In this Book
- Don't Give Your Heart to a Rambler: My Life with Jimmy Martin, the King of Bluegrass
- Book
- 2017
- Published by: University of Illinois Press
- Series: Music in American Life
Barbara bore his children and took on a crucial job as his booking agent when the agent he was using failed to obtain show dates for the group. Female booking agents were non-existent at that time but she persevered and went on to become the first female booking agent on Music Row. She also endured years of physical and emotional abuse at Martin's hands. With courage and candor, Barbara tells of the suffering and traces the hard-won personal growth she found inside motherhood and her work. Her vivid account of Martin's explosive personality and torment over his exclusion from the Grand Ole Opry fill in the missing details on a career renowned for being stormy. Barbara also shares her own journey, one of good humor and proud achievements, and filled with fond and funny recollections of the music legends and ordinary people she met, befriended, and represented along the way.
Straightforward and honest, Don't Give your Heart to a Rambler is a woman's story of the world of bluegrass and one of its most colorful, conflicted artists.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xv-xvi
- Introduction: Something About Me
- pp. 1-12
- 1. Meeting Jimmy Martin
- pp. 13-21
- 2. Moving On
- pp. 22-32
- 3. Having Babies
- pp. 33-45
- 4. Back and Forth
- pp. 46-56
- 5. Up and Down
- pp. 57-68
- 6. Booking Jimmy Martin
- pp. 69-88
- 7. Funerals
- pp. 89-90
- 8. Living with Jimmy Martin
- pp. 91-100
- 9. Showers and Surprises
- pp. 101-115
- 10. You’re Gonna Change or I’m Gonna Leave
- pp. 116-131
- 11. Life after Jimmy Martin
- pp. 132-142
- 12. All My Children
- pp. 143-147
- 13. Life in Florida and the Kids Return
- pp. 148-159
- 14. Letting Go of Jimmy Martin
- pp. 160-171
- 15. Through It All, No Regrets
- pp. 172-184
- 16. Jimmy Martin’s Family
- pp. 185-190
- Photographs
- pp. 211-224
Additional Information
Copyright
2017