An electrifying live performer, superb writer, and virtuosic vocalist, he has successfully bridged two musical worlds that usually have little use for each other--commercial country and its alternative/Americana/roots-rocking counterpart. Defying the label "too country for rock, too rock for country," Yoakam has triumphed while many of his peers have had to settle for cult acceptance. Four decades into his career, he has sold more than 25 million records and continues to tour regularly, with an extremely loyal fan base.In Dwight Yoakam, award-winning music journalist Don McLeese offers the first musical biography of this acclaimed artist. Tracing the seemingly disparate influences in Yoakam's music, McLeese shows how he has combined rock and roll, rockabilly, country, blues, and gospel into a seamless whole. In particular, McLeese explores the essential issue of "authenticity" and how it applies to Yoakam, as well as to country music and popular culture in general. Drawing on wide-ranging interviews with Yoakam and his management, while also benefitting from the perspectives of others closely associated with his musical success (including producer-guitarist Pete Anderson, Yoakam's partner throughout his most popular and creative decades), Dwight Yoakam pays tribute to the musician who has established himself as a visionary beyond time, an artist who could title an album Tomorrow's Sounds Today and deliver it.

    Memory invents unbidden.’The 1950s were not grey. In Jonathan Meades’s detailed, petit-point memoir they are luridly polychromatic. They were peopled by embittered grotesques, bogus majors, vicious spinsters, reckless bohos, pompous boors, suicides. Death went dogging everywhere. Salisbury, where he was brought up, had two industries: God and the Cold War, both of which provided a cast of adults for the child to scrutinise – desiccated God-botherers on the one hand, gung-ho chemical warriors on the other. The title is grossly inaccurate. This book is, rather, a portrait of a disappeared provincial England, a time and place unpeeled with gruesome relish.

    He has succeeded in telling the unclassified story of the journey taken by an extraordinary group of men who built the first operational “Super Nuke” and effectively shared what they developed with others in the entire US nuclear submarine force. He created the SSN Pre Deployment training program, consolidated developments made on the Ray to create the highly useful Geographic Plot (Geo Plot) and wrote the tactical doctrine for the SSN based electronic intelligence collection system, AN/WLR-6. Well done, Charlie. I am proud to have had you as a shipmate.” Albert L. Kelln Rear Admiral, United States Navy (Ret.) Former Commanding Officer and Plank Owner USS RAY (SSN 653) - The original “Super Nuke” “Charlie Jett succeeds in providing an unclassified account of what it was like to be a nuclear qualified submariner who had the unique experience of building and serving aboard the first operational “Super Nuke” - the most modern fast attack nuclear submarine designed specifically to face the Soviet Navy during the Cold War. He describes the contributions of the commissioning crew in developing sonar techniques and operational tactics and how these lessons were ultimately and effectively communicated to later “Super Nukes.” Charlie provided the initial idea and was instrumental in establishing and implementing a new concept of training which significantly improved the operational readiness of the nuclear attack submarine force. He created the “Geographic Plot” to improve operational safety and wrote the tactical doctrine for a new and sophisticated nuclear attack submarine electronic intelligence gathering system. “Super Nuke” is a good read for those who have an interest in life as a submarine officer and how these marvelous machines and their crews contributed to winning the Cold War.” The Honorable John H. Dalton Former Nuclear Submarine Officer and 70th Secretary of the Navy “This is a most interesting work on the U.S. Navy’s program to combat the Soviet submarine threat during the long Cold War. Charlie was in at the beginning and accurately describes the significant efforts, both in individual sacrifice and technical development that led to U.S. undersea superiority. As a junior officer his individual accomplishments were most significant. The submarine efforts were probably the most important U.S. competitive strategy that drove the Soviets to the poor house and led to the demise of the Soviet Union.” Bruce DeMars Admiral, United States Navy (Ret.) Former Commanding Officer, USS CAVALLA (SSN 684) - a subsequent “Super Nuke” Former Director of Naval Reactors

    At first I tried to deny my condition (trying to treat a tumor with hot baths and ice packs). Eventually, I decided I would learn as much about my illness as possible while trying to keep my emotions on hold.What followed was an experience that finally forced me to deal with issues about my body that I had tried to ignore for decades. Along the way I dealt with a physician who gave me ridiculous advice and acquaintances who asked unbelievable questions. But I was also fortunate to be surrounded by people who supported me and doctors who helped me through the process.