Description

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In this slim, lively book our foremost historian of country music recalls the lost worlds of pioneering fiddlers and pickers, balladeers and yodelers. As he looks at "hillbilly" music's pre-commercial era and its early popular growth through radio and recordings, Bill C. Malone shows us that it was a product not only of the British Isles but of diverse African, German, Spanish, French, and Mexican influences.

About the Author

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BILL C. MALONE, as a performer and a scholar, has been immersed in country music for most of his life. Now retired from Tulane University, he lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where he hosts a weekly radio show, "Back to the Country." He is the author of Country Music, U.S.A., Don't Get above Your Raisin', and other books.

Praise For…

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"Goes a long way toward filling a bothersome hole in American musical history."--Sing Out!

"So succinct and well-documented, all the reader can do is believe it."--Lexington Herald-Leader

"This book shows not only the work of a master scholar, but also that of one attuned to the myths, the hopes, and the yearnings of ordinary people."--Journal of Southern History

“Singing Cowboys and Musical Mountaineers is a very enlightening read regarding the roots of Country music and provides the definitive explanation and history of the connection between Country music (southern folk music) and cowboy hats."--Midwest Book Review

“The last word on the history of country music remains Malone.”--Canon

"Provides great insight into country music and southern culture."--Southern Historian

"This book is good enough that readers can only want more."--Journal of American History

"A very enlightening read."--BookPleasures.com