Focus was primarily on Patsys career and secondary focus was on her life but only in terms of how it realated to her career. If you want to know in agonizing detail the steps her career followed , down to which recording she did on which day, this is a great book. If you want to get to know who Patsy was as a person this is probably not the right book. I found it to be a somewhat mechanical and sterile view of Patsy Cline the person. Not an adaquate treatment of her life with Charlie or her children.

I have been a Patsy Cline fan since I was six years old. This book has been in my Patsy collection for eight years. It is THE MOST comprehensive view of Patsy's life that I've ever read. (And I have "a few of those OTHER books" in my collection as well, but they don't even come close to Mr. Nassour's very informative and compelling look at the life of the one and only Patsy Cline. THE BOOK to read, ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!!!... You've found the one and only book on Patsy Cline that you need, That is Ellis Nassour's: Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline.

I enjoy reading Honky Tonk Angel again & again. It's such a honest book & evokes memories of that fabulous period, the 50' & 60's when I knew Patsy & she was singing her heart out. I congratulate Mr. Nassour for writing the truth. It shows she was human like the rest of us. As a singer, no one can take her place. Her music has touched the hearts of millions everywhere. Her "Sweet Dreams" keeps us dreaming on & songs like "I Fall to Pieces" remind us we're vulnerable & have hurts in our lives as well. Her music & voice are timeless--one reason that people still listen to Patsy. The book has photos I've found no where else, & there are more (plus great stories) on the book website@ patsyclinehta.com. The book captures Patsy's life so poignantly that I sense the emotion behind each word--emotion that evokes a star who fell before her time. Faye Morgan

This book was a very interesting read and and a minimum offers any reader a real "View" from Nashville, TN the World Capital for Country music and the stars and players involved.. I give it 4 stars and reccomend to all.

your first book was 2 thumbs up I will read your 2nd god bless you mr.emery since hee haw has gone and most of any old tm. music it is a pleasure to read about the real country from you some one who was there

When a man has been in a business for all his adult life, he is well quialified to write about that business and the people within. There in lies the story of "View From Nashville". No other living person knows and can tell the story of "Nashville" scene better than Ralph Emery. The reader gets to know as a person one on one Dolly Parton, Marty Robbins, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty and countless others. Loretta speaks of an out of body experience as she stood by the bedside of her dying friend Conway Twitty. Merl Kilgore relates through Ralph the message Jim Reeves sent him from the other side. One finds that being a child star does not always mean living in a big house, and driving a fancy car as Brenda Lee relates. That Elvis might have appeared on a recording after his death. Through the writing of this Nashville Icon one learns the humor of Roger Miller, and gets to know stars Reba McIntre and Brooks and Dunn. For Elvis fans he writes extensively about an interview with Colonel Tom Parker and the book he would never write. One can feel the love the author has for the business, his city, and peers. No one else could or has told the Nashville story like Ralph Emery in View From Nashville. No wonder his TNN program was voted the networks most popular for 10 consecutive years. Thank goodness he has had time to pen these stories in written form so they may be enjoyed forever.

Do not waste your money on this one. Nothing here that has been written about already and generally much better. Reading this, you would believe every artist in Nashville, past and present, is a tremendous talent, since old Ralph spends half the book... telling us how great the artists are.... Really bad.

Ralph Emery is a country music radio/TV personality who knows his stuff. When Ralph puts together material for a book, the reader knows they are going to get authentic data. Ralph's contact with and dealings with the people he wrote about in this book are real. I know the music well and I applaude his analysis of who had the hit songs of the year he was focusing on. Once I started the book, I couldn't put it down. Please let Ralph know, it was thoroughly enjoyed by me. I have been a country music fan since the early 40s when I was about 6 years old and able to turn on the battery operated radio and listen in wonderment at the music I heard. It fascinated me then, and the traditional music still fascinates me today. I am having a very difficult time being as broadminded as Ralph is about the sound of today. I rarely listen to the radio today. I buy albums by Dolly, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Asleep at the Wheel. Need I tell you more. When I am driving, my discs are playing the music I love. I'm not listening to the so-called " country music" station which only play sing-alikes with a sound that doesn't touch my soul. Thank you Ralph, for your many years of touching the souls of your listeners. Tho I never listened to you on WSM (hard to get in S Dak. and Calif is too far away), I loved your TNN Nashville Now program. You were my must see program each day. I surely miss the authentic country shows on TNN. I rarely tune in, except for the Grand Ole Opry these days. Thanks for the book, Ralph. Keep up the good work. Hope to see you soon on TV.

This book had some great stories that you don't get to hear on CMT or in Country Weekly. I thought this was a well-written account of the history of country music by someone who has been an institution in the industry for over 50 years. Very good book!

Back when The Nashville Network cable channel was new and still country, "Nashville Now" was its flagship program. Host Ralph Emery seemed like a friendly, easy going member of the extended family. In this collection of "Memories" (most of which are the memories of what other people did) he comes across as arrogant, self-serving, and somewhat bitter.

He makes insidious allegations against ex-wife Skeeter Davis, and while there are two sides to every story, her tale is not needed for this version to sound dubious on its own merits. Among the anecdotes he includes are juicy vignettes about many country singers. Some such as Merle Haggard's lamentation seems like they were obviously intended to have been kept off the record.

Perhaps the book's biggest drawback is that it lends credence to the long whispered rumor that Ralph Emery was never a true country fan. In it he refers to the late Keith Whitley as having won the CMA Horizon award the year before he died. In reality, he was nominated but lost. The supposed epitome of country radio also states that Nashville's annual thank you party Fan Fair is held every year in early July, but it is actually held in early June. These embarrassing misstatements suggest that the editors were also not well versed in country music info.