Lost Highway Journeys and Arrivals of American Musicians

by Guralnick, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780316332743
• ISBN10: 0316332747
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-07-01
• Publisher: Back Bay Books

Summary

A companion to the author's 1971 entr+¬e to book publishing, Feel Like Going Home, Lost Highway reveals Peter Guralnick's growth as a chronicler of American roots music. Originally published eight years after Going Home, Lost Highway tills the same rich soil--the likes of Sun Records chief Sam Phillips, bluesman Howlin' Wolf, and dispirited countrypolitan star Charlie Rich resurface. But here Guralnick also explores the psyches and works of kindred spirits both celebrated (Elvis Presley and Merle Haggard) and obscure (rockabilly journeyman Sleepy LaBeef and the "world's oldest teenager," Rufus Thomas). Guralnick reveals a unifying hook: for each musician, touring has become "journey, arrival, process, definition, virtually replacing in almost every instance the very impetus that set them out on the road in the first place." The author has a knack for finding the insecurities entangled with the talents of his peripatetic idols--perhaps they feel more comfortable opening up to him, sensing he only seeks to understand how their anxiety affects their art. Regardless, you can't read Lost Highway without gaining a greater appreciation of the music that prompted its writing. --Steven Stolder

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: Climbing High Mountains, Trying to Get Home	1	(18)
Part One: Honky Tonk Heroes	19	(74)
The Texas Troubadour	22	(15)
Ernest Tubb
Still Movin' On	37	(12)
Hank Snow
Pan American Blues	49	(8)
Deford Bailey
The World's Oldest Teenager	57	(11)
Rufus Thomas
Little Boy Blue	68	(25)
Bobby Bland
Part Two: Hillbilly Boogie	93	(108)
Elvis, Scotty, and Bill: A Sidelong View of History	96	(10)
Scotty Moore
The Last of the Rockabillies	106	(12)
Charlie Feathers
And the American Dream	118	(24)
Elvis Presley
Faded Love	142	(3)
Elvis Presley
Snapshots of Charlie Rich	145	(18)
There's Good Rockin' Tonight	163	(13)
Sleepy Labeef
A Room Full of Roses	176	(10)
Mickey Gilley
Let's All Help the Cowboy Sing the Blues	186	(15)
Jack Clement
Part Three: Honky Tonk Masquerade Or, Are They Gonna Make Us Outlaws Again?	201	(76)
The Pleasures of Life in a Hillbilly Band	204	(13)
Waylon Jennings
Living Proof	217	(15)
Hank Williams, Jr.
In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)	232	(16)
Merle Haggard
Scenes from Life (A Triptych)	248	(16)
James Talley
A Simple Little Dream	264	(13)
Stoney Edwards
Part Four: The Blues Roll On	277	(48)
The Howlin' Wolf	280	(9)
Blues Is a Man's Best Friend	289	(6)
Otis Spann
Big Joe Rides On	295	(9)
Big Joe Turner
Chicago, 1977	304	(21)
Juke Joint Blues
Epilogue: Sam Phillips Talking	325	(16)
Selected Discography	341	(12)
General Bibliography	353	(8)
Index	361
Page x: Howlin' Wolf. Courtesy of Living Blues
D. Shigley