Rednecks & Bluenecks: The Politics of Country Music

by Chris Willman

Book Overview

Now in paperback, the nationally acclaimed Rednecks and Bluenecks is veteran Entertainment Weekly journalist Chris Willman's lively account of "how music makes strange political bedfellows and how artists' perceived politics change over time" (Booklist). How did the erstwhile music of the rural working class come to be the music of choice of the GOP? Rednecks and Bluenecks looks at the way country's increasing popularity...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1595580174
• ISBN13: 9781595580177
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: New Press
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

We'll Put a Boot ... err ... never mind ...

I have been highly interested in the "politics of country music" ever since 9/11. When the patriotic songs started coming out (Aaron Tippin, Alan Jackson), it was pretty apolitical and pro-America. Then, the following year we had Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)" and then when the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines said it was "ignorant," all bets were off. Things really picked up in spring '03 with the Dixie Chicks controversy went global following Maines' anti-Bush comments. At the same time you had Darryl Worley asking "Have You Forgotten?" and Clint Black's clunker "Iraq and Roll." For a while, there, it was quite a big deal and all eyes were on country music - a good thing, in my estimation. Author Chris Willman captures this time exceedingly well in this excellent new book. He gets the conservatives and the liberals and everyone in between. You really get some great insight into Toby Keith. The reader realizes he's not some jingoistic warhawk. He's a patriotic Democrat, something the talk show types conveniently forget. We get the lowdown on the Dixie Chicks episode, something I was particularly interested in, being a big fan of the group and Natalie Maines in particular. I can't say enough good things about Willman's book. Run out and get it.

Wonderful read for anyone interested in politics today

I bought this book based on a recommendation I heard on NPR , but other than being a fan of Lyle Lovett's music (and self-described liberal) I have no real knowledge at all of country music - alternative or mainstream. That didn't matter. The politics that are part of country music are so interesting that it was hard to put the book down. As a freelance writer myself, Chris Willman writes how I only wish I could. The book is well-researched and presented in a smart and eloquent way. Great stories and commentary throughout.

Independant Country Music lovR

Anyone who loves country music or politics should definately buy this book. Chris Willman goes out of his way to show both sides of the political spectrum. (D Harrelson appears too partisan to judge the "slant" of this book). It's a fast read, chock full of fascinating tidbits and facts that bring to life all the many crossroads where country and politics have traveled together -- from the turn of the century through last year.

An entertaining look at the the roots of the blue/red divide

You don't have to know much about country music to enjoy this book, with its on-the-scene reporting and plenty of opinion-making by country stars like Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, Steve Earle, the Dixie Chicks, and Merle Haggard, in their own words. Working at Entertainment Weekly must be what gives the author his snark, but it works here as he gives a refreshingly non-partisan review of our divided country and the divide in country music.