Lefty Frizzell: The Honky-Tonk Life of Country Music's Greatest Singer

by Daniel Cooper

Book Overview

A biography of one of the founding fathers of modern country music. Until he died in 1975, Lefty Frizzell's life was one of endless touring, drug and alcohol abuse, prison, divorce, decline and resurgence.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316156205
• ISBN13: 9780316156202
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 324 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Lefty -- Truly the greatest

This writer was a pop music fan during the forties. Country music was not even "listenable", as far as I was concerned. Then my sister had me listen to Lefty's "I Want To Be With You Always." I asked her to play it again, and I was hooked. First, just Lefty, then later other country singers --the Hanks, Carl Smith, Mary Robbins, etc..--. Finally by 1980, just Lefty again. Country music began with Lefty and ended with Lefty for me. Cooper's book tells the complete story of Lefty... no holds barred, nothing missing, no glossing over Lefty's failures and weaknesses. Still, it's a remarkable story about a singer who still hasn't been forgiven for ignoring Nashville most of his career. It's a story of country's greatest, a man who deserves to be listed along with Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams as the Top Three country singers, writers, and stylists of all times.

"Lefty Taught Us All How To Sing"

Cooper presents the life of Lefty with little untold. Lefty was all too human and, one suspects, more a victim of his life and times than an instigator. His music was his creation and his escape. No other country singer influenced following generations as did Lefty. Alabama said it best in one single line of a song, "...and Lefty taught us all how to sing." Owning his Bear Family boxed set covers his music (and the only boxed set a country fan really needs), and Cooper's book gets you behind the music. Too many present-day artists have copied Lefty to a tee and fail to acknowledge Lefty as they should. Where is Randy Travis' tribute CD to Lefty? Today's country music is but a footnote to Lefty's career. Cooper tells it well.

Story of a great singer who lacked good managers

I didn't know much about Lefty (other than his music) until I read this book. What a sad waste of a wonderful talent. The book certainly shows the importance of management and public relations for an entertainer. This is a good biography. What I thought it lacked was mention of Lefty's siblings. That made for an incomplete family picture.