Re: I just finished "Can't You Hear Me Callin'".....
There was some criticism of Smith's book because he covered Monroe's several extramarital escapades, his conflicts with other musicians, and his often-difficult personality which probably kept him from greater popular success -- though it also probably led him to hold to his personal vision and musical style, for which we should be grateful.
I think that it's one of the better musical bios, comparable to Nolan Porterfield's wonderful Jimmie Rodgers, and the slighter but still fascinating Orange Blossom Boys by Randy Noles, about Erwin Rouse and Chubby Wise. I'm starting the Ralph Stanley autobiography Man Of Constant Sorrow, and for Christmas my kids gave me Still Inside about Tony Rice, and I Wonder As I Wander, Ron Pen's bio of John Jacob Niles. I guess, if I can't play like 'em, I can at least read about 'em...
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