Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You

(Hardback)

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'Deeply personal' New York Times
'Raw and honest, this must-read account soars on the back of Williamss hard-won wisdom about making art and overcoming struggle' Publishers Weekly
'Remarkable' Booklist

The beloved and iconic singer-songwriter and three-time Grammy winner opens up about her traumatic childhood in the Deep South, her years of being overlooked in the music industry, and the stories that inspired her enduring songs.

Lucinda Williamss rise to fame was anything but easy. Raised in a working-class family in the Deep South, she moved from town to town each time her fathera poet, a textbook salesman, a professor, a lover of partiesgot a new job, totalling twelve different places by the time she was 18. Her mother suffered from severe mental illness and was in and out of hospitals. And when Williams was about a year old she had to have an emergency tracheotomyan inauspicious start for a singing career.

But she was also born a fighter, and she would develop a voice that has captivated millions.

Lucinda Williams takes readers through the events that shaped her musicfrom performing for family friends in her living room to singing at local high schools and colleges, to recording her first album and headlining a sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall. She reveals the inspirations for her unforgettable lyrics, including the doomed love affairs with poets on motorcycles, and the gothic Southern landscapes of the many different towns of her youth. Williams spent years working at health food stores and record stores during the day so she could play her music at night, and faced record companies who told her that her music was too unfinished, too country for rock and too rock for country, and criticism that she didnt have the right voice for radio or TV. But her fighting spirit persevered, leading to a hard-won success that spans 17 Grammy nominations and a legacy as one of the greatest and most influential songwriters of our time.

Raw, intimate and honest, Dont Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You is an evocative reflection on an extraordinary womans life journey.

Reviews

Dont Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told Yousees the full flowering of the prose writer her lyrics always hinted at. Theres a remarkable honesty to it. At times it is painfuland occasionally hilarious... But always determined and defiant * Uncut Magazine *
'Deeply personal' * New York Times *
'Raw and honest, this must-read account soars on the back of Williamss hard-won wisdom about making art and overcoming struggle. Fans and non-fans will be rapt' * Publishers Weekly *
'Honest and raw, this book serves a slice of an inspiring life that reminds readers to keep trying' * Library Journal *
'Remarkable Reading like it was written on a series of cocktail napkins in the absolutely best way, this ever-quotable memoir of a born songsmith has something to offer nearly any grownup who has listened to music for the last half-century' * Booklist *
Revealinga poignant, plainspoken life story from a dedicated musician' * Kirkus Reviews *

Author Bio

Lucinda Williams is an iconic rock, folk and country music singer, songwriter and musician. She is a three-time Grammy Award winner and 17-time nominee. She has also won two Americana Awards and been nominated twelve times. Williams was named Americas best songwriter by Time magazine and one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time by Rolling Stone.