Music Book Review: Dolly Parton - Behind the Seams - My Life in Rhinestones by Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton: Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones
by Dolly Parton (Music 781.642 Parton)

I’m pretty sure Dolly doesn’t need my help with marketing, but I want to tell you about her amazing new book, Dolly Parton: Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, and give you a heads up that we have it available at Lincoln City Libraries.

 

Dolly is one of the best storytellers around, and in this book she tells the story(s) of how she came to develop her signature style, and the many people who helped her along the way. That’s the thing I love most about Dolly; she shares the credit. She names names of all the stylists, seamstresses, makeup artists and aunts, uncles and cousins who helped her along the way. She makes you feel like being a fan, you too have a big role in her success.

 

If you like the history of clothing, if you like independent women and success stories, you’re gonna love this.

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try How to Read a Dress: A Guide to Changing Fashion From the 16th to the 20th Century by Lydia Edwards (a.k.a. Lydia Jenny), Dolly Parton: Songteller, My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton, I’ve Had to Think Up a Way to Survive: On Trauma, Persistence, and Dolly Parton by Lynn Melnick, She Come By it Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh or The Faith of Dolly Parton: Lessons From her Life to Lift Your Heart by Dudley J. Delffs.)

 

( publisher’s official Dolly Parton: Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones web page ) | ( official Dolly Parton web site )

 

Recommended by Carrie K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the Polley Music Library, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out Polley Music Library Picks, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and follow them on Facebook!

Music Book Review: Hidden in the Mix: The African-American Presence in Country Music by Diane Pecknold

Hidden in the Mix: The African-American Presence in Country Music
by Diane Pecknold (Music 781.642 Hid)

 

There’s been a meme going around recently that lists a number of music genres with origins in black culture: “Blues came from black culture, jazz came from black culture,” rock n roll, funk, soul, disco, hip hop, house, and so on. The country music genre isn’t part of the list, and country is often discussed in terms of having come from folk music origins that trace mostly back to Western Europe.

 

But the truth is more complicated. A good portion of what made country music unique from its European folk counterpart is how it absorbed influences from black musical forms in the United States. Some of these were stylistic — blues music and jazz are obvious influences on country music, for example. Even musical instruments were absorbed from black culture: the banjo is a uniquely African-American invention, developed as a refinement of some West and South African instruments like the kora and the akonting.

 

In Hidden in the Mix, edited by Diane Pecknold, we find a collection of 12 great essays that look at the foundational influence of black music on the development of country music, the continued relationships between later forms of black music like soul and hip hop with more modern styles of country, and the experiences of early African-American country music performers as they navigated musical scenes and eras that were often hostile to their participation. Here we can learn about the history of artists like Arnold Shultz, a guitarist whose style was pivotal to the development of bluegrass music, and Fiddlin’ Bill Livers, known as the last African-American old-time fiddler from Kentucky, who suffered horrible racist attacks in childhood but grew up to be a dynamic entertainer who could bring white and black crowds together.

 

In the early days of the recording industry, we learn about the marketing of so-called “race” and “hillbilly” records, and how there was substantial participation by black artists in the “hillbilly” music of the time. On the more contemporary side of the spectrum, Adam Gussow’s essay “Playing Chicken With the Train” explores the trend of hip hop/country crossover tracks, a phenomenon that has become even more popular in the years just after this book was published, with tunes like the massive Lil Nas X hit “Old Town Road.” All told, this is a great book that presents a solid overview of the black influence on country music between its many well-researched essays. There’s a great bibliography at the back of the book for further reading on the topic, too.

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Segregating Sound: Inventing Folk and Pop Music in the Age of Jim Crow by Karl Hagstrom Miller, or Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South by Charles L. Hughes.)

 

( publisher’s official Hidden in the Mix web site )

 

Recommended by Scott S.
Polley Music Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

 

Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the Polley Music Library, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out Polley Music Library Picks, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and follow them on Facebook!

 

New Lincoln Community Playhouse Booklist: Ring of Fire

The Lincoln City Libraries created a new “recommended reading” list in association with the first 2019-2020 production at the Lincoln Community Playhouse – the musical Ring of Fire, based on the life and music of Johnny Cash. Ring of Fire opened this weekend (September 6 2019), and is being performed through September 22^nd 2019. Whether or not you see the show, you may find some books, CDs and DVDs on this list that will spur your interest!

Check out the list of recommended reading for fans of the Johnny Cash musical Ring of Fire, at the following link:

Ring of Fire