The history of the record studio that birthed rock 'n' roll and launched the careers of some of America's legendary music stars.Memphis, Tennessee. The early 1950s. The Mississippi rolls by, and there's a train in the night. Down on Beale Street there's hard-edged blues, on the outskirts of town they're pickin' hillbilly boogie.At Sam Phillips' Sun Records studio on Union Avenue, there's something different going on. "Shake it, baby, shake it!" "Go, cat, go...

This official guide chronicles the story of the birthplace of country music as told by the people who were there. Escott presents the official inside history of the home of country music, offering fans an exclusive look into the heart and soul of country music. Full color, and packed with photos from the Opry Archives covering 80 years of history.

In Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1950s, there was hard-edged blues playing on Beale Street, and hillbilly boogie on the outskirts of town. But at Sam Phillips’ Sun Records studio on Union Avenue, there was something different going on – a whole lotta shakin’, rockin’, and rollin’. This is where rock ’n’ roll was born. Sun Records: the company that launched Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. The label that brought the world, “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Whole L...

A "deftly written and ably researched" biography of the country music pioneer and the book that inspired the Tom Hiddleston film I Saw the Light ( Newsweek )."Our best look yet into Williams's pained, piercing eyes. . . . Escott has peeled away the layers of legend." — Philadelphia InquirerIn his brief life, Hank Williams create...

The biography of the iconic American country music singer-songwriter that inspired the major motion picture I Saw the Light ."Fast and interesting reading. . . . An impressive book. . . . Probably the definitive word on Hank William's life." — Boston GlobeIn his brief life, Hank Williams created one of the defining bodies of American music. Songs such as "Your Cheatin' He...

The Grand Ole Opry has been home to the greatest legends of country music for over eighty years, and in that time it has seen some of conutry music's most dramatic stories unfold.We'll hear of the great love stories ranging from Johnny Cash and June Carter in the 1960s to Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who married in 2005. We'll get the truth of the tragedies that led to the loss of three stars all in the same month, starting the rumor of the "Opry Curse." We'll learn how after b...

"Refreshing . . . candid . . . poignant. . . . One of the best of country's tell-alls, as warm, peculiar, and individualistic as Jennings's music itself." — Entertainment WeeklyEqual parts outlaw, renegade, and legend, Waylon Jennings enjoyed a stellar music career for four decades and this no-holds-barred autobiography reveals the story of a man who infused country music traditions with the energy of rock and roll to rewrite the rules of ...

" Nelson's unmistakable voice shines through . . . funny, inspirational and bawdy, with a well-honed sense of humor." — Kirkus ReviewsIn Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die, Willie Nelson muses about his greatest influences and the things that are most important to him, and celebrates the family, friends, and colleagues who have blessed his remarkable journey. Willie riffs on everything, from music to poker, Texas to Nashville, and more. He shares t...

If you wanted a picture of the life of Elvis Presley, who better to paint it for you than someone who worked as his trusted cook and maid at Graceland? Someone whose daily tasks centered around keeping the King of Rock & Roll happy, whose every move was designed to please the greatest music legend the entertainment world has ever known. Here is that picture, as painted by Nancy Rooks. Nancy worked for Elvis from 1967 until his untimely death in 1977. Read her stories of what those years we...

Boozing. Womanizing. Brawling. Singing. For the last forty years George Jones has reigned as the country's king--the singer many have called the Frank Sinatra of country. And for most of that time, his career has been marked by hard-living, hard-loving, and hard luck. From his early east Texas recordings through his marriage with Tammy Wynette to his latest acclaim as a solid citizen and "high-tech red-neck," Americans have been fascinated with Jones, never even knowing whether he's going ...

GEORGE & TAMMY IS NOW A LIMITED SERIES—STARRING JESSICA CHASTAIN AND MICHAEL SHANNON!Georgette Jones—the only child of country music’s “First Couple,” George Jones and Tammy Wynette—pens a memoir about life with her parents and the journey back to a relationship with her estranged father.The marriage of George Jones and Tammy Wynette was hailed as a union made in honky-tonk heaven. And when little Tamala Georgette Jones was born in...

Willie Nelson shares his life story in this captivating bestselling memoir of true love, wild times, best friends, and barrooms."Unvarnished. Funny. Leaving no stone unturned." ... So say the publishers about this book I've written. What I say is that this is the story of my life, told as clear as a Texas sky and in the same rhythm that I lived it.It's a story of restlessness and the purity of the moment and living right. Of my childhood in Abbott, Texas, t...