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Title: Country Roads by Brian Hinton ISBN: 1-86074-293-9 Publisher: Sanctuary Publishing, Ltd. Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95

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Average Customer Rating: 2.67 (3 reviews)

Rating: 1
Summary: Sloppy Research spoils ambitious project
Comment: From the very beginning of this book I became distracted from the content by the numerous errors, I had heard Mr Hinton interviewed on the radio and was taken by his enthusiasm, I was dissappointed to find that his "research" amounted to a few books by other authors.Some errors are downright sloppy e.g. "Elvis Presley toured with Jimmie Rodgers" end quote, this would be a neat trick considering JR died in 1933 and EP wasn't born until 1935. The whole book is peppered with these inaccuracies, which colours my judgement of the whole book.

Rating: 4
Summary: For Once, An Inclusive History of Country Music
Comment: "Country Roads: How Country Came To Nashville" attempts to trace the history and development of country music. Several aspects set it apart from previous histories. Author Brian Hinton goes back to the Old World origins of the music and follows it arrival and evolution in the New World. He also focuses much space on more recent developments, and adds some interesting observations on Alt Country and the country/rock hybrids of the last thirty years, without being dismissive or condescending.

To Hinton, country music is a contimuum, a musical form that is constantly changing and evolving, adding new styles and elements that alter the growth and direction of the genre. Many writer (c.f. Bill Malone) feel that they have to build figurative "walls" around country to music as if to protect it from the encroachments. Hinton seems to feel that these elements add to, rather than threaten, country. He also seems to make an effort to understand the appeal of those artists that he doesn't particularly enjoy. Hinton's view of country music is one of the most inclusive definitions I have ever encountered, and I think he makes his points well. He also looks for the influence of country on other musical styles, some of which could not be any further from Nashville, geographically and philisophically. Hinton scores points here, too.

Hinton is British and, unlike many English writers who are analyzing American popular culture, he doesn't

feel the need to denigrate those things that he doesn't completely understand. He clearly loves this music, unlike, say Nick Tosches, the author of the overrated and condescending "Country." Unlike the often bitter and self-serving Tosches, Hinton's opinions are thoughtful and original.

Despite occasionally sloppy editing (its obvious that Hinton dicated the text, and whoever transcribed was clearly less than familiar with the subject matter)and a few glaring factual errors, this is a useful and entertaining work. This book is a good read for those who want a clearer understanding of country music in the year 2000. The sections on the Alt Country movement are well-written and more thought-provoking than previous writings on the subject. Most importantly, "Country Roads" is fun reading for the country music fan and neophyte alike.

Rating: 3
Summary: Anglo or Celtic myth in country music ?
Comment: Brian Hinton has missed a great opportunity in "Country Roads" to offer the reader an unbiased account of the varied roots of the great American art form of country music. I am reminded of Bill C. Malone's prophecy in his book "Singing Cowboys and Musical Mountaineers" (published 1993) in which he says that 'the Anglo-Saxon myth died hard, but now it seems on the verge of being supplanted by the Celtic myth'.

In Hintons's acknowledgments he sums up his agenda when he says that 'my editor at Sanctuary put to me his idea that someone should write a book on the Celtic roots of country'. In his enthusiasm to prove a Celtic pedigree Hinton's "Country Roads" has played up the 'Celtic' influence on the roots of country while the 'Anglo' is played down.

Music fans should read "Country Roads" but for a more fulsome understanding of the social, historical and cultural aspects in the roots of American Folk and Country music, books such as "Kentucky Country" by Professor Charles K. Wolfe and "Neighbor and Kin - Life in a Tennessee Ridge Community" by Elmora Messer Matthews do much to redress the balance.

Those such as Hinton seeking to play down the influence of the Anglo on the development of Country music should ponder on such questions as: Why do so many early Appalachian mountain pioneers of country music have old English surnames? I fail to understand why any non American people should attempt to claim an art form as their own that is clearly so rich, wide and varied in its influences. It seems to me that Hinton has tried to airbrush out the impact of the equally influential folk music of the English working class from American social history.