Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Garth Factor


The Garth Factor: The Career Behind Country's Big Boom will be released in May, 2009 from Center Street


Behind The Writing: This is a book about Garth Brooks’s career, and about celebrity, record labels, and creativity. While this book is often critical of the record business, I never heard Garth himself complain about the label or the executives – and yes, the press – who often so richly deserved a smackdown. He spoke of concerns from time to time, but I never heard him bitch. What I know about the label dealings comes from having been a part of that world, not from Garth.

I neither asked his permission to write this book nor did I ask him to participate. I told him what I was doing, and that was that. He never insisted on controlling what I wrote even when I was working for him. From the beginning of the book process, I firmly believed his involvement would taint what I had to say. So to any disgruntled executive or press person, remember that the voice and opinion here is mine.

I do show how he was portrayed in the press, because any star is known by what they’re told by the media. In Garth’s case, the press was at times fawning and at times vicious. The articles and interviews are referenced in the text or the addendum end notes.

Most of the long hours of conversation I spent with Garth Brooks over that ten-year period dealt with his music. So I deal with his albums at length. Most of the quotes connected with the albums are the ones he gave me for each album’s release. Because of that, the reader will get the feel of what the artist was thinking then, but also it may seem to some that they’ve read this or that statement before because some were widely reprinted. I also used some quotes in pieces written during 2005 for Garth’s website: http://www.garthbrooks.com/

Industry Comments:

"What a great inside look at Garth and the business! There's so much new stuff here it should set Music Row a-buzzing. And I really enjoyed all those stories behind the songs." (Ed Morris, former country music editor for Billboard )

“Patsi knows where all the bodies in Nashville are buried.” (Tanya Tucker)

“Having spent years working on Nashville’s Music Row, Patsi Bale Cox has an understanding of the industry and its personalities that is rare among writers. From the beginning she has been a close-up observer of Garth Brooks’s amazing career. This book is not only an enjoyable read. She also knows what she’s talking about.” (Allen Reynolds, Garth Brooks’s record producer)

“As a fan, friend of the artist, and analyst, Patsi Bale Cox makes the most of her opportunity to get inside the career of Garth Brooks and the country boom he helped create. She guides us through his songs and the often untold stories behind them. But most importantly, she probes the singer's relationship to the music industry and what she calls his ‘innate understanding that something was askew, something in the system.’” (Daniel Wolff, author of the Ralph J. Gleason award-winning biography, You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke.

“This is a fascinating read about the inner workings of the music business and the megastar who took country music to places it had never been. Garth Brooks’s honesty, passion, insistence on fairness, and the golden-rule standards he holds himself to make you wish you knew more people like him, and hope he keeps on outdoing himself. You will love this book.” (Donna Fargo, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter/author)
UPDATE: GARTH APPROVES...backstage at the taping of the George Strait Artist of the Decade, Garth was asked if he knew there was new book coming out about him. When he asked who was writing it and they said, Patsi Bale Cox, Garth said, "If it's by Patsi, that will be a good one."


Amazon URL:
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1 comment:

  1. hey ms patsi, i just got The Garth Factor today and i wos haveing a hard time closeing the book,and only stop reading cause had to get out of my car,lol hey i love it! i all so love Mr Brooks!!! lol just like to say thanks for leting us in on his life and please tell Mr Brooks that i love to see him one day, i wos blessd to see his wife in andrson ind last year and hope an pray to see him as well,guess ill let you be,thanks agen an God bless you and yours !

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