Country and Western Songbook

Reader's Digest Songbooks

by William L. Simon (Editor), Reader's Digest Association (Publisher)

The book is a compendium of country and western songs from the turn of the century to the present. You will find the parlor songs of the 1900’s, the first commercial favorites of the 1920’s, the railroading and prison songs so popular in the ‘30s, the lost love and cheating songs of the ‘40s, the ballads and rockability hits of the ‘50s, the saga songs and novelties of the ‘60s and, finally, the more mature and even philosophical products of the ‘70s. An entire section, section 1, is devoted to songs either written or made popular by Hank Williams. Another section draws on the Western classics that via films and recordings made Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and the “The Sons of the Pioneers latter-day American heroes. Each of the 95 songs in this book has an interesting lyric, and many were inspired by equally interesting incidents or circumstances. The editors have tried to provide additional insight into each song in the annotations that accompany the words and music. This terrific collection is spiral bound so that it stays flat when opened. The last page includes photos of the nine immortal stars included in the Hank Snow, Chet Atkins, Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash, Kitty Wells, Gene Autry, Jim Reeves, Jimmie Rodgers, and Hank Williams INDEX TO SECTIONS *Hank Williams hits *New country classics *Country hits of the ‘60s *Country hits of the ‘50s *Golden memories of the ‘40s *Western classics *All time old time favorites *The touch for God’s hand

Genres: Music

252 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

William L. "Bill" Simon, was a leading record producer as well as a songwriter and musician.
Before entering the record business in New York City in 1944, he ran the Music House in Buffalo, New York.
Simon produced recordings by such legendary jazz artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Ben Webster, Don Byas, Erroll Garner, & Johnny Guarnieri.
He spent 22 years with Reader's Digest as the music editor.

Reviews

[Kbord · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection sheet music of western songs. Printed in 1984. Some of the songs have guitar tabs as well. The book has commercial and some folk songs. I was glad to see "Tennessee Waltz" and "Home on the Range." There is a small lyrics booklet included with it, if you want to sing along.

I was surprised by a few of the songs included, thinking they belonged more to rock than to country, but I suppose they may be fusion style songs.

As I said, a nice book. Nothing extraordinary, so 3 stars.