The Women There Don't Treat You Mean: Abilene in Song

Just what is it about Abilene - the one in Texas - that keeps attracting the attention of singers, songwriters, and listeners alike? Certainly Abilene is an easy word to rhyme, but there is more to it that just "Abilene, Abilene, prettiest town I've ever seen." The name also summons up images of West Texas and of a town, located between Fort Worth and El Paso, that offers a place for escape, for romance, for fresh beginnings.
In The Women There Don't Treat you Mean: Abilene in song, Joe W. Specht surveys a potpourri of songs in which Abilene plays a role. The tunes range from 1890 and "The Cowboys' Christmas Ball" to 2004 and "The Jewel of Abilene." Specht devotes particular attention to what is likely the most famous Abilene-related number, "Abilene," the Number One hit in 1963 for George Hamilton IV. He also touches on dozens of songs that mention the city in passing.
Integrating comments and insights from several of the songwriters, while relying on a variety of secondary source material, Specht's narrative presents the reader with the opportunity better to appreciate the fascination a disparate cast of tunesmiths had and continue to have for Abilene. An assortment of illustrations further enhances the text.
The Women There Don't Treat You Mean also includes a special six song compact disc, recorded at Big Note Recording Studio and featuring local Abilene performers Slim Chance & the Survivors, Victoria Moore, Happy Fat, JamisonPriest, and Greg Young, debuting their own versions of "Abilene," (Brown-Gibson-Loudermilk), "The Road of Abilene" (Jeff & Vida), "Way Out in Abilene" (Lightnin' Hopkins) "The Jewel of Abilene" (Grey DeLisle), "Sweet Abilene" (Chip Taylor), and "A Prayer for Abilene" (Glenn Dromgoole).