Country Music for Laughin, Lovin and Livin It Up

About the Book

Country music is just about everything to lots of folks, ‘cause it touches almost everything in their lives. It’s about heartthrobs and love, heartaches and tears, laughter, livin’ it up, and much, much more. New country songs seem to come out almost every day. The Grand Ole Opry is stronger than ever after 75 years. Wannabe country stars still show up in Nashville with a guitar on their back and a suitcase full of dreams about "makin’ it big." Most never make it at all, but vow to return as they head back home with nothin’ but empty pockets and a head full of leftover dreams.

This book is about country music, but it ain’t like nothin’ else you’ve ever laid eyes on. It don’t talk about rising stars, shining stars, or falling stars in the world of country music. And it won’t tell you where the country stars live; who’s seein’ who; who’s gettin’ married; or who’s breakin’ up.

Pure and simple, Country Music for Laughin’, Lovin’ and Livin’ It Up is filled with over 500 lines from country songs that may someday be written. All of the lines are as original as anything can be in this day and age, and writing them was great fun. You’ll not only have a ball readin’ the lines, but you’ll also like the way they’re grouped under a bunch of different headings. That makes it real easy to find whatever you may be lookin’ for. Like to party? Check out the gems under "Livin’ it up and Livin’ it Down." Lookin’ for some sweet nothins to whisper to your darlin’? You’ll find lots of possibilities under "You’ve Got it all, Baby!" And there are over twenty other headings that put you slap dab in the middle of all kinds of lines from country songs that ain’t never been written. Most of the lines will make you laugh. A few may make you laugh ‘til you cry, and many will have you day-dreamin’ in the middle of the night.

More than anything else, Country Music for Laughin’, Lovin’ and Livin’ It Up will put some fun back into your life. It’s easy reading. There are no chapters, no plots, and no characters to remember. You can start readin’ at the beginning, the end, or anywhere in-between. That makes the book good bathroom reading. Or, you can keep a copy in your car to read when you’re caught in traffic jams and want to lower your blood pressure. It’s also good reading while you’re waitin’ in airports. Just be sure to hold the book up high. That way, any country stars walkin’ by may stop and autograph it for you. But please don’t tell them you know me. Thanks!

About the Author

M. Gene Newport was born and raised in Albion, a small country town in southeastern Illinois. The town’s streets were usually rolled up well before 9:00 o’clock every night except Saturday. That was a special night when farmers and their families came to town. The women shopped and listened to the latest gossip passed on by other customers and clerks in the stores. The men headed to a barbershop, a pool hall, a gas station, or a street corner to talk about the weather, coon huntin’, and how crops were doin’ throughout the county. Having all of those people in Albion on Saturday nights made the town come alive. But something else made Saturday evenings extra special. Radios in many of the stores would be tuned to the Grand Ole Opry. In the spring, summer and early fall, shop doors were usually left open because there was no air conditioning. Country songs from the Grand Ole Opry floated through the open doors and served as background music for everything that was happening on those pleasant Saturday evenings over fifty years ago. It’s no wonder that Gene has been a fan of country music ever since.

Lots of other things happened during Gene’s life that provided plenty of fodder for Country Music for Laughin’, Lovin’ and Livin’ It Up. The United States was just beginning to come out of the Great Depression when he was born. Pearl Harbor was attacked while he was in the first grade. The Korean War ended about the time he graduated from high school. He completed college and married Sandra Hull of Champaign, Illinois, during the Fabulous Fifties. He was in graduate school when things started to heat up in Vietnam, and the United States became very heavily involved in that war shortly after Gene began his career as a university professor.

Gene spent over 40 years as either a professor or business school dean at three universities, with his wife encouraging and supporting him all along the way. She was a practicing nurse when they were married, but left professional practice to be a full-time mother when their first child was born. After the couple’s three children were grown, she returned to the practice of nursing for a few years before retiring. Gene retired a little later. They live in Birmingham, Alabama and spend as much time as possible with their three granddaughters and two grandsons.