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Roy Acuff: The Smoky Mountain Boy
"An important and especially fitting tribute."
-Country Music Magazine
"One of the best studies of a country music personality that has been issued to date."
-The Journal of Country Music
"Must reading for fans, scholars, or anyone who has more than a passing interest in Roy Acuff."
-The Nashville Banner
"When a king dies, the people of the land proclaim, 'The King is dead! Long live the King!' However, in this case, there is an empty throne, for there will never be another King."
-Elizabeth Schlappi
Acuff was the first living performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was an artist whose devotion to his work boosted not only his own career, but also the credibility and popularity of his field. This country music legend helped bring the fledgling industry and its capital, The Grand Ole Opry, from the classification of regional entertainment to a certified national institution.
His career began back in 1938, when this son of a small-town Baptist preacher made his first appearance on the famed stage in Nashville. This first step toward stardom transformed his life. Roy Acuff: The Smoky Mountain Boy draws upon personal interviews with Acuff's contemporaries, friends, and family as well as Acuff himself. This combination honors Acuff by tracing the roots of his career through the evolution of his musical style and his distinctive American art form. He died on November 23, 1992
-Country Music Magazine
"One of the best studies of a country music personality that has been issued to date."
-The Journal of Country Music
"Must reading for fans, scholars, or anyone who has more than a passing interest in Roy Acuff."
-The Nashville Banner
"When a king dies, the people of the land proclaim, 'The King is dead! Long live the King!' However, in this case, there is an empty throne, for there will never be another King."
-Elizabeth Schlappi
Acuff was the first living performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was an artist whose devotion to his work boosted not only his own career, but also the credibility and popularity of his field. This country music legend helped bring the fledgling industry and its capital, The Grand Ole Opry, from the classification of regional entertainment to a certified national institution.
His career began back in 1938, when this son of a small-town Baptist preacher made his first appearance on the famed stage in Nashville. This first step toward stardom transformed his life. Roy Acuff: The Smoky Mountain Boy draws upon personal interviews with Acuff's contemporaries, friends, and family as well as Acuff himself. This combination honors Acuff by tracing the roots of his career through the evolution of his musical style and his distinctive American art form. He died on November 23, 1992
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 11, 2013
Of all the country music biographies I have read, none has made me feel as if I know the subject better than Elizabeth Schlappi does in her detailed yet fascinating account of the larger than life story of Roy Acuff. Ronnie Pugh's biography of Ernest Tubb left me feeling like I had just trudged through a swamp of intensive detail concerning things like the exact dates of tons of recording sessions and all the names of who played on them. When I got to the end, I felt like the only real thing I learned about Ernest Tubb was that he was a helpful guy. But this Roy Acuff book left me feeling like I was one of his inner circle that knows many facets of his life and personality. Rather than presenting a chronological form of Roy's life, she tells his story up until the time when he hits it big on the Opry. From then on out, she focuses on different important elements of Roy's career and life. Whether it be the stories about his band members, the road, his approach to music, politics, or movie making, Schlappi keeps it fresh by staying away from a story that could easily get convoluted unless taken piece my piece.
As you progress through the book, you really learn how Roy speaks and how he feels about most subjects more than you would in a typical biography. Being a friend of Acuff and his family, Schlappi has the distinct advantage of knowing Roy in person, which of course creates a very interesting element not seen in most books of these form. Coming away from this book, it is impossible to not understand that Roy is easily in the short list of the most important names to have ever recorded under the country music label. He changed everything about the way the music was performed and essentially introduced country music to the entire country. My admiration for Roy, both his musical achievements and his favorable personality, shall never cease after reading Schlappi's well-crafted biography. Any true fan of country music should know Roy Acuff, and there's no better way than to read this book.
*One complaint, this book could have used a better editor in some places. For instance, Bob Wills' name is accidentally spelled Bob Willis. You just can't misspell the King Of Western Swing's own name!
As you progress through the book, you really learn how Roy speaks and how he feels about most subjects more than you would in a typical biography. Being a friend of Acuff and his family, Schlappi has the distinct advantage of knowing Roy in person, which of course creates a very interesting element not seen in most books of these form. Coming away from this book, it is impossible to not understand that Roy is easily in the short list of the most important names to have ever recorded under the country music label. He changed everything about the way the music was performed and essentially introduced country music to the entire country. My admiration for Roy, both his musical achievements and his favorable personality, shall never cease after reading Schlappi's well-crafted biography. Any true fan of country music should know Roy Acuff, and there's no better way than to read this book.
*One complaint, this book could have used a better editor in some places. For instance, Bob Wills' name is accidentally spelled Bob Willis. You just can't misspell the King Of Western Swing's own name!
July 22, 2024
I really wanted to like this one, but it lost me in its writing style. The information is good, but presented as a list of facts. Another biography that is really a list of songs he recorded that is usually at the end of the book, instead of throughout. It's very dry reading. The reviews aren't bad on this book, but I found it to be boring.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews