Editors: Alanna Nash and Paul Kingsbury
360 pages • Hardcover
DK Publishing, 2006
Will the Circle Be Unbroken:
Country Music in America
Excerpt from “Profiles in Country: Chapter 10— “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way? Country Music 1972–1982”
With her 1979 debut, “Right or Wrong,” which spawned three Top 25 hits, Rosanne Cash arrived as an important new female voice. But it was her second album, “Seven Year Ache” (1981), which established her as a uniquely qualified hybrid artist, Tennessee bred, and California cured. With the title song, her first No.1, she paired an intensely personal lyric about her marriage to artist/producer Rodney Crowell with the tough street vibe of pop’s Rickie Lee Jones. Everything about it spoke of her fierce independence, and of the tug-of-war between her steely eyed realism and lush romanticism. Newsweek termed her “the most intensely modern of Nashville’s new women.”
Cash would continue to blend genres before settling on an unflinchingly introspective style with 1990’s “Interiors,” which foreshadowed her divorce from Crowell. In 1995, she married producer-musician John Leventhal, who helped her reach a new maturity and diversity of songwriting. It found its zenith in her 2003 duet with her dying father, “September When It Comes,” set to the tempo of tears, and in “Black Cadillac” (2006).
“… an easy, gliding kind of read for anyone, not just lovers of the genre”—Hall of Fame Magazine
“… a great gift for the deeply dedicated country fan.”—The Seattle Times
“… 360 pages of pure country goodness.”—Country Weekly Magazine
“… chock-a-block with luscious color graphics and brilliant writing. A sumptuous feast essential for all libraries.”—Library Journal (starred review)
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION (from Amazon)
An illustrated, literary work on the history and development of Country Music. Produced in association with the Country Music Hall of Fame, the highest authority on country music. Includes essays by Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter and a foreword by Willie Nelson. Artifacts and memorabilia from the Country Music Hall of Fame archives give an authentic picture of the country music scene. Clear and entertaining text delves deep into the history of country music from its folk beginnings to the multi-million-dollar industry of today.
