"Country Music spans eight decades of commercial country music - from the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers to Hank Williams and Patsy Cline to Randy Travis and Garth Brooks - taking you back to the 20s, 30s and 40s and to every year from 1950 to 1992. For each year, this book chronicles the debut artists, most important records, award winners and most significant events in the world of country music, including births and deaths. Illustrated with more than 200 rare photos, album covers and sheet music, and featuring sidebars that delve into the triumphs, tragedies and idiosyncrasies of country music, Country Music offers a year-by-year survey of 70 years of a truly American phenomenon."--BOOK JACKET.