This volume constitutes a populist history of country music. Its interwoven essays showcase the music's myriad roots and influences: stringband stomps and western swing, hillbilly boogie and honky-tonk, the Nashville sound and the neo-traditionalist movement, plus everything from blues and bluegrass to rockabilly and country-rock, even soul. It focuses on the records that defined the music to generations of fans, as well as the singers, songwriters,...