Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen
	Rating
	Type	Hardcover
	List Price	$27.95
	Add to Shopping Cart
	Our Price	$18.45
	See our Partners Price
	Lowest New Price	$13.24
	Lowest Used Price	$6.99
Categories
Textbook Buyback  Country & Folk  Entertainers  Women  Hardcover  Printed Books
Features
ISBN13: 9780670021536 Condition: New Notes: BUY Together with CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Evaluate our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Similar products
I Lived to Tell It All Still Woman Enough: A Memoir Buck Owens: The Biography Legendary Performances Behind the Grand Ole Opry Curtain: Tales of Romance and Tragedy
Description
The first full-scale biography of the enduring first lady of country music The twentieth century had three excellent female singers who plumbed the darkest corners of their hearts and transformed private grief into public dramas. In opera, there was the unsurpassed Maria Callas. In jazz, the tormented Billie Holiday. And in country music, there was Tammy Wynette. "Stand by Your Man," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," "Get Me to Your World" are but a few highlights of Tammy's staggering musical legacy, all sung together with a voice this became the touchtone for women's vulnerability, disillusionment, strength, and endurance. In Tammy Wynette, bestselling biographer Jimmy McDonough tells the story of the small-town girl who grew up to be the woman behind the microphone, whose meteoric rise led to a decades-long career full of tragedy and triumph. Throughout a high-profile marriage and divorce, her dreadful battle together with addiction and illness, and the struggle to compete in a rapidly evolving Nashville, Tammy turned a brave smile toward the world and churned out masterful hit songs though her life resembled the much heartbreaking among them. Tammy Wynette is an intimate portrait of a music icon, the Queen of Heartbreak, whose great voice concurrently evoked universal pain and longing even as it belied her own.
A Dialog together with Author Jimmy McDonough Can we get a hamburger? No, Jimmy, we have to discuss your new book. Oh, right, this is where the author toots his own horn for a few pages. Well, I already tooted the horn for shut to 400 pages. The horn is tired. The horn is flaccid. Thank you for this lovely picture, Jimmy, but let’s get to business: why Tammy Wynette? Why Tammy? I’ll inform you why. Wynette’s one of the greatest singers this country has ever produced, yet you never listen to concerning her. Tammy’s taken for granted. And if you do her concerning her, it’s for the reason that of her anthem, “Stand By Your Man.” Some people never got past this one. They assume Tammy is just some sort of one-dimensional anti-feminist mouthpiece. She’s much extra advanced than people provide her credit for. Until illness and drug addiction sidelined her, Tammy was very, very independent. She sold millions of records and changed the strategy for female country singers. Madonna? Lady Gaga? Wynette created this kind of frenzy back in the sixties/seventies, only together with a steel guitar. She sang for five presidents, and was known to smooch together Ronald Reagan and George Wallace on lips afterwards belting one out for their benefit. Among her fans you’ll locate different artists as Loretta Lynn, Elton John, Tanya Tucker, Sting, Faith Hill and James Taylor. “One of the greatest voices of all time,” says Dolly Parton. This is a woman who overcame many obstacles. Nashville potentates told Tammy she’d never do it; door afterwards door was slammed in her face. Her mother Mildred fought her each step of the way—only to wind up running her daughter’s fan club one time Wynette became a star. Tammy came from out of nowhere, a divorcee together with three children, and absolutely conquered Music City. “She went from bein’ a beautician to the queen of country music,” notes Emmylou Harris. I must admit, I have been a fan of Tammy’s much of my life. I always thought I’d put in writing concerning her someday. I provide all to my books—this isn’t just a gig for me—and I can only put in writing concerning people I deeply admire. I like Tammy even extra now than before I initiated the book—which isn’t always the case, heh heh. So this book was a labor of love. Provide us five words to describe Tammy Wynette. Regal, single-minded, conflicted, elusive, haunted. What did you come to admire concerning Wynette the much? She was definitely a big-than-life character, just as extreme as any of her male counterparts. As was her music. “I think you have to exist the songs,” insisted Wynette. Tammy took the romantic country ballad and just drove it into the ground. One sad song afterwards another—afterwards another! She was unrelenting. Even at the end of her life when she practically had to crawl onstage to sing, Tammy refused to provide up. I love this. Of course, there have been two books on Wynette already. Yes, there have, but neither propose the complete story. The first was her autobiography, Stand By Your Man, in which author Joan Dew captures Tammy’s voice brilliantly. This book was one of the reasons I became a writer. But it’s only Tammy’s side of the story, and it ends in the seventies, before her life got truly weird. The other book was written directly afterwards Tammy’s death by her daughter Jackie (together with Tom Carter), and is basically an indictment of Wynette’s final husband, George Richey. So Tammy’s never gotten a proper biography. Many of the people I interviewed—her friends, band members, hairdressers, childhood playmates—have never spoken publicly before. And some of them were so unsettled by her death it took until now for them to speak. Tammy was much extra eccentric than people believe. She had a passion for clip-on earrings and a strong dislike for feminine hygiene commercials. She could be extremely generous and very vindictive. She had a wry, observant sense of humor and admitted to smoking the occasional joint. Tammy got to people—I’m talking as a person, not as a singer—on a very deep altitude, yet she wasn’t one to expose her feelings in any sort of direct way. There is many a riddle to this lady and, despite four years of intense research, still so much I can’t give details. What’s the much surprising thing you learned researching her life? Well, Tammy liked to embellish. Not maliciously, for the much part—she’d just get excited and add details to spice things up. She was a teller of tall tales. So much so this when her autobiography came out, co-author Joan Dew, to pass the time, would quiz her on the contents while out on the road. “She didn’t recognize the answers,” admitted Dew. “I don’t believe she’d ever read the book.” The other thing this was surprised me was how reticent Wynette was to spill the beans to friends and family. In interviews and performances Tammy seemed so open and forthcoming, but in private she wasn’t exactly an open book. This’s why this biography is important—you get a much fuller image from those closest to her than she would ever revealed herself. Read the full interview
Customer Reviews
Tragic Even in Death   2010-09-07
By Sam Sattler (Spring, Texas)
"Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen" is some kind of crazy cross between biography and author memoir. I call it crazy because, in theory, it should not work - but the craziest thing about it is how well it does work once the reader clicks to the book's obvious slant. Author Jimmy McDonough idolizes Tammy Wynette and he is none too thrilled with those who so often made her life a living hell. While he recounts Wynette's life in detail, McDonough is quick to offer his personal opinion about those details. He never hesitates to ridicule individual songs, hair styles, clothing, or album covers, for instance. McDonough wisely does not even attempt to portray himself as the impersonal biographer. Otherwise, the four or five personal "letters" to Wynette he places throughout the book would be even stranger than they already are. Virginia Wynette Pugh was born in Mississippi in 1942 but grew up in nearby Red Bay, Alabama. Hardcore country music fans know most of the basic facts of her life, although some of what passes for common knowledge is largely exaggerated, often by Wynette herself (such as her supposedly poverty stricken girlhood or the kidnapping that never was). "Tragic Country Queen" aims to set the record straight. It covers all five of Wynette's marriages, including the most famous one to George Jones and the final and most tragic of them all, to George Richey. It explores Wynette's volatile relationship with her daughters, the serious health issues she suffered, the resulting addiction to painkillers, her musical success and failures, and everything between. McDonough also devotes a significant number of pages to the country music producer Billy Sherrill, the man with whose help Wynette found early success and blossomed into "The First Lady of Country Music." The chapters on Sherrill are an informative mini-biography that will be of great interest to music fans curious about the Nashville music scene of the 1960s and 1970s. The author does the same for Wynette husband number three, George Jones, providing a short Jones biography before getting into the details of their toxic marriage - and what seems to be a permanent love affair both found it difficult to get over. The marriage to Jones was bad enough, but the real tragedy of Tammy Wynette's life would come later. Husband number four would last only 44 days before Wynette would pay him to go away, clearing the way for her marriage to the villain of the Tammy Wynette story, George Richey. As McDonough sees the relationship, Richey was in it for the money and fame, certainly not because of his great love for Wynette. Wynette suffered debilitating intestinal problems by this point in her career, having already had much of her stomach removed, and Richey made sure that she had the painkillers she needed to keep herself on the road - and the money flowing. That George Richey controlled all the money coming in and going out, seems certain. That he made sure that Wynette's daughters would get nothing when she died (and that the Richey family would do quite well, thank you) seems almost as certain. It is unlikely that anyone will ever know the exact circumstances of Tammy Wynette's death but McDonough offers an interesting theory or two as to what might have happened in her home the night she died there. Most bizarre of all, is what happened during the several hours her body was allowed to remain on the couch upon which she died while a house full of Richey's guests drank and smoked around it. Tammy Wynette wanted to be a country music legend and she got her wish. Sadly, this is most certainly not what she had in mind.
Keep online videos near while reading.   2010-06-10
By MacRoni (Golden, CO United States)
The only way to read this book is with online videos nearby. Tammy Wynette was only four years older than I, but after reading this book, having my simple life never made me happier. The drama she created and needed in her life was astounding. I ended up feeling so sorry for her but her ability to use others as stepping stones was unnerving. She didn't deserve to die so young.
Our Tragic First Lady   2010-06-07
By Mcgivern Owen L (NY, NY USA)
When this reader reviewed "Tammy Wynette: A Daughter Recalls Her Mother's Tragic Life and Death" by Jackie Daly, he wrote: "When the ultimate Tammy story does appear, this reviewer will stand in line to buy it". "Tragic Country Queen" is that ultimate Tammy story. This is all the prospective purchaser needs to know. It's all here: The 5 marriages, Tammy's 57 Billboard hits, the shocking medical issues and her clandestine death in 1998 at the age of 55. Author McDonough has done his homework: There are 45 pages of endnotes, and a comprehensive discography, all supplemented by a documented long trail of personal interviews. Author McDonough delivers some heavy body blows to the industry: By 1977, "Music City was beginning its great ascendancy into a 2nd rate factory for 3rd rate soft rock". By 1995. "Music City's conversion to a soft rock assembly line was now complete". Those who agree with those sentiments will be right at home with TCQ. They mirrored the feelings of this reviewer, who is unable to be as eloquent. Some of the following reviews are a bit harsh. It could be those folks don't understand the rueful changes that took place in Nashville since Tammy first hit the charts in 1967. The only caveat attached here is that author McDonough is preaching to the choir. Serious, veteran devotees of True Country (that is pre-1975-1980) are most likely to enjoy TCQ. Others may be disappointed. That truth is enough to warrant the subtraction of a star from the rating above. Members of the choir can put that 5th star right back.
Brings new appreciation to a genius   2010-06-03
By Bradley F. Smith (Miami Beach, FL)
This is one of the best country music bios I have ever read. I have always been aware of Tammy, but this gained me a whole new appreciation for her talents. Written in a down home style, with frequent author interjections, this will set the record straight on Wynette for years to come. Stranger than fiction, Tammy's story will send you racing for her recordings, if you don't know them already. Brilliant. Interviews with everyone who ever knew her.
A semi-biography   2010-05-31
By Matt Hannah (New York, NY)
Tragic Country Queens starts with a bizarre letter to Tammy Wynette in which the author confesses to Tammy about being broke up about a "dame." He tells Tammy he hates "Til I Can Make It On My Own" because it affects him so much, and that he hates even Tammy for a minute. Thus begins one of the strangest biographies written about anyone. The author continues to insert himself throughout the book not only in the form of unnecessary love letters (he loves Tammy's forehead), but also in endless commentary about what songs he likes not only by Tammy but pretty much anyone who comes to mind. In essence, this book is the author talking to himself. It isn't a book about Tammy Wynette, who remains elusive throughout the book and disappears for significant amounts of time from the book for the author to muse on lap steel studio musicians, producers, and George Jones's catalog. The author tends to talk about a subject as long as it interests him, regardless of its historical significance. For example he is very interested in reputing parts of Wynette's autobiography and the book can sometimes read as a commentary, but never seems to stand alone. The redeeming part about the whole thing is that as long as the author doesn't start mistaking himself for a hard-boiled detective (check his press picture), he tends to write well and I generally agree with his opinions, however scattered. But back to Tammy. I started this book feeling like I was getting to know her and then she disappeared somewhere in the middle. In fact I would say I probably have a better sense of Billy Sherrill after this book, who is rendered quite real. While Tammy's later life is definitely tragic, the book drifts into a literary version of the National Enquirer with simplistic character evaluations that are repeated endlessly through quotes by people way outside the inner circle. Was Tammy nice or was she mean? Was she generous to people? Was her last husband a bad guy or a nice guy? Did he love her or didn't he? The book begins to feel very reductive all the while failing to portray Tammy in any coherent fashion. If you're interested in country music and Tammy Wynette you will most likely enjoy this book regardless of its flaws. I read it voraciously but by the end began to tire of its gossipy nature, particularly when Tammy makes her final spiral downward.. The author, despite his claims to have gotten to know Tammy seems more enthralled with her album covers and ultimately misunderstands what Tammy would have wanted written about her. He claims not to have shared too many secrets, but if these stories are true, he has shared far too many.