Country - Nick Tosches

Y'know, I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but I was not knocked out by it, unfortunately. Tosches has an interesting style of writing, with some vague non sequitur passages and chapters (sorta/kinda tells a story without telling us who the subject is), and some bits of wildness, but overall, this was not super informative.

That is not to say that it was without merit - he definitely had me running to You Tube to hear some folks and I put a few items on my Amazon wish list due to this tome, but somehow it just didn't flow for me.

But, that said, there is a good history of country and Americana music and its roots - sometimes a little too much history for my tastes (he goes into several centuries of influences on some tunes) - and some sweet anecdotes about lots of characters that have created the sounds we now think of as country and country&western. Of course, there is a good chunk of pages dedicated to the fabulous Jerry Lee Lewis (who Tosches wrote an entire book about), as well as lesser knowns, such as Emmett Millers, who influenced everyone from Hank Williams to Jerry Lee himself.

There are also chapters dedicated to lewdness in C&W, the overlapping of blues/C&W/pop/etc., the record business itself and plenty more. So, there is a lot to absorb here and plenty of interest, so worth checking out, but not highly recommended.