I am not a country music follower, I like all music, mostly, but I have always enjoyed listening to Willie, Waylon and the Boys. Although this book presents some well-known facts, it also gives the back story. It is interesting to read about the hardships each of these artists had along the way, both personal and professional. It is also their friendship that the book explores, both when they were young and as they grew older. All of this was the basis for their music. And for some of us, their songs tell the stories that we cannot put into words.. I thank NetGalley and Hachette for the advance read.

When I first saw the opportunity to review an ARC of Brian Fairbanks' "Willie, Waylon, and the Boys: How Nashville Outsiders Changed Country Music Forever" to be published this Spring by Hachette Books (who graciously provided me with the ARC), my early life growing up with a mom and dad who had, briefly, run a dance hall in deep South Texas came flooding back to me. I grew up with photos and stories of many of the people who populate this book, and I couldn't escape the legacy of Country Western Music even if I wanted to (I don't). The well researched and deep understanding of his material that the writer brings to this work makes it a delight to anyone with even a passing interest in the oversize egos and wild lives that have characterized this genre of music. The author takes as his starting point, what has been described by one American singer Songwriter as "The Day the Music Died," the plane crash that took the life of Buddy Holly at the height of his powers, and then focuses principally on the careers of Waylon Jennings (who was supposed to be on that plane), Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson from the 1950's into the 21st century. Along the way he focuses on the oft examined "Outlaw" movement and what it meant to the studios in Nashville and the artists they tried to manage and manipulate. Of course, the author is familiar with many of the other luminaries in this and other genres of music who also played a role in events from Bob Dylan to a variety of rockers and gospel singers. It is a surprisingly textured and nuanced look at things although I find the later chapters, with their increased emphasis on deeply controversial features of our modern culture, far less interesting, primarily because of the ideological stance of the author, but this in no way negates his accomplishment in examining in depth an important feature of our modern culture much of which is seldom explored in a more than superficial manner. This book is well worth the read for anyone who ever wondered about what goes on behind the curtains of the music industry. I have no hesitation in endorsing it; it belongs in every library and on the shelves of many fans who have often wondered about the lives of the men and women who dominate the Country Western genre.