He Stopped Loving Her Today


Book Description

A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a country music masterpiece




I Lived to Tell It All


Book Description

Strong and sober, George Jones looks back on his life with searing candor. From his roots in an impoverished East Texas family to his years of womanizing, boozing, brawling, and singing with the voice that made him a star, his story is a nonstop rollercoaster ride of the price of fame. It is also the story of how the love of a good woman, his wife Nancy, helped him clean up his act.




The Legend of George Jones


Book Description

George Jones lived a storied life, but his career was not without controversies. This book reveals fascinating, intimate details about the life of George Jones that have never before been published. Charlene and Peanutt Montgomery, who were George?s closest friends and confidants over a thirty-year period and the songwriters for the vast majority of the songs that George recorded, are the authors of this highly entertaining book. Their strong bonds with and admiration for George come shining through, even when writing about the less-than-flattering incidents and times that make up part of the story.




Over the Top and Back


Book Description

The long-awaited autobiography of legendary singer Tom Jones, following six decades of unparalleled experiences in the spotlight to coincide with his 75th birthday. Across six decades, Sir Tom Jones has maintained a vital career in a risky, unstable business notorious for the short lives of its artists. With a drive that comes from nothing but the love for what he does, he breaks through and then wrestles with the vagaries of the music industry, the nature of success and its inevitable consequences. Having recorded an expansive body of work and performed with fellow artists from across the spectrum and across every popular music genre, from rock, pop and dance to country, blues and soul, the one constant throughout has been his unique musical gifts and unmistakable voice. But how did a boy from a Welsh coal-mining family attain success across the globe? And how has he survived the twists and turns of fame and fortune to not only stay exciting, but actually become more credible and interesting with age? In this, his first ever autobiography, Tom revisits his past and tells the tale of his journey from wartime Pontypridd to LA and beyond. He reveals the stories behind the ups and downs of his fascinating and remarkable life, from the early heydays to the subsequent fallow years to his later period of artistic renaissance. It's the story nobody else knows or understands, told by the man who lived it, and written the only way he knows how: simply and from the heart. Raw, honest, funny and powerful, this is a memoir like no other from one of the world's greatest ever singing talents. This is Tom Jones and Over the Top and Back is his story.




Bobby Braddock


Book Description

If you know country music, you know Bobby Braddock. Even if you don't know his name, you know the man's work. "He Stopped Loving Her Today." "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." "Golden Ring." "Time Marches On." "I Wanna Talk About Me." "People Are Crazy." These songs and numerous other chart-topping hits sprang from the mind of Bobby Braddock. A working songwriter and musician, Braddock has prowled the streets of Nashville's legendary Music Row since the mid-1960s, plying his trade and selling his songs. These decades of writing songs for legendary singers like George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Toby Keith are recounted in Bobby Braddock: A Life on Nashville's Music Row, providing the reader with a stunning look at the beating heart of Nashville country music that cannot be matched. If you're looking for insight into Nashville, the life of music in this town, and the story of a force of nature on the Row to this day, Bobby Braddock will take you there.




Country Music 101: A Comprehensive Guide to the Heart of America's Sound


Book Description

Embark on a journey through the heart of America's musical landscape with 'Country Music 101: A Comprehensive Guide to the Heart of America's Sound.' Delve into the rich tapestry of country music's history, exploring its origins, evolution, and cultural significance. From the honky-tonks of Nashville to the bluegrass fields of Kentucky, this book takes you on a captivating exploration of the genre's diverse styles, iconic artists, and timeless songs. Discover the legendary figures who shaped country music's legacy, from Hank Williams and Johnny Cash to Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks. Explore the instruments that define the genre's signature sound and uncover the secrets of songwriting that have made country music a storytelling tradition like no other. With in-depth discussions on everything from country music's influence on popular culture to its role in addressing social issues, this guide offers a comprehensive overview of the genre's impact and relevance in today's world. Whether you're a seasoned country music aficionado or a newcomer looking to explore the genre for the first time, 'Country Music 101' is your ultimate companion to understanding and appreciating the timeless allure of country music.




Stories from Home


Book Description

Brimming with his rich humor, Jerry Clower's book manifests the unsurpassed southern art of yarn spinning. It also shows the nature of the man for whom good storytelling is more than just show business. Nashville's funniest man had a serious side. Deep in the merry heart of this comic entertainer were the codes and values that made him an esteemed humanitarian. He was named America's best country comic for nine years in a row and was called “the funniest American storyteller since Will Rogers” and “the Mouth of the Mighty Mississippi.” This boisterous, downhome man's loving, extroverted manner and his forthright display of positive feelings for others arose from the substance of sober, rock-solid regional values he gained from maturing in the rural South. Stories from Home embraces both sides of Jerry Clower, the funny man and the serious man, and shows his anecdotal humor in the mainstream of the South's great oral tradition of folktales and narratives. Jerry Clower’s hilarious stories about possum hunting, coon dogs, and the rambunctious Ledbetter clan were standards in his stage routines, videos, and albums. In Stories from Home many of his fans' favorite Clower tales are included. Here, too, is a long interview in which he explored his beliefs and tells how he gained firm convictions about race, religion, education, and family as well as an intolerance of negativism.










George Jones


Book Description

George Jones's nearly 60-year recording and performing career has had a profound influence on modern country music and influenced a younger generation of singers, including Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Tim McGraw, and Trace Adkins. As Merle Haggard said of Jones in Rolling Stone magazine, “His voice was like a Stradivarius violin: one of the greatest instruments ever made.” Jones's saga is a larger-than-life tale of rags to riches and back to rags again. He was born into near poverty in a backwater patch of East Texas. His formal education ended early; by his early teens, he was singing on the streets of Beaumont, Texas, for tips. After beginning to record in the mid-1950s Jones became, by sheer dint of his vocal prowess, one of Nashville's most celebrated honky-tonk singers. But from the start, Jones's life, as often reflected in his music, was shaped by misdirection, chaos, turmoil, and emotional strife aggravated by a ferocious appetite for alcohol. Fame and adulation seemed to merely intensify his personal travails. Jones's story has a relatively happy ending. With the help of fourth wife Nancy during the final decade and a half of his life, he got clean and sober, was feted as a much-revered elder statesman for the music, and, by most accounts, found peace of mind at long last.