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Looking Back to See: A Country Music Memoir
Looking Back to See A Country Music Memoir Author:Maxine Brown The Browns -- Maxine, Bonnie, and Jim Ed -- are a trio of singing siblings that had tremendous success in the 1950s and '60s. Following in the tradition of Loretta Lynn's Coal Miner's Daughter, this memoir, told in Maxine's own plucky, spirited style, delves into the Browns' remarkable past, beginning with a Depression-era childhood in rural sou... more »th Arkansas scarred by poverty and tragedy. From that beginning emerges a duo, Maxine and Jim Ed, who became a popular feature of Little Rock's Barnyard Frolic and, in 1954, had a top ten hit with "Looking Back to See." Sister Bonnie later joined them, and strengthened by shared experience they soon were regulars on the well-known Louisiana Hayride. They would eventually help a young Elvis Presley get started on the show and tour with him as their opening act, and it wasn't long before he became a close friend of the family. Other hits followed, including "I Take a Chance" and "I Heard the Bluebirds Si! ng." Early mismanagement couldn't prevent the Browns' career from soaring. The group enjoyed a long relationship with RCA, and with Chet Atkins, and later joined the Grand Ole Opry cast. In 1959 their rendition of Edith Piaf's "The Three Bells" not only went to the top of the country charts but spent weeks at numbner one on the pop charts, and led to appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand. A vocal group without peer, The Browns were central artists in the changing sound of country and American popular music at mid-century. They were part of major changes in the entertainment business and American culture, participated in the folk music movement in the '60s, and saw the steady birth of rock 'n' roll up close. Illustrated with many never-before-published photographs, Looking Back to See is a remarkable story told here for the first time.« less