Frank Carlson Library

In the small town of Rusty Nail, Minnesota, in the early 1950s, musically talented ten-year-old Franny wants to take advanced piano lessons from newcomer Olga Malenkov, a famous Russian musician suspected of being a communist spy by gossipy members of the community.

The powerful story of a country music star's rocky road to redemption. Bad Blake is a boozy, broken-down singer who reaches for salvation with the help of Jean, a journalist who discovers the real man behind the music. But will Bad's hard-livin' ways and crazy heart cost him his last chance at a comeback?

"A narrative history of the Motown music label covering the historical context, personalities, and ongoing legacy of the "sound of young America.""-- Berry Gordy began Motown in 1959 with an $800 loan from his family-- and developed the music that defined a generation and a movement that changed the world. While the country was on the brink of a cultural revolution, one of the most powerful agents of change in the following decade would be his group...