Bobby Braddock: A Life on Nashville’s Music Row

Country Music Foundation Press

by Bobby Braddock

If you know country music, you know Bobby Braddock. Even if you don't know his name, you know the man's work. "He Stopped Loving Her Today." "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." "Golden Ring." "Time Marches On." "I Wanna Talk About Me." "People Are Crazy." These songs and numerous other chart-topping hits sprang from the mind of Bobby Braddock. A working songwriter and musician, Braddock has prowled the streets of Nashville's legendary Music Row since the mid-1960s, plying his trade and selling his songs. These decades of writing songs for legendary singers like George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Toby Keith are recounted in Bobby A Life on Nashville's Music Row , providing the reader with a stunning look at the beating heart of Nashville country music that cannot be matched.

If you're looking for insight into Nashville, the life of music in this town, and the story of a force of nature on the Row to this day, Bobby Braddock will take you there.

Genres: Music, History, Memoir, Nonfiction

393 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2015

Reviews

[Koren]

There were parts of this book that were interesting. It was at its best when it talked about the country music industry. Bobby Braddock is a songwriter and music producer in Nashville and has written some of the best known songs in country music. Probably the best known in He Stopped Loving Her Today. His most notable client as a producer is probably Blake Shelton. But his long stories about his love life left me thinking "oh no, not again." He brags too much about how beautiful the women are, but they always seem to have some flaw. He seems to be pretty honest about his own flaws, which include cheating on them. The rest of the book comes across as "look who I know or who I met".

[Mahlon]

A Life on Nashville's Music Row chronicles Braddock's 50 years on Music Row and contains the inspiration behind many of his great songs, as well as insights into the many great artists he's worked with over the years. He talks a lot about his failed relationships, which is probably not as interesting as the stuff that relates directly to songwriting, but certainly gives you a window into his deeply tortured soul. The battles he had to fight to even get Blake Shelton to radio also make for interesting reading. One of the best Nashville/songwriting books I've ever read!

[Donna]

This was the most disappointing and badly written book I've read in many years

[Jenny Kirkby]

Each paragraph moved quickly from one memory/story to the next and at times was a bit hard going. I learnt a lot about the music industry and enjoyed learning about the people involved that I had never heard of and the artists that I had. Turns out the life dramas I've seen in American tv shows might actually be based on fact.

[Beth]

I was so disappointed with this book it appeared to have been written in a hurry and wasn't thought out properly, it didn't tell me anything I didn't previously know, it was full of half truths, boring

[Okpeter]

Many new insights, lots of details about Music Row and Nashville

A wonderful memoir if you have the time and dedication to stick with it. Bobby Braddock lived an amazing life and had a wonderful time in Nashville‘s music industry history. He tells the tale of that in excellent fashion here. A lot of names and a lot of detail but wonderful color and an interesting slant on life itself.

[Allison]

This book was interesting in parts to learn about how the country music industry grew over the past decades, and to learn more about how the different people in the industry work together. At times it didn’t flow that well and kind of felt like random notes about famous people he had met, that really didn’t add to the story.

[Wayne Presnell]

I liked it, particularly at the beginning, but there was a bit too much of his personal struggle with relationships.

[Debra]

This is easily the most disappointing book I've read in a long time. It was clearly written in a hurry with very little thought, yes Bobby is a good songwriter WHEN HE COWRITES WITH OTHER SONGWRITERS. I thought biographies were supposed to reflect the truth but I know for a fact that more than half of this book is pure fantasy.

[Song.Finder]

Didn't like this book
I think he must have rushed to finish it,