The Nashville Sound: Bright Lights and Country Music

This was published long before I started paying attention to country music. It was kinda fun reading about people like Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton I(only mentioned as Porter Wagner's sweet little singing partner) before they were fully established as country royalty.

Glen Campbell was considered an upstart popstar crossover act. Ha! Most of the folks Hemphill talks to in this book are probably rolling in their graves at the sound of today's "country" music!

As with the collection of Hemphill's sports columns that first captured my attention, these tales are eminently readable and convey a lot of personality as well as information. I am glad to have read it, particularly given the way it rounds out my interests in southern and family show more history. show less

This bit of investigative journalism on Nashville reeling from the rise of rock with Music Row largely vacants and in decline touts itself on the cover name-dropping luminaries covered here including George Jones, Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, etc. However, much more ink is spent on and insight gathered from such key figures slugging away in the trenches of transformation such as Whisperin’ Bill Anderson, Billy Dilworth, and John Wesley Ryles. This is a must read for the serious fan of post-hillbilly popular country music.