Air Castle of the South: WSM and the Making of Music City

322 Pages·2007·4.045 MB·English

by  Craig Havighurst

MUSIC / SOUTHERN HISTORY & CULTURE
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AM in , Craig Havighurst scoured new and
existing sources to document the station’s pro-
found effect on the character and self-image of
Nashville. Introducing the reader to colorful
artists and businessmen from the station’s his-
tory, including Owen Bradley, Minnie Pearl, Jim
Cover design by
Denny, Edwin Craig, and Dinah Shore, the vol-
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ume invites the reader to refl ect on the status of
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Nashville, radio, and country music in American
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culture.
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ISBN 978–0–252–03257–8
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Air Castle of the South
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music in american life
A list of books in the series appears at the end of this book.
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Air Castle
the South
of
WSM and the Making of Music City
Craig HavigHurSt
University of Illinois Press
Urbana and Chicago
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© 2007 by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 5 4 3 2 1
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Havighurst, Craig.
Air castle of the South : WSM and the making of
Music City / Craig Havighurst.
p. cm. — (Music in American life)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
isbn-13 978-0-252-03257-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn-10 0-252-03257-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. WSM (Radio station : Nashville, Tenn.)
2. Radio broadcasting—Tennessee—Nashville—History.
I. Title.
pn1991.3.u6h38 2007
791.4409768'55—dc22 2007011425
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for mom, dad, and taylor
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It seems to me the radio’s like drink;
it just gets a hold on you.
—Margery Allingham
It was not the city we once knew.
—Jesse Wills
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
1. On the Very Air We Breathe 1
2. The Ears Are Eyes 18
3. A Pleasing Spectacle 41
4. Air Castle of the South 61
5. We Must Serve These People Tonight 88
6. Guts and Brass 104
7. One of Our Boys Shoots the Moon 121
8. It Helped Everybody in the Long Run 138
9. The Balance of Power Has Shifted 159
10. Jack, We Got a Real Problem 178
11. A Code and a Concern 205
12. The Whole Complex Is a Studio 224
Epilogue: Signal Fade 244
Notes 251
Bibliography 261
Index 265
Illustrations follow page 120
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