The glamour, history, backstage stories, and memorable moments from more than 40 years of the annual CMA Awards are collected in a new, unique book, The CMA Awards Vault, now available nationwide.

Author Deborah Evans Price traces the show’s 43-year run from a one-hour, radio-only broadcast in 1967 to the glittery three-hour, network television spectacle of today. Evans Price interviewed dozens of country music’s biggest stars, from Sonny James, the host of the first CMA Awards Banquet and Show, to Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, who will host The 44th Annual CMA Awards for the third time in November. In the process, the author takes the reader behind the scenes and recalls the greatest performances, the famous – and sometimes infamous – fashion trends, and the art of putting together a top-rated network gala.

Deborah Evans Price

“As someone who grew up watching the CMA Awards, and was then privileged to go to the Awards for the past 25 years, I couldn’t think of anything that would excite me more than doing a book on the institution,” said Evans Price.

What really sets this book apart from other Country Music histories, however, is the unique “scrapbook” approach. The CMA Awards Vault contains never-before-published photographs, artwork, and memorabilia. Tucked into dozens of pockets throughout the book are replicas of such items as a program from that first CMA Awards in 1967; a note to the CMA from the Charlie Daniels Band in 1980; a ticket to The 40th CMA Anniversary show; and the set-design blueprint from the 2009 CMA Awards.

“I’m thankful for the wonderful journey this book provides through the history of the CMA Awards,” writes Barbara Mandrell in the book’s afterword. “Reading it makes one feel so ‘behind the scenes,’ ‘inside,’ and as though they’re having conversations with many of the great artists in country music.”

With a foreword by four-time CMA Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney, The CMA Awards Vault is published by Whitman Publishing, LLC, of Atlanta. The 144-page hardcover 12-inch by 10-inch book with slipcase is available for $49.95 in bookstores and online retailers. The book can also be ordered at www.CMAawards.com and www.WhitmanVaultBooks.com. CMA members can purchase the book for $35 at the CMA office.

Mercury Records artist Shania Twain has signed an agreement with Atria Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, to publish her autobiography, it was announced today by Judith Curr, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Atria Books and Washington Square Press. Atria plans to publish the book in spring 2011.

In this yet to be titled autobiography, Twain shares her challenging and sometimes shockingly painful upbringing in rural Ontario, the tragic death of her mother and stepfather, her “against all odds” rise to fame, the hurdles she faced as a female outsider in the male-dominated world of country music and the recent struggles in her personal life.

“When I read Shania’s manuscript, it amazed me how rich, clear, unfiltered and honest she was,” said Curr. “There is a depth that comes through in her writing. The book will be a help and inspiration to many, and those who think they know her from her music will be surprised at the raw and personal place she writes from.”

“There are times in your life that are meant for reflection, and this was one of them.,” Twain said.  “I began writing this book with a sincere respect for the past, present and future as something never to be taken for granted.

Shania Twain rose to fame in the early 1990s with her debut album Shania Twain (1993), and achieved worldwide success with her 1997 album Come On Over, which became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician, and the best selling country album of all time.  A five-time Grammy winner, Twain has also achieved major success as a songwriter, winning 27 BMI awards. Despite the fact Twain has released very few albums, she has sold over 75 million albums worldwide to date, including 48 million in the U.S. Her docu-series on The Oprah Winfrey Network will debut in the spring. This is her first book.

Dan Penn

Master country-soul craftsman Dan Penn will treat guests to a rare Nashville performance and an in-depth interview on October 16 as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s programming series Poets and Prophets: Legendary Country Songwriters. The 1:30 PM program, which will be held in the Museum’s Ford Theater, is included with Museum admission and free to Museum members. The program will also be streamed live at www.countrymusichalloffame.org.

Museum Editor Michael Gray will host the 90-minute program, which will be illustrated with recordings, photos and film clips from the Museum’s collection. Immediately following, Penn will sign autographs in the Museum Store.

Esteemed music journalist Peter Guralnick calls Dan Penn the secret hero of his book Sweet Soul Music, which chronicles 1960s era R&B. Penn, a Nashville resident wrote classics such as “Dark End of the Street,” “I’m Your Puppet,” “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” “Cry Like a Baby,” “Sweet Inspiration,” “It Tears Me Up,” “Out of Left Field” and many more. His songs have been recorded by everyone from country acts the Flying Burrito Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ronnie Milsap, Lee Roy Parnell, Charlie Rich and Hank Williams Jr. to R&B artists Arthur Alexander, Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding.

Born Wallace Daniel Pennington in 1941, Penn was raised on a small farm in Vernon, Alabama. Penn had excellent ears, and he spent countless nights huddled under his covers listening to the faint sounds of WLAC-Nashville on his transistor radio. He instantly took to R&B artists like Bobby “Blue” Bland, Ray Charles and James Brown, who were all featured on radio personality John R’s nightly program. By the time he was a teenager, he was an opinionated musical personality who, according to Penn himself, “lived, ate, drank and slept music.”

While still in high school, he joined his first band, Benny Cagle and the Rhythm Swingsters, and met a young sax player named Billy Sherrill. Sherrill, who would become one of country music’s most influential producers, was impressed by Penn’s songs and urged Penn to follow him to Florence, Alabama, where a vibrant recording scene was emerging.

Penn arrived in town with a hit song in his back pocket, “Is a Blue Bird Blue,” which was recorded by Conway Twitty in 1960. He soon signed a publishing deal with Rick Hall’s Florence Alabama Music Enterprises (FAME) and became the burgeoning studio’s first artist on its Spar label. His local popularity grew even more when he joined the Fairlanes, a high-energy R&B and rock group in the Muscle Shoals area. Later, Penn took his band, the Pallbearers, on the road in a made-over hearse, introducing the southeast region to his own soulful voice and musical fervor. In the meantime, Penn flourished as a writer, forging partnerships with fellow songwriters Donnie Fritts and Spooner Oldham. Penn scored a major hit (co-written with Oldham) in 1966 with “I’m Your Puppet,” which reached the Top Ten on the pop and R&B charts for James & Bobby Purify.

Penn moved to Memphis, Tennessee, that same year and became a chief writer, producer and musician at Chips Moman’s American Recording Studios. The studio cut over 120 Top 100 hits in the late 1960s.

Penn and Moman’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” originally popularized by Aretha Franklin in 1967 and a country hit for Barbara Mandrell in 1971, is a standard that has been covered by the Flying Burrito Brothers, Brenda Lee, Willie Nelson, Kitty Wells and others. “Dark End of the Street,” also written by Penn and Moman, was a Top Ten R&B hit for James Carr before it was recorded by the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Kendalls, Linda Ronstadt, Gary Stewart, Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton and other country acts.

With writing partner Oldham by his side, Penn composed late-1960s pop hits for the Box Tops, including the smash “Cry Like a Baby” and the Top Forty “I Met Her in Church.” Penn also produced most of the Box Tops’ catalog, including their #1 record “The Letter” in 1967.

Penn also co-wrote Percy Sledge’s “Out of Left Field” and “It Tears Me Up,” Arthur Alexander’s “Rainbow Road,” Barbara Lynn’s “You Left the Water Running” (originally demoed by Otis Redding), Clarence Carter’s “Slippin’ Around,” Solomon Burke’s “Take Me (Just As I Am),” Laura Lee’s “Uptight, Good Man,” and the Sweet Inspirations’ “Sweet Inspiration,” among many other time-honored compositions.

Penn and his wife, Linda, relocated to Nashville in the 1970s. He released several critically acclaimed solo albums, including Nobody’s Fool (1972), Do Right Man (1994), Blue Nite Lounge (2000) and Junkyard Junky (2007). In 1999, Penn and Oldham released a live album, Moments from This Theatre. The same year, Penn worked with New Orleans R&B legend Irma Thomas on her album My Heart’s in Memphis: The Songs of Dan Penn. He continues to write and produce, and is currently playing live shows with renowned Memphis keyboardist Bobby Emmons.

The Poets and Prophets series honors songwriters who have made significant contributions to country music history. Previous Poets and Prophets honorees include Bill Anderson, Matraca Berg, Bobby Braddock, Jerry Chesnut, Hank Cochran, Dean Dillon, Red Lane, John D. Loudermilk, Bob McDill, Roger Murrah, Curly Putman, Whitey Shafer, Jeffrey Steele and Craig Wiseman.

The Poets and Prophets series is made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund. These programs are also made possible, in part, by grants from the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and by an agreement between the Tennessee Arts Commission and National Endowment for the Arts.