The Eastern Regional Library Show

Library staff member Lesley Conway runs a radio show each Wednesday 12:05pm-12:45pm on Eastern FM 99.1 called The Eastern Regional Library Show. Tune in next Wednesday for a great show.

On this week's show

"Country is a music that's frequently misunderstood" says Kurt Wolff, in his introduction to Country Music : the Rough Guide. This was true for me as a child in the fifties and sixties, when I thought country and western was all wailing guitars and lonesome cowboys. Since then, I have discovered that many well known songs were originally country and western, and some have become all time classics, such as The Tennesse Waltz.

While reading the book The inner Elvis : a psychological biography of Elvis Aaron Presley, I discovered that Elvis began as a country singer, and as far as he was concerned "everyone knows that rock and roll, at the very bottom, is just country music and Gospel, put together."

The singer who truly alerted me to the power of country music was Johnny Cash, and for serious fans, you can't go past the book Cash : an American man by Bill Miller. Miller has been a fan since he was 9 years old, and has collected a fascinating range of photos, posters, letters and interviews which give a vivid picture of the man and his music making. The library also holds copies of the recent movie of his life Walk the line, and has many CDs, including a great double album called The Essential Johnny Cash.

Music today was from Lyle Lovett's album The road to Ensenada, Willie Nelson and Ray Price from Willie and Ray, Patti Page on Queens of Country, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon from the soundtrack of Walk the line, and Jerry Jeff Walker on his album Jerry Jeff : Live at Gruene Hall.

I've had a request for a podcast of the radio show and this is something I'm seriously looking at this year. I'll let you all know once I can set this up.

Cheers, Maryanne