(Creative Concepts Publishing). A classic souvenir collection of 46 hits from those Kings of Western Swing, complete with an introduction and an extensive photo section of the band through the years. Songs include: Across the Alley from the Alamo * All Night Long * A Big Ball in Cowtown (We'll Dance Around) * Blue Bonnet Lane * Eight'r from Decatur * Heart to Heart Talk * Honeysuckle Rose * I Needed You * Ida Red * Miss Molly * Oklahoma Hills (Guthrie/Guthrie) * Silver Bells (That Ring in the Night) * St. Louis Blues * Who's Sorry Now * and more!

A fine, engaging, and valuable biography of a man who merged the spontaneity of country fiddling with the Big Band Sound, giving birth to Western Swing. A landmark in country music!

A collection of Courtney's columns from the Texas Monthly, curing the curious, exorcizing bedevilment, and orienting the disoriented, advising "on such things as: Is it wrong to wear your football team's jersey to church? When out at a dancehall, do you need to stick with the one that brung ya? Is it real Tex-Mex if it's served with a side of black beans? Can one have too many Texas-themed tattoos?"--Amazon.com.

An essential work for rock fans and scholars, Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll surveys the origins of rock 'n' roll from the minstrel era to the emergence of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. Unlike other histories of rock, Before Elvis offers a far broader and deeper analysis of the influences on rock music. Dispelling common misconceptions, it examines rock's origins in hokum songs and big-band boogies as well as Delta blues, detailing the embrace by white artists of African-American styles long before rock 'n' roll appeared. This unique study ranges far and wide, highlighting not only the contributions of obscure but key precursors like Hardrock Gunter and Sam Theard but also the influence of celebrity performers like Gene Autry and Ella Fitzgerald. Too often, rock historians treat the genesis of rock 'n' roll as a bolt from the blue, an overnight revolution provoked by the bland pop music that immediately preceded it and created through the white appropriation of music till then played only by and for black audiences. In Before Elvis, Birnbaum daringly argues a more complicated history of rock's evolution from a heady mix of ragtime, boogie-woogie, swing, country music, mainstream pop, and rhythm-and-blues--a melange that influenced one another along the way, from the absorption of blues and boogies into jazz and pop to the integration of country and Caribbean music into rhythm-and-blues. Written in an easy style, Before Elvis presents a bold argument about rock's origins and required reading for fans and scholars of rock 'n' roll history.

High Fidelity meets Blue Highways in this gloriously offbeat quest for the true roots of Texas Swing.

On this album, Asleep at the Wheel along with everyone from Chet Atkins and Riders in the Sky to Garth Brooks and Lyle Lovett pays homage to one of the most influential bands in the history of country music. Our album-matching folio contains all 18 songs, including: Across the Alley from the Alamo * Big Ball's in Cow Town * Blues for Dixie * Corine, Corina * Ida Red * Red Wing.