If Trouble Don't Kill Me: A Family's Story of Brotherhood, War, and Bluegrass Review

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If Trouble Don't Kill Me: A Family's Story of Brotherhood, War, and Bluegrass ReviewI read a lot of books; books scattered throughout quite a number of genres. Toward the end of the year I always check my "reading list" and try to pick the best reads of the year. Much of my reading deals with history and biography and has for years.
Well this year, I have to tell you that as to biographical reading, this book won hands down. As a matter of fact, it pretty well blew the competition away in all categories; and that includes the books from several years past. I was absolutely hooked with the first paragraph and that enthusiasm lasted through the last page. Hey, I even read several sections of the book two or three times over as I read.
This is the true story of two brothers, Clayton and Saford Hall. They were twins. Clayton was the grandfather of the author, Ralph Berrier, Jr. Now before you start thinking "good grief, not another mushy, sentimental bit of scribbling by an adoring relative," like I did when I first heard of this work, no, take heed! This author is first of all, a natural born story teller and secondly he is a very skillful and polished writer; more about that later. No folks, this is the real thing, funny, profound, gritty, heartbreaking, informative, and above all, honest. This is the story of these remarkable twins, these boy/men Clayton and Saford; so typical and yet so atypical of their generation.
The twins were born in 1919 in The Hollow, a place near the edge of Patrick County, Virginia. They were illegitimate as were all ten children of that family. They were raised by their single mother and grandmother in the deepest poverty. The boys had nothing and I mean nothing, which included adequate clothing and basic food! These were the days where ignorance and poverty went hand in hand, not only of this quite dysfunctional family, but of most of those living in that time. It was a different world then and that difference leaps form the pages of this work right from the beginning.
The boys were given love though, by mother and grandmother, a certain amount of wisdom and most importantly, a love for the music they both spent their lives playing. The author follows the young men as they venture out into the world making their way the best they could...hard labor, hostile school mates, grinding poverty and all that went with it...but there was always the music! And of course there was pride.
Eventually, after dropping out of school, through work and just blind luck and incredible talent, the boys found themselves playing their "hillbilly" music before it became Bluegrass and before Bluegrass became Country and Western. Starting with a small band playing at a local radio station they progressed to lead players and singers with the Roy Hall Bluegrass Entertainers. This is a group who at times opened for groups such as The Carter Family and Roy Roger and the Sons of the Pioneers. They even made an appearance at The Grand Ole Opry! These boys, while celebrities locally in the Roanoke, Virginia area, were well on their way to national fame.
Then came the war... then came the draft.
The world changed. Saford was the first to go and ended up fighting in North Africa, then the invasion of France and on to Germany at wars end. Clayton was next and fought in some of the most horrendous battles in the Pacific, including Okinawa.
After the war and the twins returned, they made some very, very poor decisions. Their professional music career was shattered. Their lives were troubled; troubled in just about any aspect you could imagine.
This work is broken down into three parts. First are the younger years of the lives of Clayton and Saford. The second part includes the war and the third, which is the shortest part of the book, but in many ways the most profound, covers the years after the war until their deaths.
In about 300 or so pages the author has packed this work with a lot of information. First of course is the life story of two very remarkable men. But Berrier does not leave it at that. Anyone who has the slightest interest in the history of music, in particular Bluegrass, will learn much from this story. Anyone who is interest in a culture now long gone will learn much. Anyone interested in workings of the mind of any Good Ole Boy will find the work fascinating. Anyone interested in multigenerational family dynamics will find this read a gold mine.
There are a couple of things to note: First, this work is written by a professional, polished and very skilled writer. I am only guessing here, but due to the blunt frankness in which the author approaches his subjects, I suspect that there is a bit of cathartic work here on the author's part; not only for himself, but his entire family. The author has been absolutely blunt and as far as I can tell, painfully truthful. But still and all, you can feel the love and admiration the author had for his grandfather and great uncle; make no doubt about it! But all that being said, the author has a writing skill that allows him to shift gears in mid-paragraph; he can start funny and amusing and instantly and seamlessly take you to a point of disbelief, sadness, stress and shock. This is a rather remarkable skill. I envy that ability.
Throughout this wonderful story there is always the music. The beings of the lives of the two men being recorded here are as bound to their music as anything or anyone else in their lives...one cannot be separated from the other; the music was the boys and the boys were the music.
Now these two "Good Ole Boys" from the hollow started off absolutely dirt poor. To be frank, as you read the last pages of this book you will note that they are still, many decades later, "dirt poor." Or are they? Well, to be quite honest, that is a questions that each reader will have to decide for themselves and come up with their own definition of "dirt poor," and figure out for themselves if these two lives made an impact.
I strongly urge you to get a copy of this work and read it. I promise you will not be sorry.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
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