Peter, thank you for your question about the book.
Buddy officially discontinued our project in December 2010 after nine months of work. He explained to me he could no longer go on talking about the past without losing sleep over the bad memories he would re-live. He found himself chain smoking at 3 am, unable to rest. His health was our prime concern, so we agreed to stop. Here is the Forum announcement:
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com//viewto ... t=#1721892
Before the announcement, Buddy made me a very gracious offer, because that’s the kind of guy he was. He gave me the rights to his memoirs if I agreed to publish them after he was gone. I humbly agreed. Afterwards, he was absolutely giddy that we had stopped! It was clearly the right thing to do. The weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders and he got back to living his life of retirement in peace.
Before we stopped in December 2010, I had conducted dozens of interviews with Buddy’s friends and musical colleagues like Willie Nelson, Ray Price, Little Jimmy Dickens, Harold Bradley, Buddy Spicher, Ben Keith, Jay Dee Maness, Paul Franklin, John Boylan, Ry Cooder, Bernie Leadon, Carol Kaye, Judy Collins, and many in person with Buddy himself.
In 2011 and 2012 Buddy would occasionally email me a piece of information he thought could be helpful, but I stopped all outside interviews with others. I didn’t want it to get back to Buddy that I was working on the book without him. I stopped everything.
In 2012 I asked for Buddy's blessing on a non-profit tribute album in his honor. He was reluctant at first because of he was enjoying his retirement out of the spotlight and didn't want to draw attention to himself. I suggested all net profits could go to the non-profit of his choice. When Ernie Renn suggested the donation be made in Peggy Emmons‘s name, Buddy immediately said “yes“ and suggested the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as the recipient. During this phase he became more and more open to telling his story and would answer occasional email questions about certain facts only he knew. He even began to volunteer information out of the blue. For weeks before the Hall of Fame tribute in September 2013, he said he would attend but didn’t want to be interviewed. Buddy was a shy guy and he didn’t like public speaking at all. I was stunned when he called and volunteered to be interviewed just a few days before the event.
He was relatively upbeat and happy during the months before he passed. In May 2015, Jim Palenscar and Jay Dee Maness personally delivered a Sierra 12 string with a new C6 tuning Buddy’d had rattling around in his head. As you know, he had stopped playing all together after Peggy had passed in 2007. By May and June 2015 Buddy Emmons was playing again and was even talking seriously about recording! His death on July 21, 2015 came as a total shock.
It took me months to get back to work. I began new interviews in 2016 with essential people like Pat Martino, Brenda Lee, and Linda Ronstadt who gave an extraordinary interview describing the first time she heard “Night Life†on a Tucson jukebox. She went out and bought the album and wore it out.
During the pandemic I went into high gear. I had another extraordinary round of interviews with old friends like Buck Reid, Tommy White, Rob Hajacos, Gregg Galbraith, David Smith, Ray Pennington, Randy Beavers, Mike Cass, Ernie Renn, Sam Bush, producer Michael Melford, Terry Crisp, Ric Boyer, Ron and Leslie Elliott, and members of Buddy’s family.
Buddy’s memoirs are the framework for this biography. Around Buddy’s words I expand with research, interviews, anecdotes and stories from sources and the interviewees. Buddy’s words lead the conversation and his friends and family add color and detail and focus.
Buddy blessed the project to the very end. We had found a stress-free way for him to help without losing any sleep, and I will always be grateful to him for his time, his friendship, and most especially for his trust in me. I only wish I could have asked him a few more questions. “Please tell me about your fascination with astronomy and the nighttime sky." We can only guess at what he might have said.
