Full Description
Peter Guralnick, dean of rock-and roll-storytellers, writes in the introduction to Johnny's Cash & Charley's Pride, "Peter Cooper has always been in the mix." Whether spending time with Johnny Cash or Kris Kristofferson, playing bass for Loretta Lynn, discussing songwriting with Taylor Swift, or introducing the Grateful Dead's Robert Hunter to Porter Wagoner, Peter Cooper has continually found himself in the presence of music royalty and the recipient of countless intimate conversations, asides, and confidences.
In Johnny's Cash & Charley's Pride: Lasting Legends and Untold Adventures in Country Music, Cooper chronicles his many "in the mix" tales since arriving in Nashville in 2000 to cover the country music scene for the Tennessean. Filled with untold stories and newly revealed histories, it is an informal yet well-studied inside view of country music's greatest characters and pivotal moments. Now a senior director at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Cooper's stories are akin to a curated behind-the-scenes tour of country music.
Spanning nineteen chapters, Cooper offers an original take on the formative days at WSM and engaging introductions to an ensemble cast of country music's icons, quirks, and golden-but-hidden personalities. With a gem on every page, Cooper has crafted a perceptive, smiling, and atypical immersion into the world of country music that will keep any music fan engaged with its wit, passion, and authenticity.
Contents
• Foreword by Peter Guralnick
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Beginnings
Aside: A Tender Lie
• Chapter 2 Innovation Begat Tradition
Aside: Bill Monroe Weighs In
• Chapter 3 A Memphis Flash, A Nashville Sound
Aside: Elvis Plays the Opry
• Chapter 4 Kris Kristopherson, The Going Up
Aside: A Hairy-Legged Town
• Chapter 5 Merle Haggard and David Olney, Wise Men
Aside: More Advice
• Chapter 6 Storytelling
Aside: A Big Sadness
• Chapter 7 Some Stuff You Mostly Don't Hear
Aside: Tim Carroll's Business Plan
• Chapter 8 The End of the Line
Aside: Ol' Brother Merle
• Chapter 9 A Short Strange Trip with Porter Wagoner
Aside: Opry Banter
• Chapter 10 Merle Haggard and the Door to Hope
Aside: Tommy Collins' Funnies
• Chapter 11 Don Light and the Impossibility of Unscrambling Eggs
Aside: From Don Light
• Chapter 12 Taylor Swift and the Hybrid Art of Understanding
Aside: Shel Silverstein, Hyena Genius
• Chapter 13 Jimmy Martin, Hotshot with a Teardrop in his Eye
Aside: Bus Ruined Bluegrass
• Chapter 14 Loretta Lynn, The Anti-Poet
Aside: Loretta and Ernest
• Chapter 15 Lloyd Green, and Significant Steel
Aside: Lloyd Green and Mike Auldridge
• Chapter 16 Requiem for a Short Bitch
Aside: The Mayor of East Nashville
• Chapter 17 "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash"
Irish Bar, Jacksonville, Florida
• Chapter 18 George Jones: Walk Through this World with Me
• Chapter 19 Which is the Last One, So This Is Really An Afterword
