
List price: $19.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $9.10
Collectible price: $21.95
Buy one from zShops for: $13.09




Used price: $9.95
Collectible price: $12.71


This is a must read for anone who loves rock-n-roll, blues, jazz, or just wants to learn more about the hardships, the triumphs and the many lessons learned in the music industry.
Many top idols are present, but what makes the book such a worthwhile reading are the writings on those less known. My hats off to a true tribute for the sounds and artists of the south!

Sun was the first powerhouse independent record label of Rock & Roll music. It's catalogue, performed by rough-edged musicians who turned out consistently innovative material and a Top Ten hit here and there, has been exhaustively reissued over the past ten years, much to the delight of Sun connoisseurs. Sadly, the same can't be said of material written about Sun: most of the books (several also written by Escott and Hawkins) are now out of print. Good Rockin' Tonight stands alone as the most comprehensive work dedicated to Sam Phillips and the record label whose influence on popular culture deserves much more.




Used price: $8.25
Collectible price: $9.53
Buy one from zShops for: $7.90



Extremely highly recommended -- the best musical history book I have read.
Also recommended: The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, Volumes I, II, and III (box sets with excellent liner notes by Rob Bowman)
Also -- It Came from Memphis' for a good background on the lesser known, but nonetheless important musicians who originated in Memphis.






Fans who've read Escott's biography Hank Williams will treasure the new material: an extensive collection of informal photos, long-sealed court depositions, the accounting ledger with the $30,000 payoff to his naïve teenaged bride Billie Jean to abandon her claim to his estate, etc.
Among the handwritten copies of 30 unpublished songs and song fragments ("I Wish I Had A Dad," "The Broken Marriage") is "Then Came That Fatal Day" found on the floor of the Cadillac where he died en route to a December 31, 1952, concert. The newly revealed lyrics capture his love-hate relationship with his first wife, Audrey. Meanwhile, a draft of "Cold Cold Heart" accompanies Hank's and Audrey's conflicting accounts as to whether it was "inspired" by an abortion.
Numerous details emerge in the book, like Billie Jean's humor, and Hank's problems with excess measures in song lines. Letters from his publisher/co-author/editor Fred Rose (a recovered alcoholic who tried to curb Hank's substance abuse) find Rose trying to help the volatile marriage to Audrey while - like many others - harshly assessing her.
Audrey, who died in 1975, was an ambitious woman who attempted plenty of spin on her exhusband's legend, but she was probably right in saying, "If some woman, equally as strong as I am, had not come along, there never would have been a Hank Williams. He did not want to live when I met him."
It's an intriguing cast of characters, which build upon the already colorful Hank Williams legend. Check it out today!

Used price: $9.00
Collectible price: $10.47
Buy one from zShops for: $9.89


There was a lot of interesting detail in the book, sometimes too much info for my taste. Mr. Escott went into exhausting detail giving the background of practically every soul Hank ever met. It also seemed Mr. Escott disliked Roy Acuff, which I found interesting, since he has always been portrayed as a virtual saint. Also, Mr. Escott's descriptions of what would have become of Hank and his career had he lived were very interesting, and probably true.
I wish Hank, Jr. could have known his father, it was obvious that Hank loved him, but addictions and circumstance kept them apart.
I'll listen to Hank's music with a much deeper knowledge of the pain that influenced his songs.


The obvious problem with that is that you never feel like you know what Hank was going through or how he felt. So what happens is that there's a lot of "Hank did this" or "Hank did that." He never let anyone know what he was thinking or how he felt. He left that for his songs.
The book doesn't paint Hank as a saint, but nor does it trash him (most biographers would be tempted to go either way). Escott mostly stuck with the facts, and for the most part leaves it up to you to form your own opinion.
I enjoyed reading this book and it only took me two days. I'm a relatively new listener of Hank Williams, but when I saw that Colin Escott wrote this book, I didn't hesitate to buy it. I presumed, and correctly, that Escott would give an authoritative biography. I also knew that Escott was an avid fan of the music, so it would be loaded with the type of stuff that fans want to know, such as first recording dates, sessions, important concerts, last appearances, etc. Recommended.





Collectible price: $50.00
