Hey John on the Sunset Coast--

Have you finished Public Cowboy #1 by Holly George-Warren? I saw you were starting it. I just read it this summer too--- and found it probably the best book I've read in years.   Of course it helps that it's about music--but it's about a lot more.

She was granted unprecedented access by Gene's estate--but also granted total editorial control--did not have to clear anything with them.

As a result it's a clear-eyed picture not just of him but of the early 20th century "western" music business, "western" movie business, and so much more.

So much information--everything from how he got his name (from Orvon Grover Autry), to the tragic story of his mother (tragic practically from her birth) to the way record companies put out the same record by the same artist under totally different names, to the impact of Prohibition on the music business--to the cutthroat business it was--and still is, no doubt.

She takes all sorts of PR stories and evaluates them.

Even includes a really off-color parody he waxed (but obviously it was not released--until the Bear Family).

Talk about straightforward--Gene's own evaluation of himself evidently was that though he was by no means a wonderful actor, singer or guitarist, his main skill was: figures (business).

I'd heartily recommend it to anybody who has the slightest curiosity about any of the above topics--and a lot more.

And it has a huge discography at the end--with lots of songs that are fun to sing.