MY WALK AMONG THE STARS

A memoir of a country singer/songwriter’s nearly two-decade career.

After his return from the Korean War in 1954, Flood (Swampwise, 2017, as Okefenokee Joe) embarked on a country music career. He’d found his passion for the genre while in the service, singing and playing steel guitar at an Air Force base in the Philippines with a band called the Luzon Valley Boys. Back home, he teamed up with Army pal Billy Graves to audition for Connie B. Gay’s televised music program, Town and Country Jamboree. Following the advice of singer Jimmy Dean, the author and Graves formed a duo called the Country Lads, and went on to perform widely in the Washington, D.C., area and on Dean’s morning TV show. When the Country Lads parted ways, Flood moved to Nashville with his family to continue his music career. There, he faced the everyday challenges of a working musician. In 1959, Flood’s recording of “The Three Bells” sold well, and in the early 1960s, he was a regular guest on the Grand Ole Opry radio show. His song “Trouble’s Back in Town,” recorded by the Wilburn Brothers in 1962, was named the No. 1 country song of that year by Cashbox magazine. But these early successes didn’t translate to career longevity, and although Flood worked diligently as a touring musician, he eventually sought a life outside the industry, and “reinvented [himself] as ‘Okefenokee Joe,’ a singing, story telling, song writing self-proclaimed wildlife evangelist.” Overall, Flood offers unique insights into the life of a dedicated musician. This isn’t a story of fame and triumph, but of the difficulties of recording contracts, booking schedules, and picking the right projects at the right time. The story’s structure, however, is largely organized around the author’s encounters with famous country stars—ranging from Patsy Cline and Roy Clark to Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings—which undercuts the substance of Flood’s narrative. His meetings with these celebrities will be of interest to country fans, but they’re often not interesting enough to merit pride of place, and the resulting scattered focus makes it difficult to chart the chronology of Flood’s career.

A candid but ultimately unsatisfying look at the day-to-day struggles of a working country musician.