How Nashville Became Music City, U.S.A.

A History of Music Row, Updated and Expanded

Michael Kosser

• Publisher: Backbeat
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9781493073535
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Biographies

How Nashville Became Music City, U.S.A. was first published in 2006 and quickly became the go-to reference for those seeking to understand the Nashville music industry, or write about it. Now, Michael Kosser, prolific songwriter and author, returns with an updated and expanded edition, bringing the history of Music Row up to the present, since so much has changed over the last fifteen years. This new edition of How Nashville Became Music City, U.S.A. details the history of the Nashville song and recording industry from the founding of its first serious commercial music publishing company in 1942 to the present.
Kosser tells the history of Music Row primarily through the voices of those who made and continue to make that history, including record executives, producers, singers, publishers, songwriters, studio musicians, studio engineers, record promoters, and others responsible for the music and the business, including the ambitious music executives who struggle to find an audience who will buy country records instead of just listening to them on the radio. The result is a book with insight far beyond the usual media stories, with plenty of emotion, humor, and historical accuracy.
Kosser traces the growth and cultural changes of Nashville and the adventurous souls who fly to it to be a part of the music. He follows the changes from its hillbilly roots through its "Nashville Sound" quasi-pop days, from the outlaws, the new traditionalists, and the mega-sellers to the recent bro country and the rise of mini-trends. This edition also bears witness to the huge influence of Music Row on pop, folk, rock, and other American music genres.

Table of contents

• Acknowlegments
• Introduction
• Cast of Characters
• Chapter 1 The Roots of Music Row
• Chapter 2 The Opry Puts Its Foot Down
• Chapter 3 It All Begins with a Song
• Chapter 4 Now We Have an Industry!
• Chapter 5 When Country Music Almost Died
• Chapter 6 Oohs and Aahs
• Chapter 7 Saving Country
• Chapter 8 Dang Me!
• Chapter 9 Crazy
• Chapter 10 Homegrown Talent and the Nashville Machine
• Chapter 11 The Everly Brothers and the Bryants
• Chapter 12 A Pair of Aces
• Chapter 13 Rebels and Respect
• Chapter 14 Gallico and His Boys
• Chapter 15 Strings and Power Saws
• Chapter 16 Lou Bradley: Knight of the Console
• Chapter 17 “Wesley, It’s Music!”
• Chapter 18 Know When to Hold ’Em, Know When to Fold ’Em
• Chapter 19 Wanted: Jerry Bradley
• Chapter 20 Nashville, Before and After Bowen
• Chapter 21 “Man, There’s Only Three Chords!”
• Chapter 22 “I’m Gonna Cut This Song and I Really Can’t Tell You Why”
• Chapter 23 The Men of Garth
• Chapter 24 From the Alleyway to MCA
• Chapter 25 Texas and Oklahoma Song Dogs
• Chapter 26 The King of the Independents
• Chapter 27 Galante and Tomlinson: Keepin’ It Real
• Chapter 28 Murder on the Row
• Chapter 29 “If It Is Not Known for Music, It Will Not Be Known for Anything”
• Afterword to the Second Edition: Did It Have to Be Like This?