Don't Get above Your Raisin': Country Music and the Southern Working Class (Music in American Life) Paperback – Illustrated, February 6, 2006

The author of this book was very detailed and thorough in his research. Country music as a genre has grown tremendously since its beginning and personally I'm not sure it's all for the best. This is country music as it's meant to be, where it all started, with the working class (i.e., those that didn't have much if anything, and who were raised on the Bible) from the South. I enjoyed it immensely!

For my husband. He loves old country music, and this was definitely one he requested, so I purchased for him. He was delighted.

The information about country music people in this book is very interesting. The only thing I, not being a college graduate, didn't care for were all the $20 words Mr. Malone used in the book. I understand that he is a highly educated person, but I felt his text could have been a little more "down to earth". I read "Don't get above your raisin'" along with a dictionary by my side to look up the $20 words which, for me, took away from the book's enjoyment. I've read articles by Mr. Malone and enjoyed them, but like I say, was a tad disappointed in the extra effort I had to take to read this book.

Bill Malone has built a reputation as a chronicler of the history of Americancountry music. His reputation is, if anything, grossly inflated. In this book, Malonetries unsuccessfully to provide a country music chronology, breezily passing fromone musician and singer to the next, and fleetingly touching on one topic afteranother. It's all very fast-paced and unremarkable.20 minutes with this book and any reader is forced to conclude that it's not ascholarly work at all but merely a pastiche of cliches and extremely old, tiredand regurgitated information lacking in insight and understanding.In his earlier works, Malone betrays his tired-out liberalism by making cattyreferences to politicians and country music stars he disagrees with. He onceclaimed that Merle Haggard probably liked Ronald Reagan because Reagan "in anearlier stint" (clever use of words, right?) as Governor of California pardonedthe country legend.In this book, Malone still just can't seem to figure out why in the heck Haggardbecame a conservative, claiming that critics have differed "wildly in their assesmentof the kind of populism that he and his music represent."Yes, that must be it, Bill! Because critics "differ wildly" in their understandingof Haggard, he must in fact all along have been a tired exponent of the same kindof failed big government intrusive liberalism that the author himself so lovinglyembraces.There is such an irony to all of this--Malone purports to have a sympathetic understandingof his subjects, but he himself is an academic 60s liberal who eschews everything countryentertainers believe in.And even worse, he does all of this in little snippets that very much reminds oneof reading People Magazine.

Mr. Malone, whose long and distinguished career has secured him a place as the world's foremost country music historian, has once again hit one straight out of the park. Rich with both remarkable detail and cogent analysis, the book is a tresure for anyone who cares about country/bluegrass, roots music, or the general American experience. Truly an outstanding work.

Great Book and Amazon delivered every thing that they promised. Would use them again any thing they sold some thing I wanted. Thanks.