What's Your Favorite Song?: The Life, Family and Music of George and Emma Kelly

by G. Ross Kelly

If you enjoyed reading about "The Lady of 6,000 Songs" in the best seller "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," you will love going behind the scenes to learn more about how the remarkable entertainer and her husband successfully juggled their marriage, her Hall of Fame music career, his sign business, and at the same time, raise ten children. Though Emma Kelly was mostly known as the piano player who could seemingly play any song ever written, the close friend and collaborator of songwriter Johnny Mercer is revealed in "What's Your Favorite Song?" to have achieved even greater accomplishments as a wife and mother. Learn how she and her husband overcame challenges and hardships through the Great Depression, a World War, and through the baby boom years to raise ten children who would become an integral part of her musical performances and, later, successful college-educated adults. Author Ross Kelly chronicles a firsthand account of a nonstop, whirlwind family music fest that will border on feeling out of control, only in the end to reveal a loving, close-knit family guided by their commitment to one another, their love of music, and a foundation of principles employed by his parents to guide and shape his life and the lives of his nine brothers and sisters. Far beyond being about a large musical family growing up in South Georgia in the 1960s, "What's Your Favorite Song?" could almost serve as a guide for how families of any size, anywhere, can successfully manage their own challenges of juggling relationships, careers, and children.

230 pages, Paperback

First published February 20, 2015

Reviews

[Linda Loveless · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book changed my life. The writing was so fluid and emotional it took me back to
my younger years and I saw them again through the author's eyes and understood better what had
happened to me. The value of family and friends is the uppermost treasure to him . The life led by
Emma and George Kelly and their children is so inspiring and shows the result of their love for
one another. They lived by Emma's rules then, as they obviously do now. We could all learn a
lesson or two from this book.

Linda Woodard Loveless

[Nadine Keels · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartwarming piece of Americana: a true life account about family (lots of it), moral principles, and, of course, music. Whether or not you've heard of the nationally acclaimed musician and entertainer Emma Kelly before, this book by one of her sons is well worth a read.

Reviewed at Online Book Club. I received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review.

[Brandi Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a lovely story of a remarkable family. G. Ross Kelly tells this amazing story with an ease and conversational tone that makes it easy to read. I laughed and cried as he told of such fantastic events in such a relatable way. I purchased a signed copy from his company’s website www.emmasaidproductions.com, and it was well worth it.