Several years ago I began to receive letters, then phone calls from Andrew Fielding searching for information about his mother Sue Bennett, one of the original stars of the NBC television show "Your Hit Parade". As author of Your Hit Parade and American Top 10 Hits, Popular Culture 1994 4th edition I was able to provide Andrew with what material I could offer and I'm glad I did. The Lucky Strike Papers is a must read for anyone wanting the insights of early American television. He details with precision and detail the everyday details of his mothers career in early TV beginning in 1949. Chock full of pictures and scripts and comments from the stars of that era. How many of today’s generation remember the Dumont Network? Five Stars
JDH    

A genuine Country Music History lesson that took the Nashville Sidekick seven long years to put together and it is written with pure perfection. It showcases the dark and bright sides of Nashville and the personalities of three particular individuals, Faron Young, Willie Nelson and NASCAR driver Buck Baker. Frank Oakley was these guys sidekick for most of his life, now he and Willie are partners in different business ventures.

The beginning of the book begins with the tragic suicide of Faron Young. This was a hard read for me because, even though I did'nt know Faron that well, I Only had one business deal with him, he was a legend and it was a tragedy that touched everyone in the music business. As you emerce yourself in the other chapters it begins to lighten up with all the stories of a much younger Faron Young and Willie Nelson and the two year stint with NASCAR legend Buck Baker. The travels, tall tales and adventure make this a great read. There are hundreds of classic photos. This book should be on the shelve of every music collector. It delves into a time tunnell when the industry was run much differently than it is today when you had to earn your reputation as a singer and songwriter, hard times made you tough. These were the glory days of Nashville with a little classic NASCAR thrown in too. You can order a copy of this book by contacting the Willie Nelson General Store and Museum

2613A McGavock Pike
Nashville, Tn. 7216
615-855-1515

JDH    

This is a must read for anyone who is familiar with the music of the 50's and 60's.

I have always been a fan of the Browns and I always loved their music. They had 21 top Cashbox singles in their career as a group consisting of Jim Ed, Maxine and Bonnie. If you count the solo recordings it reaches closer to 55 Cashbox Hits.

This book chronicles their life from the 30's growing up in poverty in rural Arkansas to the Louisiana Hayride and superstardom for that era of music. "The Three Bells" ranks as one of the biggest hits of all time and brought them world wide stardom. In 1955 they became friends with Jim Reeves and later Elvis.

Maxine donates one full chapter to their travels with the King. It took Maxine 12 years to write this book and it is so good I hope someday it could be made into a movie. To all the young folks out there that think today's country is special, go buy Maxine's book and then find a Best of the Browns CD and see what you're missing. They were just that good!
JDH    

A great companion to Mr. Fielding's book, Russell is one of the last survivors of the TV series "Your Hit Parade". Eileen Wilson, who starred on the Hit Parade between 1950 and 1952 is the other. Russell is a friend of mine.

Most folks know him for his six years on Your Hit Parade, but Russell has a long acting career as well as appearing in numerous early 60's TV shows like "Have Gun Will Travel". He also appeared at several dinner and summer theaters all over the country. This is a career book that not only covers his "famous years" but also fills in all the blanks with the rest of his career. It is a very entertaining look at our past and the beginnings of a medium today’s generation couldn't live without. This book with Mr. Fielding also contains many black and white classic photos from the age of American innocence and the beginning of music videos. Without the props and live TV from kinescopes, a mistake was a mistake, it couldn't be changed made early TV a fun thing to look at. I'm just glad I'm old enough to know what it was like when you had one or two channels in black and white, sometimes very snowy, but wonderfully entertaining and Russell was a big part of it singing the great songs of the 50's every Saturday night. A great book and one for the ages. Five Stars
JDH