Tennessee Strings: The Story of Country Music in Tennessee

Though small and limited in its range like anything Charles K Wolfe wrote, this book richer in scholarship than much else you will read about the subject. Wolfe is also an excellent writer with a real enthusiasm and understanding of the music, the people, and the times depicted. Restricted to one state, this is an honest, quick and full picture of the growth of Country music in the early and middle 20th Century with developments in Tennessee as a sampling and major developments outside of Tennessee explained quickly so the reader understands what is going on. Wolfe is also careful to include how Country music as a business developed and gives a good picture of the role of radio station, concert promoters, and the recording industry at every stage. When you get done with this book you will be surprised how much information you have gotten out of it, so quickly, easily, and pleasantly. My criticism of this book is that it neglects the influences of African American and general popular music on country music in Tennessee in the years discussed. However, a book this short on such subject cannot be expected to cover every issue. A good book for a beginner which will leave her or him thirstly and hungry for more extensive work by Charles K Wolfe and his colleagues.

I bought this book for my "Music of Appalachia" class. It is a fairly thin book but there is so much information contained in it. It has great pictures and stories of the people and places that helped to shape Country music. Instead of showing the typical pictures of people on porches with banjos, this book shows how it really was. The price makes it even more amazing.