Fans pick 99 books like Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music

By Mark Zwonitzer, Charles Hirshberg,

Here are 99 books that Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music fans have personally recommended if you like Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Last Train to Memphis

Ronald Kidd Author Of Lord of the Mountain

From my list on American roots music.

Why am I passionate about this?

From my earliest days I was surrounded by music, from Friday night family band to our musical Christmas card on a bright red record to trumpet trios played with my dad and brother. I went to the University of Southern California on a trumpet scholarship, then took a detour from music and tried writing. I liked it. To this day, one of my favorite things is combining these two interests to create novels, stories, and plays about music. Since moving to Nashville, I’ve immersed myself in American popular music and have loved returning to my roots. 

Ronald's book list on American roots music

Ronald Kidd Why did Ronald love this book?

When my wife and I moved to Nashville, I was stunned to realize that most forms of American popular music had been born within 500 miles of our new home, in an arc from New Orleans (jazz) to the Mississippi Delta (blues) to Memphis (rock ’n’ roll) to Nashville (bluegrass) to Bristol (country). 

I began reading eagerly about American popular music, and my reading led to writing—most recently my novel about the birth of country music, Lord of the Mountain. This list gives you some of my favorite books.

The best of these is also one of my favorite biographies of any kind, Peter Guralnick’s magnificent Last Train to Memphis, the first volume of his essential two-volume story of Elvis Presley and the birth of rock ’n’ roll.

By Peter Guralnick,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Last Train to Memphis as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Written with grace, humor, and affection, Last Train to Memphis has been hailed as the definitive biography of Elvis Presley. It is the first to set aside the myths and focus on Elvis' humanity in a way that has yet to be duplicated.

A New York Times Notable Book

Winner of the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award

"Elvis steps from the pages. You can feel him breathe. This book cancels out all others." --Bob Dylan

From the moment that he first shook up the world in the mid 1950s, Elvis Presley has been one of the most vivid and…


Book cover of Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll

Ronald Kidd Author Of Lord of the Mountain

From my list on American roots music.

Why am I passionate about this?

From my earliest days I was surrounded by music, from Friday night family band to our musical Christmas card on a bright red record to trumpet trios played with my dad and brother. I went to the University of Southern California on a trumpet scholarship, then took a detour from music and tried writing. I liked it. To this day, one of my favorite things is combining these two interests to create novels, stories, and plays about music. Since moving to Nashville, I’ve immersed myself in American popular music and have loved returning to my roots. 

Ronald's book list on American roots music

Ronald Kidd Why did Ronald love this book?

You can’t tell the story of rock ’n’ roll without diving into the life of the crazed, flamboyant musical entrepreneur Sam Phillips and his Memphis recording studio, Sun Records. There he discovered rock ’n’ roll pioneers Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison, and recorded blues artists such as Howlin’ Wolf, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, and Rosco Gordon. 

When you finish the book, though, I think you’ll agree that his greatest creation was Sam Phillips. 

By Colin Escott, Martin Hawkins,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Good Rockin' Tonight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Memphis, Tennessee. The early 1950s. The Mississippi rolls by, and there's a train in the night. Down on Beale Street there's hard-edged blues, on the outskirts of town they're pickin' hillbilly boogie.

At Sam Phillips' Sun Records studio on Union Avenue, there's something different going on. "Shake it, baby, shake it!" "Go, cat, go!" "We're gonna rock..."

This is where rock 'n' roll was born-the record company that launched Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. The label that brought the world, "Blue Suede Shoes," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Breathless," "I Walk the Line,"…


If you love Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music...

Ad

Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest By Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Book cover of It Came from Memphis

Ronald Kidd Author Of Lord of the Mountain

From my list on American roots music.

Why am I passionate about this?

From my earliest days I was surrounded by music, from Friday night family band to our musical Christmas card on a bright red record to trumpet trios played with my dad and brother. I went to the University of Southern California on a trumpet scholarship, then took a detour from music and tried writing. I liked it. To this day, one of my favorite things is combining these two interests to create novels, stories, and plays about music. Since moving to Nashville, I’ve immersed myself in American popular music and have loved returning to my roots. 

Ronald's book list on American roots music

Ronald Kidd Why did Ronald love this book?

In Memphis during the 1950s, there was Black and there was White, but the two rarely met. One of the few places where they did was in clubs and recording studios, and the sparks they struck started a fire that came to be called rock ’n’ roll. 

In this wonderfully rich stew of a book, author and filmmaker Robert Gordon walks the streets of Memphis, exploring the sights and sounds and smells of a unique, endlessly fascinating world. 

As Gordon’s publisher says, “This is a book about the weirdos, winos, and midget wrestlers who forged the rock ’n’ roll spirit.” As Rolling Stone says, “If you haven’t read this book, do it now.”

By Robert Gordon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked It Came from Memphis as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Vienna in the 1880s. Paris in the 1920s. Memphis in the 1950s. These are the paradigm shifts of modern culture. Memphis then was like Seattle with grunge or Brooklyn with hip-hop―except the change was more than musical: Underground Memphis embraced African American culture when dominant society abhorred it. The effect rocked the world. We’re all familiar with the stars’ stories, but It Came From Memphis runs with the the kids in that first rock and roll audience, where they befriended the older blues artists, the travails of blazing a rock and roll career path where one had not existed (nor…


Book cover of Really the Blues

Jeff Stookey Author Of Chicago Blues

From my list on 1920s Chicago jazz musicians.

Why am I passionate about this?

My father, a huge Ella Fitzgerald fan, had a bunch of her records, and took us to hear her live once. So I knew mid-century jazz, but I had yet to discover its early origins. From the first, I knew my trilogy was set in the 1920s and one of the main characters had to be a jazz musician. I began collecting dozens of recordings by early jazz and blues artists, reading books about them, and I developed an enthusiasm for these early musicians. I found that the original “jazz maniacs” had the same passion for their music that I felt about rock and roll in the early 1960s.

Jeff's book list on 1920s Chicago jazz musicians

Jeff Stookey Why did Jeff love this book?

This jive-tongued jazz cat really knows how to use language! His use of slang is evidenced by the ten-page glossary at the end of the book. Raw and gritty, Mezzrow’s memoir describes how he learned to play jazz and blues in a juvenile reformatory, where he developed his love for the Black “race” and its culture. He often riffs on race. In 1920s Chicago he rubbed elbows with Black and White jazz luminaries, plus gangsters, prostitutes, and drug dealers. During a side trip to Paris, France, he spread the gospel of jazz to Europe. In the 30s he lived in New York City’s Harlem, inhabiting a milieu similar to that in Chicago, peddling marijuana to jazz greats and others. His extraordinary writing inspired Jack Kerouac and the Beat writers.

By Mezz Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Really the Blues as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Really the Blues (90) by Mezzrow, Mezz - Wolfe, Bernard [Paperback (2001)]


Book cover of Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album

Joel Selvin Author Of Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues

From my list on music books that should be made into movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

As pop music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle for nearly forty years and author of more than twenty books on pop music, books on these subjects have always held a special fascination for me. To me, musicians are heroes like athletes or warriors and their paths make for extraordinary drama—usually set to some fabulous soundtrack. There is a big, wonderful world beyond Ray and Bohemian Rhapsody and I can’t wait to see what Hollywood comes up with. 

Joel's book list on music books that should be made into movies

Joel Selvin Why did Joel love this book?

Engineer Ken Caillat’s richly detailed account of the arduous and complicated creation of the classic Fleetwood Mac album reads like a novel. He winds together the personal and creative narratives that were tangled up in the months-long creation of this epic work, while the two couples in the band came apart and personal relations suffused the process. Calliat himself was conducting an affair with the studio manager. It was all sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

By Ken Caillat, Steve Stiefel,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Making Rumours as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Inside the making of one of the biggest-selling albums of all time: Fleetwood Mac's Rumours

Fleetwood Mac's classic 1977 Rumours album topped the Billboard 200 for thirty-one weeks and won the Album of the Year Grammy. More recently, Rolling Stone named it the twenty-fifth greatest album of all time and the hit TV series Glee devoted an entire episode to songs from Rumours, introducing it to a new generation. Now, for the first time, Ken Caillat, the album's co-producer, tells the full story of what really went into making Rumours—from the endless partying and relationship dramas to the creative struggles…


If you love Mark Zwonitzer...

Ad

Book cover of We Had Fun and Nobody Died: Adventures of a Milwaukee Music Promoter

We Had Fun and Nobody Died By Amy T. Waldman, Peter Jest,

This irreverent biography provides a rare window into the music industry from a promoter’s perspective. From a young age, Peter Jest was determined to make a career in live music, and despite naysayers and obstacles, he did just that, bringing national acts to his college campus atUW-Milwaukee, booking thousands of…

Book cover of Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend

Joel Selvin Author Of Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues

From my list on music books that should be made into movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

As pop music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle for nearly forty years and author of more than twenty books on pop music, books on these subjects have always held a special fascination for me. To me, musicians are heroes like athletes or warriors and their paths make for extraordinary drama—usually set to some fabulous soundtrack. There is a big, wonderful world beyond Ray and Bohemian Rhapsody and I can’t wait to see what Hollywood comes up with. 

Joel's book list on music books that should be made into movies

Joel Selvin Why did Joel love this book?

The epic life of French jazz guitarist Django Reinhart deserves a Spielbergian biopic treatment. After the cart fire where he damaged his hand and the personal epiphany of hearing a Louis Armstrong record, the Gypsy guitarist would bring jazz to Europe with his near magical musical improvisations. He lived a wild, carefree life, full of big cars, large dreams, and sensual pleasures. When the Nazis took over Paris, he returned to his homeland, opened one of the city’s most dazzling nightclubs, and made hit records that flooded the French airwaves during the Occupation. When the war was over, his career went out like a light switch and Django repaired to a quiet life in a remote riverfront village, spending his time fishing and painting nudes. 

By Michael Dregni,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Django as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Django Reinhardt was arguably the greatest guitarist who ever lived, an important influence on Les Paul, Charlie Christian, B.B. King, Jerry Garcia, Chet Atkins, and many others. Yet there is no major biography of Reinhardt.
Now, in Django, Michael Dregni offers a definitive portrait of this great guitarist. Handsome, charismatic, childlike, and unpredictable, Reinhardt was a character out of a picaresque novel. Born in a gypsy caravan at a crossroads in Belgium, he was almost killed in a freak fire that burned half of his body and left his left hand twisted into a claw. But with this maimed left…


Book cover of The Restless Generation

Joel Selvin Author Of Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues

From my list on music books that should be made into movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

As pop music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle for nearly forty years and author of more than twenty books on pop music, books on these subjects have always held a special fascination for me. To me, musicians are heroes like athletes or warriors and their paths make for extraordinary drama—usually set to some fabulous soundtrack. There is a big, wonderful world beyond Ray and Bohemian Rhapsody and I can’t wait to see what Hollywood comes up with. 

Joel's book list on music books that should be made into movies

Joel Selvin Why did Joel love this book?

We need a documentary made from this exquisite history of how rock and roll came to Great Britain by the redoubtable Pete Frame, best known for his intricately calligraphed and intensely researched Rock Family Trees. He walks readers through the rise of Tommy Steele and the 2I’s club in Soho, where Cliff Richards, England’s Elvis, and other nascent stars of the new sound were discovered. He skillfully entwines the strains of skiffle, trad jazz, and early British r&b into his narrative and brings to life early British rock and rollers such as Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, Vince Taylor, and others who never made their way across the Atlantic, setting the stage for the emergence of the Beatles and nothing less than an explosion of British culture on a global scale after the many long, dark years following World War II. This brilliant book is stuffed full of original research and…

By Pete Frame,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Restless Generation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It was our version of a Hollywood epic, shot in black and white over a ten year period, with no script and a cast of thousands who had to make it up as they went along. Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard, Lonnie Donegan, Terry Dene, Marty Wilde, Mickie Most, Lionel Bart, Tony Sheridan, Billy Fury, Joe Brown, Wee Willie Harris, Adam Faith, John Barry, Larry Page, Vince Eager, Johnny Gentle, Jim Dale, Duffy Power, Dickie Pride, Georgie Fame and Johnny Kidd were just a few of those hoping to see their name in lights. From the widescreen perspective of one who…


Book cover of Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws

John Nolt Author Of A Land Imperiled: The Declining Health of the Southern Appalachian Bioregion

From my list on loss and hope in the southern Appalachian environment.

Why am I passionate about this?

I moved from Ohio to southern Appalachia in 1978 to take a temporary job teaching philosophy at the University of Tennessee.  I hadn’t planned to stay, but I fell in love with the mountains. Recently I retired after a fruitful 44-year career here. Concern for this land and for my children and grandchildren led me to environmental activism and shifted my teaching and writing from mathematical logic to environmental and intergenerational ethics. Eventually I wrote or edited four books on environmental matters (two specifically on the southern Appalachian environment) in addition to three on logic and (most recently) a tome on the tricky topic of incomparable values.

John's book list on loss and hope in the southern Appalachian environment

John Nolt Why did John love this book?

It rings with awe-struck musings on Bartram’s explorations, begun just before the American revolution, of the lush and bountiful landscapes of the southern British colonies. Bartram’s effusive descriptions of the astonishingly profuse flora and fauna, replete with taxonomic names, provide a baseline for gauging the steep ecological declines that followed. The Penguin edition includes an appreciative introduction by American writer James Dickey, best known for his novel Deliverance.

By William Bartram,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

At the request of Dr. Fothergill, of London, to search the Floridas, and the western parts of Carolina and Georgia, for the discovery of rare and useful productions of nature, chiefly in the vegetable kingdom; in April, 1773, I embarked for Charleston, South Carolina, on board the brigantine Charleston Packet, Captain Wright, the brig——, Captain Mason, being in company with us, and bound to the same port. We had a pleasant run down the Delaware, 150 miles to Cape Henlopen, the two vessels entering the Atlantic together. For the first twenty-four hours, we had a prosperous gale, and were cheerful…


If you love Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music...

Ad

Book cover of Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children

Ambidextrous By Felice Picano,

Bold, funny, and shockingly honest, Ambidextrous is like no other memoir of 1950s urban childhood.

Picano appears to his parents and siblings to be a happy, cheerful eleven-year-old possessed of the remarkable talent of being able to draw beautifully and write fluently with either hand. But then he runs into…

Book cover of Margarita in the Spotlight

Mirelle Ortega Author Of From the Desk of Zoe Washington

From my list on for girls trying to change the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a Mexican writer and illustrator based in Los Angeles. I was always a bookish kid! Growing up I loved reading contemporary books, mostly about fearless girls trying to change the world! In my career, I’ve had the privilege to work creating cover artwork for a lot of middle-grade books, which in turn leads me to read a lot of really great stories. As a bonus, as the industry has become more diverse, so have the stories of outstanding girls, making the middle-grade space even more amazing than it was when I was a kid.

Mirelle's book list on for girls trying to change the world

Mirelle Ortega Why did Mirelle love this book?

This is an odd one out, because it’s in audiobook form. Margarita is a part of her uber-famous country star sister and gets thrown into the limelight when the label gets into hot water for not being inclusive enough. This audible original truly shines with its amazing story and wonderful music! Personally, I liked the way the story tackles Margarita’s struggles to figure out her place within Latin culture and processing the feelings of what that means for her.

By Maria Frazer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Margarita in the Spotlight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

This middle grade story has it all: humor, heart, and country music - including original songs!

Margarita McCoy plays banjo and sings backup in her stepsister Stephanie McCoy’s wildly popular country music band. 

Margarita isn’t particularly passionate about music, but she loves Stephanie and would do anything to help her - and that includes being thrust into the media spotlight after an article in the New York Times calls out country music for its lack of diversity. Since Margarita’s father is Mexican American, the McCoys' record label wants to use her to show that they aren’t as whitewashed as the…


Book cover of Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music
Book cover of Last Train to Memphis
Book cover of Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,605

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in country music, murder, and murder mystery?

Country Music 107 books
Murder 1,079 books
Murder Mystery 568 books