Texas honky-tonk music, from Bob Wills and Floyd Tillman to Junior Brown and Pat Green. For everyone who loves genuine country music, Johnny Bush, Willie Nelson, and stories of triumph against all odds, Whiskey River (Take My Mind) is a must-read.

Your Travel Destination. Your Home. Your Home-To-Be. Nashville Savor down-home Southern food and hospitality. See antebellum mansions and lush flowering gardens. Feel the beat of the Music City. The Athens of the South. • A personal, practical perspective for travelers and residents alike • Comprehensive listings of attractions, restaurants, hotels, and music venues • How to live & thrive in the area—from recreation to relocation • Countless details on shopping, arts & entertainment, and children’s activities

Nashville offers extraordinary opportunities for those either visiting or seeking to relocate to this country music mecca. Insiders’ Guide to Nashville is packed with information on the best attractions, restaurants, accommodations, shopping and events from the perspective of one who knows the area well.

Newly expanded to include work from recent years, Honky Tonk is as evocative and irresistible as the music itself.

Many genres of music—including the blues, bluegrass, country, rock and roll, and gospel—have roots in the American South, and the region has nurtured some of the world's most famous and talented musicians—from Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn to Elvis Presley and B.B. King. Seddiqui—dubbed "the Most Traveled Person in America"—leads readers on an experience-based travel journey through the music of the South. The curated itinerary features • stops in Lexington, the hollers of eastern Kentucky, Bristol, Pigeon Forge, Nashville, Memphis, the Mississippi Delta, New Orleans, Lafayette, Houston, and Austin; • fun, hands-on learning opportunities—from taking a line-dancing class to hand-crafting an instrument—that allow travelers to experience firsthand the music that flows through the region; • interviews with noted makers and musicians who provide insight into the region's craft and music traditions; and • information on lodging and other attractions that travelers should be sure not to miss as they jam their way through the South.

Country music superstar Trace Adkins isn’t exactly known for holding back what’s on his mind. And if the millions of albums he’s sold are any indication, when Trace talks, people listen. Now, in A Personal Stand, Trace Adkins delivers his maverick manifesto on politics, personal responsibility, fame, parenting, being true to yourself, hard work, and the way things oughta be. In his inimitable pull-no-punches style, Trace gives us the state of the union as he sees it, from the lessons of his boyhood in small-town Louisiana to what he’s learned headlining concerts around the world. Trace has worked oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, been shot in the heart, been inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, and braved perhaps the greatest challenge of all: being the father of five daughters. And shaped by these experiences, he’s sounding off. • I’m incredibly frustrated with the state of American politics. If there were a viable third party, I’d seriously consider joining it. • If anybody wonders who the good guys are and who the bad guys are in this world, just look at the way we teach our children as opposed to the way the fundamentalist Muslims teach their children. • Organized labor now exists for the sake of organized labor, and not for the workers it once protected. • I believe the easiest way to solve the illegal immigration enforcement problem is to go after the employers who hire illegal aliens. • As a society, we’re unwilling to sacrifice our luxuries and our conveniences in order to conserve. We won’t change until we’re forced to. • The war on terror is like herpes. People can live with it, but it’ll flare up from time to time. Brash, ballsy, persuasive, and controversial, A Personal Stand isn’t just the story of Trace Adkins’s life; it’s the story of what life can teach all of us.