Synopses & Reviews
Every June, in gratitude to their devoted fans, the stars of country music appear at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds to sign autographs for hours and perform during the week called Fan Fair. Though the 1996 Fan Fair was a phenomenal success, for Nashville itself it was also a time of doubt, uncertainty and dramatic change. The week was like a country song: intense, emotional, filled with joy and disappointment, passion and dismay, laughter and tears.
Fan Fair is the setting for this extraordinary inside look at country music. Laurence Leamer had unprecedented access to the stars, managers, songwriters and record company execs of Nashville. Here is the troubled inner life of Garth Brooks, the greatest-selling solo artist of all time. Vince Gill takes a song out of an old leather bag and records a No.1 hit. Reba McEntire angers her fans so much that they tear up her photos, Patty Loveless sings her heart out while her beloved older sister lies dying in a nearby hospital and superstar Shania Twain talks with handicapped Fan Fair goers. Here is Mary Chapin Carpenter singing at the White House instead of Fan Fair. Here are Alan Jackson and Brooks and Dunn at the height of their success juxtaposed against the struggles of Emmylou Harris. The younger stars are portrayed as well: LeAnn Rimes, Mindy McCready, James Bonamy, and BR5-49, all in vivid, novelesque detail. Unknowns, once-knowns, label reps, producers, songwriters and managers are all part of this rich mosaic of Nashville life as it plays out for one incredible week.
To millions of country fans, Three Chords and the Truth will be a book of revelations. Those who have rarely listened to country music will learn why it is the most-listened-to music in the nation, played on more than 2,400 radio stations. And everyone who reads it will never again hear a country song quite the same way.
Synopsis
From the bestselling author of The Kennedy Women (450,000 copies sold) comes the book the New York Times claimed "may be the best expose of the inner workings of the slick machine that Nashville's country music industry has become in the 90s".
With unprecedented access to the stars, managers, songwriter, and record company executives of Nashville, Laurence Leamer has produced an intimate, compelling narrative that blows the lid off the maneuverings and manipulations of this two-billion-dollar-a-year industry. From Garth Brooks, the Hamlet of country music, to Wynonna Judd and her complex personal struggles with her mother, from Billy Ray Cyrus's downfall to Shania Twain's rising star, Three Chords and the Truth has the scoop on the dreams, fears, triumphs, and tragedies of today's most popular country music stars.
To the millions of country music fans, Three Chords and the Truth will be a book of revelations. Those who haven't yet become fans of country music will learn why it is the most listened-to music in the nation. All who read it will never hear a country song the same way again.
"Music Row types are shrieking in unison over the revelations ... tells the dirt on Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, and others at the top of the country charts". -- Nashville Scene
About the Author
Laurence Leamer is the author of thirteen books, including The Kennedy Women and Fantastic: The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger, with many bestsellers among them. Leamer was on the staff at Newsweek, and has written for The New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Playboy, and many other publications. He lives in Palm Beach and Washington, D.C.