In this slim, lively book our foremost historian of country music recalls the lost worlds of pioneering fiddlers and pickers, balladeers and yodelers. As he looks at "hillbilly" music's pre-commercial era and its early popular growth through radio and recordings, Bill C. Malone shows us that it was a product not only of the British Isles but of diverse African, German, Spanish, French, and Mexican influences.

Goes a long way toward filling a bothersome hole in American musical history.

—Sing Out!

So succinct and well-documented, all the reader can do is believe it.

—Lexington Herald-Leader

This book shows not only the work of a master scholar, but also that of one attuned to the myths, the hopes, and the yearnings of ordinary people.

—Journal of Southern History

Singing Cowboys and Musical Mountaineers is a very enlightening read regarding the roots of Country music and provides the definitive explanation and history of the connection between Country music (southern folk music) and cowboy hats.

—Midwest Book Review

This book is good enough that readers can only want more.

—Journal of American History

Provides great insight into country music and southern culture.

—Southern Historian

The last word on the history of country music remains Malone.

—Canon

A very enlightening read.

—BookPleasures.com

Winner

Ray and Pat Browne Award, Popular Culture Association

About the Author/Editor

BILL C. MALONE, as a performer and a scholar, has been immersed in country music for most of his life. Now retired from Tulane University, he lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where he hosts a weekly radio show, "Back to the Country." He is the author of Country Music, U.S.A., Don't Get above Your Raisin', and other books.

Singing Cowboys and Musical Mountaineers

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Singing Cowboys and Musical Mountaineers

About the Author/Editor

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