My Black Country Audiobook By Alice Randall cover art

My Black Country

A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

My Black Country

By: Alice Randall
Narrated by: Alice Randall
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.24

Buy for $20.24

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Alice Randall, award-winning professor, songwriter, and author presents “a celebration of all things country music” (Ken Burns) as she reflects on her search for the first family of Black country music.

Country music had brought Alice Randall and her activist mother together and even gave Randall a singular distinction in American music history: she is the first Black woman to cowrite a number one country hit, Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl)”. Randall found inspiration and comfort in the sounds and history of the first family of Black country music: DeFord Bailey, Lil Hardin, Ray Charles, Charley Pride, and Herb Jeffries who, together, made up a community of Black Americans rising through hard times to create simple beauty, true joy, and sometimes profound eccentricity.

What emerges in My Black Country is “a delightful, inspirational story of persistence, resistance, and sheer love” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) of this most American of music genres and the radical joy in realizing the power of Black influence on American culture. As country music goes through a fresh renaissance today, with a new wave of Black artists enjoying success, My Black Country is the perfect gift for longtime country fans and a vibrant introduction to a new generation of listeners who previously were not invited to give the genre a chance.

©2024 Alice Randall (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio
Americas Black & African American Entertainment & Celebrities Music United States Inspiring
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_webcro805_stickypopup
All stars
Most relevant  
After listening to the book I realize of course black people were involved in country music and it started way way before lîl N’as . I found it very interesting even though I am not a country music fan.

Great history I never knew!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I love how she tells us the truth! This is a beautifully told, necessary truth about the mothers of country. Thank you for sharing these.

Beautifully historical

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Glad I decided to listen to this book. A lot of knowledge has been shared.

Great History!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

And this comes from a red state white male, who people would expect review bomb a book like this, and tell people to stay in their lane. In the end the book tells you you can keep your all your country favorites but there is so much more.

Not so much a indictment of country music but a hey you are missing a piece of evidence here

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is probably the best book I have ever read! I hated for it to end!!!

Extraordinary!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.