Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 28, 1993                   TAG: 9311280173
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Reviewed by TONI WILLIAMS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

OF WORK, SONG AND WOMEN

Women have had a rough row to hoe in the field of country music. As recently as the 1980s, country music DJs adhered to the unspoken rule of not playing more than four female records per hour.

" `Finding Her Voice' is a view of American society through the songs and styles of the working class," the authors write. "Most important, it is a document of women's lives."

This ambitious and thorough work traces the role of women in country music and society from mountain cabins to honky tonks, from the Grand Ole Opry to Las Vagas show palaces. Woven throughout the 551 pages are biographies, discographies, photographs and correlations of the music to the social climate.

For example, in the `60s and `70s, many country songs, such as "Okie from Muskogee" stressed conventional moral values as a contrast to the dope-smoking, free-love hippie movement. Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man," said to be the all-time top- selling single by a woman in country music, launched her career as the "Heroine of Heartbreak."

Of course, there are also the anecdotes: The first use of multiple track sound occurred in 1947 when country singer Patti Page couldn't afford to pay backup singers while recording a song called "Confess." Her manager had her double her own voice, and released the record with the byline "Patti Page and Patti Page." Brenda Lee was a country singing sensation in Europe, and the Beatles opened shows for her in Germany.

The writing is clear and accessible; the historical view is insightful and the index and bibliography invaluable. The authors' vocabulary of musical descriptions is applaudable. Tammy Wynette has a "gripping, teardrop-in-every- note vocal style." Dolly Parton possesses a "mountain-songbird soprano." k.d. lang wields her "big-as-all-outdoors voice." Anne Murray has a "beautiful, stars-at-midnight alto."

Readers will gain a new, or renewed respect for and appreciation of these gritty, gutsy women and their songs. The authors wisely suggest that "No book can convey the strength, individuality, and creativity of these voices. Read about the extraordinary person who becomes a country music woman. But go and listen, too. For the whole thrill is in finding her voice." \

Toni Williams writes from her home near Natural Bridge.