CMT News

Another collection of reminiscences by radio and TV personality Ralph Emery, a volume of Christmas stories from the cast of the Grand Ole Opry and a career biography of the Dixie Chicks are among the delights that await country fans in bookstores this fall, according to the newest roundup of forthcoming titles from Publishers Weekly.

Emery follows the successes of his Memories, More Memories and The View From Nashville recollections with Fifty Years Down A Country Road, written with Patsi Bale Cox (co-author of Tanya Tucker's Nickel Dreams: My Life). Published by Morrow, the book will be out in November.

Here are the other offerings:

Grand Ole Opry Country Christmas Album: Celebrating America's Favorite Holiday With the Legends of Country Music by Joseph Layden (Berkley/Boulevard, October).

Ultimate Elvis: The Fifties by Jim Curtin. Photos and memorabilia from Presley's formative period. (DK, October).

Elvis -- Word for Word by Jerry Osborne. A chronologically arranged compilation of all the star's known interviews, recorded phone conversations, letters and telegrams and other utterances. (Harmony, November).

Dangerous Curves: The Art of the Guitar by Dracey Kuronen and Lenny Kaye, with photos by Carl Tremblay. Not about country music specifically but a look at its most basic instrument. It covers 400 years of the guitar's evolution. (MFA Publications, November).

The Brothers by Art, Aaron, Charles and Cyril Neville and David Ritz. Aaron Neville had a fling with country music in the early 1990s, charting with "The Grand Tour" and "I Fall to Pieces," a duet with Trisha Yearwood. (Little, Brown, September).

Dixie Chicks: Down-Home and Backstage by James L. Dickerson. Dickerson focuses on the Chicks' long climb to stardom. (Taylor, September).

Strictly the High Points: A Collection of Interviews by Kristine McKenna. Includes an interview with Merle Haggard. (Fantagraphics, December).

Willie Nelson: An Autobiography by Willie Nelson and Bud Shrake. Originally published in 1988 and long out of print, this book is being re-issued in paperback. (Cooper Square Press, October).

Country.com's own Charles K. Wolfe profiles 50 country stars in Classic Country: Legends of Country Music. The book, which is now scheduled for a February release, will be available in both hardcover and paperback. (Routledge).