Music Books

I always been a fan of Kashif both as a singer and producer. I highly recommend this book to gain greater insights in the Music business or any business. It was a great buy along with a couple of manuals I purchased from Musicbrains.net entitled the Indie label Kit on amazon. You can also check kashif out at Brooklynboy.com

Included in this package are over 100 music contract templates that will aid you in filling out every king of music contract imaginable, from the deals you set with music producers, to the deals with promoters, to the deals you have to make with agents. The contracts all have explanatory notes and underlining information explaining each the purpose of every line in the contract. As good as this set is, it doesn't compare to "101 Music Business Contracts - Updated Edition - Preprinted Binder / CD-ROM set containing over 100 contracts and agreements for recording artist, musicians, ... industry. Entertainment law at it's best!" By Ty Cohen, a more complete set with easier explanation and a more intelligent structure

A real life look at the music industry. This is a must have for all involved in writing and publishing.

From Mark John Sternal
Author of "GUITAR: Total Scales Techniques and Applications"
"GUITAR: Probable Chords"
"Complete Guitar By Ear"
and, "The Twelve Notes Of Music"

I'm blessed I purchased this book earlier this month and tells me right here how I need to know and learn all about the music and record industry. This is a Extradordinary, more good-reading, more instructional Must for all Music lovers, listeners, musicians, singers, singer-songwriters, composers, producers, artists, and/or any1 that's real interested of trying out in the music biz. I recommend Donald Passman's book "All You Need to Know About the Music Business" 2 include along and recommendarily Quincy Jones' memoir along w/ others.

I 'preciate the help of what R&B and Music legend, artist, and producer Kashif tryin' 2 say. 'Preciate everything u talked 'bout this book. Enjoy it. It's very interesting stuff and u can't turn your back from it.

This is a great book. I first purchased Donald Passmans book "Everything You Need To Know About The Music Buiness' - a must have book for any interestd, but as a complete newbie also a bit overwhelming. This book is easier to read, gives a good introduction and overview of the topic and helps to simplify some of the things Passman talks about. I highly recommend them both if you're serious about this subject.

This set of Book/DVD/CD provides an excellent training material for learning Flamenco Guitar for who has some background of playing guitar.
I am quite satisfied with this set and have alreday got the Volume 2:book/DVD.

thanks a lot, el libro, cd y dvd llegaron a tiempo, muchas gracias!!
un manual practico para iniciarce en el mundo del flamenco

The product lived up to my expectations. The DVD allowed me to see the way that the flamenco players accomplish techniques. It is a great way to introduce the flamenco guitar technique.

Graf-Martínez's Value Pack is truly a bargain. You get not only a text in a familiar, carefully annotated and progressive format, but also its parallel breakdown in lessons on both CD and video (DVD) format. The author's detailed explanations make much of the flamenco nuances accessible. Go through the DVD first to familiarize yourself with the material, put the CD in your digital player so you can enjoy it in your car or home, and then go back to the book and follow the method.

I started with this DVD two months after I started playing the guitar. I found the DVD very helpful, and kind to myself as an ultra beginner (although I do read music).

PROS:
*Martinez plays a song in its original speed; then, with tabs and music available to the viewer, he plays it much slower.

*The DVD starts with easy techniques, working its way to more difficult ones. The techniques are shown in regular speed, then a much slower speed.

*The camera gives close-up angles of right-hand techniques.

*Tabs are available.

*After a technique, a song follows using only that technique.

*A highlighted bar moves across the music showing where Martinez is playing. This also serves somewhat as a metronome.

*Great songs

*Wide range of techniques introduced and explained.

CONS:
*The translator for Martinez sounds a bit awkward; nonetheless, every word translated is very comprehensible.

*Sometimes the tabulature (i.e. the actual numbers themselves) is hard to read.

*Rarely is there a close-up on the fingering hand of Martinez.


Overall: I cannot recommend this DVD enough for beginners--it has been immeasurably helpful for me, and has turned me into an intermediate player.

Who could say anything bad about Jim Beloff? He is the modern crusader of the ukulele. There are not many decent uke instruction books out there but this is worth having. It's also one of the rare places you will find scales for the uke.
I've played uke for many years and there is a lot for me to learn from this book. I think it can be useful to any level player.

This is a good book for someone willing to put in the time. Lots of info

I would consider myself an advanced beginner at this point, having messed 'round a bit with the guitar and mandolin over the years. My dad bought me an ukulele when we were in Hawaii, and I have found it much easier to play than the guitar. I already have a pretty good understanding of music theory, having played the piano for about 40 years, and this book is very helpful translating the building blocks of "how music is made" into techniques of "making music." As with any skill, there are patterns of playing and the proverbial tricks of the trade to the ukulele, and the book describes them very nicely and understandably. The included CD is a big help, letting you hear what it's supposed to sound like so you know if you're doing it right. It's also been kind of fun learning some songs that I've heard before but never saw the music. The book has been a big help so far, and I look forward to getting more and more adept at the instrument.

I thought that I had seen all that there was to see in respect of Ukulele "How to play books" and have a veritable library of them in my study. Today I can just about struggle through the accompaniment chords to "Way down upon the Swannee River"
However, recently in my Amazon "Suggested items that might interest you" space, appeared the Hal Leonard publication 'UKULELE FRETBOARD ROAD MAPS'. (give that man a raise!) because it is the very best I have seen and if I
am not able to learn from this book, I shall donate my ukes to Oxfam and take up the trombone. At least it isn't possible to play chords on the old slush pump.

Many thanks , Peter Durham.

My experience with beginning ukulele books has been pretty uniformly
disappointing. They all promise to include everything you could
possibly need to know, when in in my experience they have all been
thin, padded with useless filler, and lacking a coherent path to get
from "here" to "there".

This book is a __VERY__ welcome change, and at a sweet price to boot.
To be sure, it is not a beginner's book. The very first song (Sloop
John B.) has a tricky rhythm (e.g., three quarter notes in two beats)
and a shuffle strum with some down strokes missing; as a result,
only about half of the words actually coincide with a strum. This is
not a criticism of the book, just pointing out the level of difficulty
you'll hit in the first few pages. Fortunately for me (an arhythmic
klutz) the focus of the book is on learning the fretboard !

I must say that the CD is a huge help. My beginner's books either had
no CD at all, or the recordings were so dorky that I felt impatient to
move ahead and get to some "real" music. The teacher on this CD,
however, has a very inviting style, and you get the feeling that he
would be a fun person to jam with or watch in performance. A big plus
if your skills require you to listen to the same track over and over
and over...

This book is not about music theory per se, but but rather a practical
framework for learning how to physically hit the right notes; i.e.,
it doesn't attempt to describe *why* you would use a D7b5 chord, but
it helps you develop the skill so that when you have to play one you
know what your various options are and you can get your fingers in the
right place without thinking too much.

I have only completed about half of the book so far. I've learned the
basic movable chord patterns (3 each of major, minor, 7th), and am
starting to practice with them. The songs in this part of the book
take one chord (G major, say) and move it up and down the fretboard
for several measures before changing to a new chord. This kind of
practice is necessary to internalize what you've learned, but the
authors do a nice job of making the practice interesting and fun,
pointing out how to spice up your music rather than just saying
"memorize this" and jumping to a new, disconnected topic.


I look forward to working my way through this book, and I definitely
intend to revisit it again and again. As my title says, it's a
keeper !

I am a bass player, and learned advanced music theory in the class room and on the bass. This book really helped me apply my knowledge from the bass to the guitar. I also teach, and this is a great guide to teaching music theory. However, it is not for beginners. Like other reviews said, this is not a casual read. Be prepared to play the examples, write out the exercises and play through them. But after all is said and done, this book contains a ton of useful, practical information, and is a great addition to any teachers books.

I bought this for my husband and he says it's wonderful. The cheat sheets are extremely helpful and the layout is very user friendly.

This 54 page (including covers) booklet contains more information that other books many times its size. This is not a casual read book, and could be somewhat overwhelming for someone just starting out. However, it's a treasure trove of useful information for someone willing to study it. The Cheat Sheets are loaded with information. Spend some time with them. The more I study them, the more I see. Helpful for learning the fretboard, scales and chords.

Guitar players seem to fall into two categories. Those who can read notation and those who can't. So why is learning to play music such a killer?

For the biginning guitarist reading notation is like learning geometry. For the advanced player its learning Einstein's "Theory of Relativity.

But, it doesn't have to be that way. As mentioned in previous reviews this book takes the reader visually into the world of note theory without the usual dragged out chapters written in "Latin Text" which is associated with most books written about music theory.

For beginning guitar players this book helps to bridge the communication gap sometimes left at the end of a lesson between student and teacher. To quote an old adage "Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words".

For the advanced and re-entry level player this book is filled with instant visual information showing scale definitions, transposing, cord spelling, intervals, cycle of 5th diagrams, arpeggios, voice patterns and fingerboard layout relationships that are essential to becoming a better guitar player.

The bottom line is this book will open up a new world to your musical abilities. But, you will still need to devote time and effort to reach your full potential as a guitarist.

I am an avid reader and since I got back into music last year, I have purchased at least a hundred books on guitar playing. Since I underline everything, I wanted to go back and take notes from my reading so I could have all the important information in one place. Thanks to Robert Frazier and his Guitar Oriented Condensed Music Theory book - I don't need to bother. He has taken literally every critical highlight out there and put it all together for me. He's also added a few pieces that I didn't find elsewhere and/or made sense of things I'd seen before. In my opinion, you could spend a whole day just unpacking a single page from this material (it's that loaded). I recently took a trip to Croatia with my guitar in hand and had very limited luggage space to spare - this was one of three books that I brought with me. It's not packaged in a fancy way, it's just full of great content. I highly recommend it.

Nadine calls it like it is in this excellent guide to making your way in the music business. Fantastic reference for musicians with mainstream ambitions and those representing them.

This amazing book will show you the darker sides of music producing and recording, things you will not see in other book, in living colors and with dozens of photography and along the good side, it presents the failures in music industry and details the motives for the fall. Real life cases are presented and the evolution is followed from the first demo tapes up to stardom, the process and steps that the musician must take to become noticed, almost all of these steps taking years to complete .

It's not often you come across anything related to the music industry that is practical and insightful at the same time. "Hot Hits, Cheap Demos" is a must read for musicians at any stage in the game. Nadine's an insider who shares stories of how successful bands broke through from the inside perspective and in doing so offers opportunities to compare your own progress to the biggies. But what I found most helpful was the "band timeline" that explicitly maps out your career from garage to arena with amazing accuracy! Highly recommended.

Justin
Smith Point
[...]

This book is simply amazing! It is not a boring hard to understand piece of literature. The author Nadine Condon, has many years of experience and has helped the come up of some of our favorite artists ( third eye blind, stroke 9 , mellisa ethridge etc). She breaks down the buisness and how to take it by the horns step by step in a fun and educational process. she provides excellent features like band timelines, How to book a gig - PROPERLY! and how to send press kits. This book is very very usefull, it explains lawyers managers booking agents producers engineers just about everything you ever wanted to know about the buisness she explains in a very user-friendly way! i highly recomned this book to everyone musicians producers engineers a&r reps anyone. if you want any form of future in the music buisness , once you read this , youll wonder how you would of made it with out!

I, too, have read a handful of music industry books. Nadine's has something more than most, though. There are first-person anecdotes chronicaling Nadine's experiences with artists we've all heard of. There are checklists of tangible goals. There is a wealth of constructive advice for artists looking to get out of the "Local Band Ghetto". There is an honest spirit to the book--you can feel that the author is just as passionnate about music today as she was when she first started in the industry.

Nadine's book serves both as inspirational literature and a road map to career goals, no matter what they may be. Seriously, this is the book you need.

Children and I use this as a Music Curriculum of sorts & sometimes just listen to the CD to hear great hymns. Very Good for a gift, a must have in any home library.

This book is well written and very interesting to my children of a wide range of ages. The accompanying CD is of very good quality and fun to sing along with. My children look forward to doing a hymn study.

I have used this not only at home, but at school. The stories of the hymn writers are fascintating, and the children enjoy singing along with the cd. I've been amazed at the number of children who don't know My Country Tis of Thee. Each of the stories are short enough to be understood, but they always have a moral principal. Just a great resource for parents and Christian educators.

Great stories to help love the old hymns even more. The music is the only children's singing I haven't felt nauseated listening too! Tastefully done and enjoyable to share with our children.

Wow, what a treasure to have. It is great to have the story about the hymn, the music and a CD altogether in one place. I have enjoyed it as much as my children.

I grew up learning to sightread classical music; a pretty standard set of piano lessons. Unfortunately, those lessons were weak on the theory of how music is created. This is a great book for someone like me who now wants to understand how to start in a key and figure out how to combine chords and rhythm and the right notes to make music. The book has things like how the blues scale works, how to pound out a barrelhouse left hand while improvising with the right hand, turnarounds and endings, and much more. There are some tunes in here to learn (Blueberry Hill, Pine Top's Boogie Woogie, etc.), but that's not really the point--Tim Richards goes on to explain how those tunes were created, and how to change and improvise over them. The CD lets you hear the exercises, and is quite helpful. I looked around a lot, and bought some definitely inferior books, before finding this one. The author also wrote Exploring Jazz Piano, volumes 1 and 2, which basically build on this book. I recommend buying all three. No book is going to substitute for practice, but if you practice what's in these books you're going to love what you learn to do.

Why is this book so good? Unlike most books, Richards takes the time to explain why each of the example pieces are important, and what you should pay extra attention to. He also really holds your hand in the improvisation practices by suggesting notes (and explaining why the suggested notes were suggested). Also very good is the use of different keys in the pieces. Some blues books tend to stick to C or G, but in this book the keys are varied (and Richards suggests going back through the pieces in other keys, which is a very good idea).

My only wish is that Richards makes a sequel to this book. This does not mean that this book isn't completely jammed with material, or is too easy: no on both accounts. I found myself wanting to learn more of the advanced "cliche's" which make Blues sound like the Blues. Nonetheless, this book is the best there is on the market for blues or improvisation instruction.

I'm an aspiring jazz pianist in Canada (I'm 32). I'm another one of the victims of the classical music education system that was taught to read the page and nothing else. I always thought that people who were good at jazz and could play by ear were born that way.

When I was in high school I wanted to play jazz piano. Someone recommended the Mark Levine book to me. I tried going through it but gave up because I couldn't even figure out what a II-V was from his explanation. I figured jazz was this impenetrable language. I was sick of classical lessons by that time and gave up the piano.

Fast forward ten years when I decided I didn't want all those hours of practicing (before school, even) to go to waste. I headed to a local music store and literally went through every piano book before I found IBP. It's pretty much been a revelation, from discussions of notations to chord types to ideas. I still suck at improvising, but before this book I wouldn't have even tried.

I've got Tim's other two books on my shelf, patiently waiting for me to get to them. Seriously, his books are phenomenal. If I had found IBP back in high school instead of Mark Levine's brick wall of jazz accessibility, I might be ten years ahead. I can't recommend it highly enough. Rumour has it he's working on a fourth book about Latin piano, too.

There realy are not many great methods for the blues out there, but Tim Richards is thorough and goes into the required detail to show you how each blues style works.

The examples are very playable, suiting more or less an intermediate level pianist. Richards is one of the few take-away instruction teachers to be concerned about fingerings, and takes the trouble to suggest good ones. His playing instructions work very well and add a dimension that you don't often get in these method books - he has a great insight into the chords, and the notes and the way they fit the music. The breakdown of theory is very well explained, if sometimes overdone. But he never floods you with scales without showing you how to apply them - that in itself is a good thing!

Richards' choice of music is impeccable, and calssic blues standards of af all styles are presented from boogie, to funk, slow blues, and some jazzy numbers. And he shows you music in a number of keys so you aren't stuck to one or two and get a work out in the other keys. I found the music very playable, and well sounding, although I didn't always find the improvising instructions that intuitive.

The historical background he gives is accurate and informative and the pictures of blues and jazz legends really make this book interesting.

My criticism of the book is that it should have stretched up to the more advanced techniques of the blues - where the top players are, like Oscar Peterson, for example. That is its dissapointment - a teacher as good as this who dedicated the time to work a out a progressive and different course in blues shouldn't have stopped at the middle level. He surely should have stretched us, his interested audience up to the highest level.

But this should not stop you from using this very useful and inspiring book - I Thank you sincerely Tim.

Now and then you run across a method book that makes you a better player and is great fun to work through. "Improvising Blues Piano" is one such book. It starts out very simply and steadily progresses to a pretty sophisticated level. The accompanying disk is well recorded and the author's playing, particularly his timing, is quite musical. On most examples, if you can make your playing sound like Tim Richards, you'll really swing.

Starting in "C" and moving on to other familiar blues keys, the author mixes theory and practice in a logical progression of "bite sized" lessons that are very complete and doesn't assume anything about the student. At first, the experienced player may find the pace a bit slow but each section builds smoothly upon the foundation of the preceding material and I think it's worth while to patiently work on your weaknesses. When you can make those first simple exercises sound really musical, you've learned something valuable.

The volume is accessible to beginners (this will take you a long way) while remaining useful for the more advanced because there is so much good content. I particularly like that he weaves in biographical information of known blues players along with examples of their style. The history of blues unfolds along with the student's expanding ability to play.

If you are interested in the blues, I can't think of a better learning tool.

I love the new "Classics" section -- how could so many famous and loved songs not be Top 100 hits? Separating the "featured artist" from the artist's main body of work was also a good idea. And the information on which greatest hits compilation has the most hit songs on it has already helped me get the most for my money. If you love music, this will help you put it in order so you can find what you have and find out what you don't have yet.

I really love this book! Its so comprehensive, it helps me find songs I've been looking for over many years! I also like the categories it broken down into. Like top sellers, top average sellers and with the more popular groups tells you how a total of weeks they've been on the charts. Its also current which makes it even better. I love reading about groups and their songs, also finding out what the number one songs were for each year.

If you are looking for something that is comprehensive in covering the music top 100, this is it!

Since I also purchased Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs (1944 to 2005),I was able to compare Top Pop Singles (1955-2006) to it. One thing I liked in the former that was absent in the latter is the listing of the songwriters for each title. Instead the B-sides are given. Could room have been made to include the songwriters for each entry? Nevertheless, I enjoy making frequent reference to Top Pop Singles 1955-2006.

O.K. I made a mistake with this book.It is not for any one in England who is trying to compile a list of no1 hit singles or any kind of reference to the British Pop scene.Never the less i had to give 5stars just for the sheer amount of work thats gone into it.It is still very useful for cross reference and very interesting for finding out what American singers never made no1 in their own Country but made no1 in Britain, Eddie Cochran being just one example with Three Steps Two Heaven.It was interesting for me to note that Cliff Richard has never had a no1 in the U.S.A., the most he has ever been is no6 with Devil Woman.I have noticed one mistake and that is to do with the birthdate of one artist.His name Sonny Boy Williamson aka Rice Miller,according to the book his date is 1899 according to Sonny Boy himself its 1897.This date is taken from his LP track The Story of Sonny Boy Williamson which i bought in 1962/3.O.K. i said i made a mistake buying it because BillBoard is American & i am starting to compile my own life in music which is mostly from British charts,but i have no regrets & although i state its not for british chart reference i would still recomend it to anyone who wants to put their life into music compilations of their own,for that its invaluable.

I am a chart fanatic, yet I have no need for a 12 step program to get over it because I have this book, it is fantastic for folks like me. I grew up listening to Casey Kasem and compiling my own charts on notebook paper to have my own record. Having easily referable access to this reference book is a dream for me. I have this one and the one for albums, so yes I am addicted. If you have any fascination with rankings and charts--GET THIS BOOK--and this updated edition even has new things like airplay only singles, classic non Hot 100 songs, which is basically popular album cuts, and more. It's a great addition to any music fans library.

Biographical reviews tend to have a standardized format: several chapters on the linage of the subject, tales of early childhood, struggle and (usually)success.

Haberstadt's biography is much the same, except the author does a nice job of leading the reader thru the parts we have to endure by building a strong sense of the frustration and difficulties Doc Pomus faced throughout his life. The book isn't overbearing, and he paints an interesting enough picture of the determination this polio-stricken hall of famer had.

If there is a weakness, it's that you never get a real strong sense of what exactly it was that Doc did. I mean, I still haven't figured out if his contributions to some of the greatest songs were his lyrics, his sense of rhythm, his music, or a combination of all three. Certainly it is poignant to think that "Save the last dance for me" was written as he watched his new wife dance at her wedding, but there was too little addressing the mechanics of Doc's writing for my taste.

I thought it was a most interesting and useful book to have on one of the great contributors to rock and roll.... and long overdue.

During rock 'n' roll's early years Doc Pomus wrote some of the biggest hits from his Lonely Avenue to Save the Last Dance for Me and Hushabye. His works were picked up by Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Bob Dylan and more - and LONELY AVENUE documents his life, inspiration, achievement, and times in an outstanding blend of quotes from his journals and biographical examination. Music libraries will find it an excellent addition.

Great book. I got choked up reading about Doc writing Save the Last Dance for Me.

What a great book. You never think about songwriters when you listen to a song but after reading this book you will. It's the story about the man behind some of the biggest hits of the 50' and 60's but it's so much more. Doc's story is more then his music, it's the life that he led and the trials he overcame to get there. If you're into music or not this is one book that will make you laugh, cry and just revel in one man's life and times.

The writer did his homework, and I'd recomend this book to anyone, also visit the Brill Building, There's Always Magic In The Air.

Great reading!

Maxine Brown has created a masterpiece about the history, and characters involved in the making of Country Music. Her story is honest and heartbreaking at times. She has bumped into just about everyone who has had anything to do with the industry. She's smart, funny, honest and in some cases, unforgiving of those that have crossed her in the business. And, rightly so. Just the insight into the beginning career of Elvis Presley is worth the read. She toured with this shy kid who would become king. She gave us a glimpse into what it was like to know him before all the fame. This woman had guts to stick it out in a business that could be very unkind to women in the early days. Her determination to carve herself out a place in the business of country music is witness to her drive. The Browns hold a very important place in the history of Country Music. They influenced an entire generation, and let us not forget, were one of the first crossover sensations. Not only did they create a fire here in the States, they took on Europe with huge success as well. They lived through the rough and tumble days in Nashville when a chosen few could make or break a career. There were also good guys, like Chet Atkins who believed in the Browns, and stood up to the big studio execs to ensure that their records were made with integridy. Maxine was there to see it all, and tell it through her amazing recall. This book is an important piece of history, and should be read by anyone who calls themselves a fan of country music.

I've been a fan of the Browns ever since I was a young child in the early 1960's and my mom bought a Browns album. In recent years, I continue to enjoy the sweet harmonies brought by this incredible brother/sisters singing team.

Maxine Brown writes a riveting story of what country music was like in the 1950's, when they got started. It was a brutal, unforgiving business at the time and the Browns had their share of unscrupulous businessmen. She also writes about the relationship the Browns had with other country music singers of the day, some who have become major legends.

Very honest & open by the Author/Singer Maxine Brown. Very interesting & revealing, especially about Elvis Presley & Jim Reeves. Very good book.

Maxine Brown was part of a family country band with her brother, Jim Ed and sister, Bonnie. Their most famous recording is that of Edith Piaf's `The Three Bells'.

She writes about her early family life growing up in rural south Arkansas during the Depression. Her journey in country music and the people with whom she traveled and the songs she wrote. The people she met and performed with such as Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Chet Atkins. Performing on the Louisiana Hayride, at The Grand Old Opry and touring Europe. Particularly touching was the story about Jim Reeves' tragic death. It bought a new reality to his life for me.

I particularly enjoyed her stories of their encounters with Elvis Presley and how he fell in love with Bonnie and asked her to marry him. She turned him down. One particular incident was at the time of his discharge from the army when he called a press conference and invited the Browns to attend. He asked Bonnie did she wait for him and she told him `no', she was married and expecting a baby. She must have known what would have been ahead.

I absolutely loved reading this book and did it in 3 days. I love country music and it is also takes a look at the background of some of the great American country performers and the people involved with their careers.

Here in Australia we only see the end result of some the greats and have no idea what life was like for budding country singers in America.

I found this book while listening to WSM America's Country Music Station broadcast live from The Grand Old Opry. There was a live interview with Maxine promoting the book.

Thank you Maxine, for the experience.

Kudos to Maxine Brown for her fascinating no-holds-barred look at the country music industry of the 1950's and 1960's. Maxine, along with sister Bonnie and brother Jim Ed, were legendary country group The Browns, who chalked a number of hits for fifteen years, notably THE THREE BELLS, one of the biggest hits in country music history and as well as a number one pop hit for them. The Browns were all but ready to throw in the towel when they scored that monster hit. Their RCA recordings were not producing major hits. The group earlier came to success on the small Fabor Records label founded by one Fabor Robinson. Like many vocalists on small labels during the era, according to Maxine, the Browns "never made a dime" on their hit LOOKING BACK TO SEE, needless to say she has harsh feelings for Robinson "probably the sorriest b****rd then infesting the industry." She recalls a string of horrors the Browns had to put up with due to the association, so much so Robert Cochran, in the book's introduction feels to need to note country musican historian Colin Escott found similar stories from other Robinson associates in his research. Maxine titles one of her chapters "We Get Screwed" and her tales of blackmail attempts to harassment are truly astonishing.

There's lots of good times too, from dozens of close friends in the industry from Elvis Presley to George Jones and their years as the leading country vocal group. The Browns were especially close to Jim Reeves, and like Reeves they suffered from some backlash in some country circles because of their pop hits. Maxine recalls a run-in she had with Little Jimmy Dickens at a country music function during the peak of the Browns' crossover success when Dickens strolled up to them and said "What are you doing here? You Ain't country." As you might have guessed Maxine is not the type to just stand there and take that, calling him a "sawed-off son of a b***ch" which broke into a cuss fest that led to Maxine and Dickens not being on speaking terms for years although she happily notes they have since made amends.

After the Browns disband in the late 1960's and brother Jim Ed becomes a popular male star, Maxine found it difficult to launch a solo career (I personally love her only solo album SUGAR CANE COUNTY) and is surprised how quickly the industry seems to have forgotten she was one third of the hottest group in country music. Happily, the Browns have frequently reunited for concerts since the late 1980's and still perform today.

LOOKING BACK TO SEE is a great read, loaded with rare photos. Maxine writes in a friendly, talkative style and as you might guess, is as blunt as someone having an intimate conversation. This is a fairly large book - 348 pages - for a country star autobiography. The University of Arkansas (Maxine's home state and where she still lives) published this book and did a fine job with it. It's clear a local press is the way to go for country music star's of the past who might not be able to attract New York publishers. This book is a must for anyone who loves country music during it's classic "Nashville Sound" era.