NashvilleGab - Country music news and Nashville celebrity gossip

Mindy McCready was writing an autobiography when she died

As most everyone is aware of by now I'm sure, Mindy McCready sadly and unsurprisingly took her own life (and that of her dog) yesterday on the same porch in Heber Springs, Arkansas where her boyfriend and father of her youngest son died of a gunshot wound just last month. 

While most of us will never understand what was going through Mindy's mind when she decided to turn the gun on herself, it turns out that when she died she was attempting to shed light on the demons that had haunted her for most of her life by writing a book. 

Back in January of 2012, Mindy had tweeted about the autobiography she was working on. 

Here's an overview of a future book about my life story. I'll post chapter excerpts periodically. Watch for them!! mindymccreadyfans.com/overview-futur…

— Mindy McCready (@mindymccready) January 19, 2012

In the excerpt she referenced, Mindy wrote:

The following is an overview of a future book about my life.

I haven’t had a hit in almost a decade. I’ve spent my fortune, tarnished my public view, and made myself the brunt of punch line after punch line. I’ve been beaten, sued, robbed, arrested, jailed, and evicted. But I’m still here. With a handful of people that I know and trust, a revived determination, and both middle fingers up in the air, I’m ready. I’ve been here before. I’m a fighter. I’m down, but I’ll never be out.

This book is not about shifting blame. I know I’ve made mistakes and I take full responsibility for those mistakes. This book is part diary, part therapy, part confessional, part job, and part apology. But mostly, I just want people to understand me better. So when people like Nancy Grace or the TMZ parasites pass judgment, they can do so with the full story.

So here it is, the story of Mindy McCready. My story.

Please remember, this is only an overview of the book. I’ll be posting chapter excerpts periodically.

___________________________________________________________________

Some people have lived such extraordinary lives that their story begs to be written as the rest of the world waits for the chance to peek in at the fame, fortune, violence, scandal, and shocking behavior from a safe distance.

I am one such person.

Dolly Parton: Self-Help Book One Step Too Far

Recently I discovered that Dolly Parton was planning to release a self-help book entitled ‘Dream More: Celebrate The Dreamer In You’. It has not (as far as I know) been actually advertised as a self-help book, but all the signs are there. The description on Amazon states that “Expanding on the hugely popular graduation speech that Dolly Parton gave at the University of Tennessee, Dream More explores the personal philosophy this much-loved artist has forged over the course of her astonishing career as a singer, songwriter, performer and philanthropist.” Sounds fair, Dolly has often written inspiring songs and the last chapter of her 1994 autobiography (‘My Life And Unfinished Business’) is essentially that of a self-help book, and although I don’t like books like that it is a good read and there are some real truths in there. I have my qualms about an entire book of it but that’s nothing compared to the alarm bells that went off in my head when I read the following sentence of the Amazon product description: “In this thought-provoking book, Dolly Parton draws on her childhood experiences growing up in the hills of eastern Tennessee and her life as the iconic performer she is today, as she encourages us all to.”

My heart sank. I have been a huge fan of Dolly for nearly six years and it didn’t take me long being a fan to be able to recite her ‘life story’ (I suspect some may well be an exaggeration but that’s an argument for another day) backwards. She tells a good portion of it in every live show she does. She tells a succinct version in every interview she does. She writes extensively about it in her autobiography (which is a good read by the way and I would highly recommend it, especially since she wrote it without a ghost writer) and it carries the bulk of biographies of her. I have heard it so many times that sometimes I feel like I’ve lived it myself! I’m nowhere near the most dedicated fan, however, and I’m sure there are thousands of fans who have heard it even more than I have and are starting to get a little sick of hearing it in detail. It makes me sad to say this but it feels like an excuse to write her autobiography again, but just be a little more reflective and analytical about things, and try and say some inspiring helpful things. Don’t get me wrong, I would love an updated autobiography from Dolly of the last eighteen years since her original one was published, I bet there’s a lot to say about those years. But this just seems to be an excuse to say the same old things again, and if I wanted that I’d just reread what she wrote in 1994.

Willie Nelson to release his memoir this November

Willie Nelson's got an early Christmas present for fans....his amusing musings in the form of a memoir.

This November 13, Willie will be releasing "Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die" (preorder here), a book full of Nelson's thoughts about his greatest influences and the things that are most important to him. He talks about everything, from music to poker, Texas to Nashville, and shares the wisdom he has acquired over his long life and career. There will also be rare family pictures, beautiful artwork created by his son, Micah Nelson, and lyrics to classic songs to help illistrate the Willie-isms featured in the book.

This isn't Willie's first book, he actually has quite a few others including an autobiography and a novel called A Tale Out of Luck. 

Kenny Rogers' memoir gets a cover

As I've mentioned before, Kenny Rogers is gearing up to release a new memoir called 'Luck or Something Like It' on October 2, 2012. The book announcement was made a while back without the benefit of getting to see the book's cover. Today I just happened to stumble on the cover and thought I'd share just in case you happened to care.  

Fans can preorder the book from Amazon. 

Kenny Rogers gets ready to release his autobiography

Kenny Rogers has been working on his autobiography and on Friday afternoon, gave fans some great news. Kenny tweeted:

The autobiography is done! It’s called LUCK OR SOMETHING LIKE IT and will be released on October 2, 2012 by HarperCollins in the U.S.!

Kenny says on his website about the project: 

"I have to admit I’ve had an incredible life...Once I started actually recalling some of the special moments, I was shocked as to how much fun it was for me.  I would hope that as you read this book, you get a sense of where I came from, who I am, and where I’m going." 

Fans of Kenny can preorder 'Luck or Something Like It' now on Amazon.com. 

Dolly Parton to release second book just in time for Christmas

Hey, look who's putting on the author cap once again -- it's Dolly Parton.

G.P. Putnam's Sons, the publisher of Dolly's new book, announced yesterday that Dolly will be releasing "Dream More" in November of 2012 -- just in time for Christmas shopping.  

The book is described as "inspirational wisdom" and is based on a commencement speech Dolly gave in 2009 at the University of Memphis. 

In a statement about the book, Parton said:

I know that I’ve learned some things in my life that are important to me, and I think maybe they might be good ideas to pass along to you. Not as advice, but as information that I have found has helped me over the years. Enough to share, and a little to spare....

If you’re lucky, your dreams will never die, you may not always achieve them, but if you always have dreams and reach for them, you’ll never be a failure. I still have dreams of what I want to do next.

Don't know about you, but this is something I'd love to read for myself.  Let's just hope she's included lots of Dolly-isms in the book.  

This is Dolly's second book, the first was a memoir called "Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business" which was released in 1994.  

Lee Greenwood to release new book (press release)

Multi-platinum country star and true American Patriot, Lee Greenwood, offers his personal insights into America’s challenges and her future in his inspiring new book, “Does God Still Bless the U.S.A.? A Plea for a Better America” set for publication May 14, 2012 by Tate Publishing. Available in bookstores nationwide and online, the compelling 216-page softcover publication includes a special 30-day devotional “Prayers of a Patriot,” written by Greenwood’s wife, Kim. Also included with purchase are two exclusive free downloads, a brand new version of “God Bless the U.S.A.” and “Show Me the Way,” available through www.TatePublishing.com.

“This is the first time I’ve put pen to paper, and I’m very proud of our work,” commented Greenwood who co-wrote his book with biblical scholar, Rita Tate. “This publication is a request for unity. It took us a year to write, and I hope that it awakens this country’s sleeping patriots.”

Taylor Swift is a Guinness Book of World Records holder....again

Oh goodie, goodie.  I love the Guinness Book of World Records and I just found out that this year's new edition hits stores this Thursday.  

I'm adding it to my Christmas list for Santa as we speak.    

This year there are some very young artists added to the list of record holders. Rihanna is in the book for most US #1 singles in a year (4), Justin Bieber's in there for his Baby music video being the most popular video of any kind online with a crazy 463,820,304 views as of February 16, 2011.  Nickelodeon's Miranda Cosgrove from iCarly made the list for being the highest paid child actress making $180,000 per episode. 

Okay, I will just let that soak in a minute.  Cute little Carly from iCarly makes $180,000 per episode.  

$180,000. PER. EPISODE. 

Crap. 

And Taylor Swift made it in the book for two different reasons - she had the fastest selling digital album by a female in the US for Speak Now which sold 278,000 copies as of November 13, 2010, AND she had the most simultaneous US Hot 100 Hits (Billboard) by a female artist with 11 singles in the week ending November 13, 2010.  

This isn't Taylor's first foray in the big book of records, she also appeared in the 2009 edition for First US female to write or co-write every track on a million-selling debut album and in the 2010 edition for Most Entries In The US Top 20 In A Year By A Solo Artist.   

Congrats to Taylor and all the rest of this year's new record holders. You can check out more from the book here. 

And speaking of Taylor, did you catch her on the Ellen Degeneres Show today?  If not, here's a fun video for you.  

Taylor Swift is a World Almanac cover girl

This is just a show rather than a tell since I don't really have anything to say other than, "There's Taylor on a book cover." 

{Source}

Brad Paisley's got a book coming out

Well looky what we have here.  It seems that Brad Paisley's been keeping a secret and has a surprise for everyone who buys his new CD "This is Country Music" - and I'm not talking about the digital copy, I'm talking about the actual go down to Wal-Mart and pick up your copy copy.

Jeff, who writes on the blog Musings at the Ploughboy Mansion, got an advance copy of Brad's upcoming CD and was happily surprised to see that inside the package was the announcement that Brad has a new book coming out...his very first.  

From Jeff's blog...

The surprise came from inside the packaging -- a small glossy ad announcing: :"BRAD'S First Book Ever." Yes, Diary Of A Player will be available in stores in November. Co-written with David Wild, the book's subtitle is "How my musical heroes made a guitar man out of me."

Here's a description of the book from the announcement: "Brad's first book is a very personal story of how he developed into the musician and guitar aficionado he is today. Brad tells the story of his own musical passion, while writing loving salutes and sharing memorable tales about the great players in country, blues and rock & roll who have inspired him over the years."

How cool is that?  So "This is Country Music" on May 23rd and a copy of Diary of a Player sometime in November....sounds like a plan to me.  

UPDATE:  Okay, I didn't google before I posted so now I know that it's not a secret and the book news actually went around the web back in October that Brad had a book coming out.  Yeah, I'm not always on the ball.  

Oh well, still excited here.