Abbeville Press is partnering with the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum to produce a spectacular, oversized book with professional photographs of many of the historic artifacts in their collection.
Titled Treasures of the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, it runs to 348 pages, sized to match an LP cover, with photos taken by Bob Delevante specifically for this volume.
If you’ve ever visited the Museum, you know that it houses an untold number of items that trace the history of the music from its earliest pre-commercial days, through the advent of radio and the record industry, and then television and the internet. It contains instruments, stage clothing, personal items, show posters, LPs, and a stunning array of photographs, some of which are presented in the book.
In addition to the photos, a lively narrative runs through its pages, written by the many historians and writers on staff. Plus, a foreword from Grammy-winning producer T Bone Burnett, who says of Treasures…
“The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is an archeological exploration into a unique music that has been developed in this country, and its crucial contribution to the soul of this country. Since 1967, the museum has been telling the story of our country principally through the subjects of the photographs you see in this book — treasures of country music — which were once the instruments and implements that working-class people used to turn their sorrows and joys into song.”
A small sampling of what’s to be found includes:
- DeFord Bailey – Hohner Marine Band harmonica and his home-made megaphone to amplify his sound. Bailey was an influential harmonica player and country music’s first black star.
- Maybelle Carter – the 1928 Gibson L-5 arch-top guitar, which she played throughout most of her career.
- Bill Monroe – the Gibson F-5 Master Model the “Father of Bluegrass” played almost his entire career. It was built in 1923 by Gibson’s legendary acoustic engineer, Lloyd Loar.
- Earl Scruggs – 1930 Gibson RB-Granada Mastertone five-string banjo, acquired in a 1949 trade with fellow bluegrass star Don Reno, and which became Scruggs’ main instrument.
- Rose Maddox – three-piece, heavily embroidered red-and-yellow cowgirl outfit, designed by Nathan Turk.
- Johnny Cash – the first black suit worn onstage by “The Man in Black,” which features silver trim sewn on by his mother, c. 1955.
- Minnie Pearl – the thrift-store straw hat with plastic flowers and a dangling price tag she wore at the Grand Ole Opry.
- Hank Williams – original two-page, handwritten (with his corrections) song manuscript for I Saw the Light from 1947.
- Dolly Parton – her early, handwritten draft of the lyrics to her 1973 #1 hit Jolene.
- Gram Parsons – “Nudie suit” with embroidered marijuana leaves, pills, poppies, and a cross on the back, which he wore on the cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969).
- Emmylou Harris – embroidered and fringed tunic with blue jeans, which she wore on the cover of her 1975 album Elite Hotel.
- Charley Pride – the 1967 Fender Coronado II hollow-body electric guitar with distinctive “Antigua” sunburst finish, which he used extensively in the 1960s and ’70s.
- Garth Brooks – striped Panhandle Slim western shirt, which he wore on the cover of his breakthrough, eighteen-times platinum album, No Fences (1990).
- Shania Twain – Marc Bouwer-designed pink Ultrasuede outfit with matching hat and gloves, which she wore for her performance at the 1999 CMA Awards.
- Jelly Roll – custom-made patchwork denim jacket, which he wore during his 2022 concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
- Lainey Wilson – Lindsey Thornburg-designed silk halter top and pants worn by Wilson when she made her acting debut as Abby in Season Five of the television series Yellowstone.
Publication of Treasures of the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum is set for September 29, when it will be offered through bookstores and online resellers nationwide. Pre-orders are enabled now from the Museum book store for $75.
