MICHAEL JARRETT is a professor of English at Penn State University, York. He is the author of Drifting on a Read: Jazz as a Model for Writing and Sound Tracks: A Musical ABC, and has spent an inordinate portion of his life in record stores.
"Producing Country doesn't seek to answer so much as to enlighten,
with plenty of behind-the-scenes stories from the recording
sessions that gave us a big chunk of our Nashville soundtrack. ...
[L]ots of folks (interviewed in the book) offer wisdom on ways to
enhance artistry, solve problems, encourage ingenuity, manage
technology and motivate a roomful of disparate creative spirits.
It's hard to say exactly what a producer is, but those are all
things that a producer does."--Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
"Works as a partial history of the changing dimension of recorded
sound, from its origins as a 'record' of a particular performance
to a sonic environment, aural sculpture in the hands of skilled
producers and engineers."--David Luhrssen, Shepherd
Express-Milwaukee Entertainment Magazine
"Jarrett's ethnography is to be praised for the wealth and breadth
of its coverage, raising the volume of voices seldom heard."--Tom
Greenland, Journal of Folklore Research
"In its approach to writing the history of country music
recordings, Producing Country offers an interesting alternative to
dry academic texts."--J. Farrington, Choice
"Jarrett has interviewed a cross section of country music
producers. The interviews are relatively short, and focus on
specific albums or songs. The interested reader can grasp the
various styles of production and how they have evolved over the
years. Overall this is a well-written guide to the way records have
been made in Nashville, from around 1945 to the present
day."--Portland Book Review
"Jarrett's book is valuable because it illuminates an exciting
process that for too long has been veiled by industry protocol and
ignored because of public indifference. Producing Country should
inspire other scholars to look more deeply and more broadly into
'the inside story' of country music."--Ted Olson, American Studies
(AMSJ)
"You would look long and hard to find a more readable contribution
to the cultural studies, or country music, canon."--Tim Holmes,
Record Collector Magazine
"Producing Country doesn't seek to answer so much as to enlighten,
with plenty of behind-the-scenes stories from the recording
sessions that gave us a big chunk of our Nashville soundtrack.
[L]ots of folks (interviewed in the book) offer wisdom on ways to
enhance artistry, solve problems, encourage ingenuity, manage
technology and motivate a roomful of disparate creative spirits.
It's hard to say exactly what a producer is, but those are all
things that a producer does."--Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
"[Producing Country] really tells the story of the history of
country music from the other side of the glass."--Eric Banister,
Music Tomes
"This is a very readable and informative oral history of the
evolution of country music recording. Few books have delved into
the role that record producers have played in country music, and
fewer still have allowed the record producers themselves to talk
about the nuances of their recording processes in such revealing
and fascinating detail."--Paul Kingsbury, editor of The
Encyclopedia of Country Music and Will the Circle Be Unbroken
"Michael Jarrett's large body of interviews with producers from the
country music field is an extremely valuable addition to music
history. The large scope of the book--including producers of
archival country anthologies (i.e., the Carter Family, Jimmie
Rodgers), to classic country and western of the '40 and'60s, to
mainstream country from the '70s to today, to Americana/alternative
country (including 1950s rockabilly and the 1960s-70s hybrid of
country soul)--makes it an important tool for understanding the
creation of some of C&W's classic records by its most
outstanding artists. In addition, Producing Country provides
evidence of the wide scope of country music, its changes in sounds
and musical impact over nearly 90 years. Quite an
achievement!""--Holly George-Warren, author of Public Cowboy No. 1:
The Life and Times of Gene Autry
"Jarrett's study opens the sound-proofed door of the control room
where the pilots, chariot drivers, overseers--whatever you call
them--steered the recording sessions that defined popular music.
It's an impressive gathering of producers that unlocks the secrets
of making records.""--Michael Streissguth, author of Outlaw:
Waylon, Willie, Kris and the Renegades of Nashville
"This is a very readable and informative oral history of the
evolution of country music recording. Few books have delved into
the role that record producers have played in country music, and
fewer still have allowed the record producers themselves to talk
about the nuances of their recording processes in such revealing
and fascinating detail."--Paul Kingsbury, editor of The
Encyclopedia of Country Music and Will the Circle Be Unbroken
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