Publisher Description
After he died in the backseat of a Cadillac at the age of twenty-nine, Hank Williams?a frail, flawed man who had become country music's first real star?instantly morphed into its first tragic martyr. Having hit the heights with simple songs of despair, depression, and tainted love, he would, with that outlaw swagger, become in death a template for the rock generation to follow. Six decades later, Mark Ribowsky now weaves together the first fully realized biography of Hank Williams in a generation. Examining his music while also re-creating days and nights choked in booze and desperation, Ribowsky traces the miraculous rise of this music legend?from the dirt roads of rural Alabama to the now-immortal stage of the Grand Ole Opry, and finally to a sad, lonely end on New Year's Day, 1953. The result is an original work that promises to uncover the real Hank beneath the myths that have long enshrouded his legacy.
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About Mark Ribowsky
Mark Ribowsky is the acclaimed author of more than thirty books on music, sports, and pop culture, his definitive biographies including those of Phil Spector, the Supremes, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Lynyrd Skynyrd, James Taylor, Hank Williams, and Little Richard. His biography of Otis Redding was a finalist for the prestigious Marfield Prize. Some of his sports subjects include Al Davis, Satchel Paige, Howard Cosell, Tom Landry, Don Shula, the football Manning family, and a complete history of the Negro baseball leagues. He co-authored Dale Berra’s My Dad, Yogi. He has also written major articles for Playboy, Penthouse, and Sport and has appeared on Dateline NBC, Primetime Live, The Tavis Smiley Show, and numerous radio and Internet programs and documentaries.
About Tom Perkins
Tom Perkins, an award-winning audio engineer for over forty years, has expanded his skills to narrating and has earned an AudioFile Earphones Award. He learned by working with the world’s best voice talent during his career, and he continues to engineer a variety of projects.