Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen

See Larger Photo	Categories :	Women Arts & Drama Music Related

	Publisher :	Blackstone Audio Inc
	Author :	Jimmy McDonough
	Narrator :	Robertson Dean

	Length :	15 hours 46 minutes (Unabridged)

Download Price :		£20.75

Format :		Downloadable MP3

Only Available in the US and Canada

© 2010 Blackstone Audio Inc

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“Jimmy McDonough…achieves an intimacy that many biographers covet but few enjoy.….With an emphatic sense of her place in country music — at the top of the heap, casting a shadow big enough to obscure today’s woefully synthetic assembly-line singers — he combines a love of her overlooked and minor classics with a compelling big-picture life story. His opinions are often corroborated by the colorfully authentic voices of those who knew her well and marveled at her moxie….There’s a lot of material about Nashville and its denizens here. The subject might wear thin without Mr. McDonough’s vivid descriptions….Mr. McDonough has connected these elements into a big, cohesive portrait.”—Janet Maslin, New York Times

“McDonough brings a passionate flair to his language….Combining pop musicology and tabloid gossip, McDonough has crafted a fitting tribute to a country music icon.”—Publishers Weekly

“This engaging and potentially controversial study of one of the most significant singers in the history of country music is essential for fans of Wynette and the genre.”—Library Journal

The twentieth century had three great female singers who plumbed the darkest corners of their hearts and transformed private grief into public dramas. In opera, there was the unsurpassed Maria Callas. In jazz, the tormented Billie Holiday. And in country music, there was Tammy Wynette.

“Stand by Your Man,” “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” “Take Me to Your World” are but a few highlights of Tammy Wynette’s staggering musical legacy, all sung with a voice that became the touchstone for women’s vulnerability, disillusionment, strength, and endurance.

In Tammy Wynette, bestselling biographer Jimmy McDonough tells the story of the small-town girl who grew up to be the woman behind the microphone, whose meteoric rise led to a decades-long career full of tragedy and triumph. Through a high-profile marriage and divorce, her dreadful battle with addiction and illness, and the struggle to compete in a rapidly evolving Nashville, Tammy Wynette turned a brave smile toward the world and churned out masterful hit songs though her life resembled the most heartbreaking among them.

Tammy Wynette is an intimate portrait of a music icon, the Queen of Heartbreak, whose powerful voice simultaneously evoked universal pain and longing even as it belied her own.

JIMMY MCDONOUGH’s biography of Neil Young, Shakey, was a critically acclaimed New York Times best-seller. He has also written biographies of Russ Meyer and Andy Milligan and has written for publications including the Village Voice and Variety. He lives in Portland, Oregon. Jimmy will be interviewed on NPR's Weekend Edition on Sunday, March 14.

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