Nonfiction

“Gregg Allman didn’t sell his soul to the devil. But if he had, the transaction would probably rate just a paragraph toward the back of his new memoir, My Cross to Bear, sandwiched between an ode to motorcycles and a two-sentence account of his fourth marriage. The Southern blues-rocker, who’s played off and on with the Allman Brothers Band since 1969, has experienced many born-under-a-bad-sign moments. His story includes overdoses, emergency surgeries and rehab stints; six wives and five children (not necessarily from his marriages); and myriad suicides, murders and fatal crashes. As fans know well, older brother Duane died in a motorcycle wreck in 1971, and bassist Berry Oakley perished the same way at almost the same spot a year later. Cynics might say this is routine rock-bio stuff. The weird thing is that Allman seems to agree.”

“Images of America: Millington, the town’s first photographic history, presents people, places, and events–great and small–that have contributed to the community’s success.”

“The 100-year transformation of the University of Memphis from a small teacher-training school to a major metropolitan research university is chronicled in Campus History Series: University of Memphis.”

“Beginning songwriters can hit the right note by starting out with the basics in this guide, including: How to create melodies, how to create many different harmonies, techniques using deliberate rhythm and stylistic changes, how to enable one’s songwriting to grow and evolve, how to deal with songwriter’s block, the best places to upload one’s work for maximum exposure and opportunities.”

“Using primary source material such as diaries, letters, journals and sermons of the Army of Tennessee, Traci Nichols-Belt, along with Gordon T. Belt, presents the history of the vital role of the army’s religious practices.”

“As combat escalated, the bloody Battle of Stones River and the Nashville Campaign brought more destruction. Yet at war’s end, the resilient locals remained and rebuilt their town from the rubble. Authors and Civil War historians Michael Bradley and Shirley Farris Jones track the tumult of the proceedings to recount the compelling story of Murfreesboro during the Civil War.”