How Nashville Became Music City U.S.A.: 50 Years of Music Row [With CD]

by Michael Kosser

Book Overview

How did a medium-sized Southern river town become arguably the most important music center in America? In How Nashville Became Music City, U.S.A., we learn how a single studio in a tiny duplex house became Music Row, a ten-block area populated by hundreds of talented people whose job is to simply make music.

The book features stories from publishers, songwriters and others who help tell the evolution of this fabled center of music. It's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0634098063
• ISBN13: 9780634098062
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
• Length: 373 Pages
• Weight: 1.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.6" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A must for any songwriter or fan of any genre

Kosser's book is filled with great stories that any songwriter or music fan regardless of genre would find interesting. A great insight into music publishing and the record industry.

The very best book ever on this topic

Jonathan Colcord gave Michael Kosser's wonderful book one star simply because there was nothing in it about bluegrass. That's like giving The Da Vinci Code one star because there's nothing in it about Southern Baptists. The commercial country music that comes from Nashville is not really the same genre as bluegrass. Bluegrass is recorded everywhere, and though Bill Monroe did indeed record in Nashville, bluegrass is usually self-contained, and Monore's recordings did not involve session musicians but his own band, and the songs were his own or traditional, they did not involve the Nashville songwriting or publishing community. Any good engineer will tell you that bluegrass is recorded differently from mainstream country. Bluegrass is great and has even worked its way instrumentally into much of today's Nashville music, but traditionally it has never been associated very much with Music Row. Mr. Colcord says that songwriters should stick to writing songs instead of writing history, but ironically, Michael Kosser has probably written as much history as he has songs.

Best book on country music yet

This book is different than others when writing about country music in general and Nashville especially. I does not dwelve into on more or less interesting stories about the stars and the people, how they live, about their drinking problems etc. But it tells the story about the tunesmiths and producers and of cource of the stars from a new angle. How did this and that song come into existence, how producers became excellent producers sometimes by inconcidents. sometimes from working their way from the bottom to the top, and how stars struggled before they became stars. How the network mattered. that is who knows who in the business, which is a key to succseed in Music City USA. And how some key persons, in the different stages of the development of country music were resposnible to get the country wagon back on track when times got bad. Bur most of all I will empathize the autor`s ability to focus on the less known people who contributeted much more to find new artists and songs and publishers, or who run small labels and publishing companies,than they have been credited for. All in all, a must read for all serious fans of country music.

BEHIND THE SCENES - A MUST READ!

This book is a must read for anyone interested in country music, or the recording industry in general. Actually, anyone interested in pop music or rock n roll should read this, too -- alongside the great behind the scenes stories about the most famous country stars, there are incredible stories about the roots of rock, and even the invention of the fuzz box! What makes this book so great is that it does not focus on performers and all the stories we've heard a million times or ones you can read elsewhere, instead Kosser goes to the source, the songwriters and the producers who keep the country music business flowing. Country music is an odd industry, but there is a reason why it remains huge -- great songs. This book tells the tale through the words of the men and women who made it happen, and it is about time someone did. I love to read about Hank and Patsy (both in this book, too!) but to hear where Elvis got his songs and especially about the machine that made stars in the 90s is to really learn something about people and the music business. This is a great book... and funny, too. My favorite book about music in years!

Excellent history of the country music business scene

I love this book! It's a great window into the happenings of what made Nashville what it is today. Kosser does a fantastic job with letting the Nashville story speak for itself. Great photos and audio CD help to round out the package. A must for all fans of country music!