Love at the Five and Dime: The Songwriting Legacy of Nanci Griffith

by Brian T. Atkinson

Genres: Music, Biography

416 pages, Hardcover

Published September 9, 2024

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific! Nanci has been, and is, the voice of my heart. Since I first discovered Little Love Affairs as a high schooler, her literate and melodic songs have resonated deeply. I managed to see her live more than five or six times in the late 80s and 90s, and I loved her completely. Atkinson’s book gathers recollections from her contemporaries, who talk about the backstage and studio side of her career as well as her influence on them. The stories of her darker side and the secluded last years of her life were particularly sad to read, making me wish that all of her fans could have reached out to let her know how much her music mattered to each of us.

[Barry Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nanci Griffith, the acclaimed Texas singer/songwriter/performer has been widely acclaimed for her songwriting skills with titles such as Gulf Coast Highway, Trouble In The Fields, Love At The Five And Dime, Ford Econoline, It's A Hard Life (Wherever You Go), On Grafton Street, Listen To The Radio, I Wish It Would Rain, and many others. She's also memorably covered and promoted songs by other writers she's admired: Across The Great Divide (Kate Wolf), Tecumseh Valley (Townes Van Zandt), Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness (John Prine), From A Distance (Julie Gold), Morning Song For Sally (Jerry Jeff Walker), Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound (Tom Paxton), Three Flights Up (Frank Christian), Desperados Waiting For A Train (Guy Clark), (Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown (Jimmie Dale Gilmore). Her entire life was dedicated to writing and finding songs and bringing other songwriters into the light. Brian T. Atkinson has put together a remarkable document of the songs, career and her life, conducting and editing together interviews from those who knew her best. - BH.

[John Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to Nanci Griffith’s music relatively late, in all honesty. Her CDs had sat on my shelves for years, lightly played and never fully appreciated. But once I finally paid attention, the penny dropped—decisively—and as a budding songwriter myself, it’s hard to overstate the influence she has since had on me.

She played Liverpool several times, yet I missed every one of those appearances. I regret that now: a kind of quiet ambivalence that kept me on the wrong side of a line. There was a moment when I became aware of her, when her songs began to mean something to me, and all her live dates fell just before that moment. By the time I truly became a fan, I had only a few short years of loving her music before she passed away.

I was never particularly knowledgeable about her life beyond the surface details. This book has changed that. It illuminates her art, her history, her influence on others, and it reaffirms her standing as a genuinely singular voice in contemporary songwriting. A wide cast of artists contribute their thoughts—love, admiration, sadness, humour, and the occasional difficult memory—and their stories are woven together with insight and care. The narrative follows a largely linear album-by-album path, culminating in a final chapter that gathers reflections on her legacy, her influences, and the anecdotes that coloured her life, both bright and shadowed.

It gave me everything I felt I needed to know about her, and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who loves her music or her unmistakable voice. Just be prepared: there are moments that will break your heart.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love at the Five and Dime is a nice survey Nanci's career and her music. The story is told chronologically and is almost exclusively in the form of interviews with her musical peers and friends. The focus of Love at the Five and Dime is mostly on her musical career and the people whom she influenced. The book does touch on the dark side of her personality, as well as her mental health and alcoholism issues. I came away from reading Love at the Five and Dime with a desire to explore other singer-songwriter artists that Nanci associated with.

[James Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has sent me into a deep dive of Griffith’s later output. I owned Intersections at one point, but it never struck. Re-listening and knowing it was her last album, it has more resonance. The personal narratives in the books from other singer songwriter’s added that background that I wasn’t previously aware of. This isn’t a straightforward narrative, but a structured timeline complied from various interviews. Highly recommended for music fans.

[Stevan Harden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glorious and heartbreaking book about a wonderful singer/songwriter.

[Rick Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess I'm not musically inclined...

I love her music, but didn't grow up knowing it. Not knowing about most of her contemporaries who's comments make up most of the book I was pretty much lost. A bit too technical musically for me too. My bad, not the book's.