Hillbilly-Music.com—The People. The Music. The History.

Linnell Gentry (Author) Born:  March 4, 1929 Died:  June 12, 2000

About The Artist Edsol Linnell Gentry was born in Oak Hill, West Virginia to parents Albert Lindsey and Pearl Edith (Walton) Gentry in 1929. He wrote and compiled probably one of the first encyclopedia type books related to country music. The first edition of "A History and Encyclopedia of Country, Western, and Gospel Music (1st Edition)" was published by McQuiddy Press in 1961. In 1969, the 2nd edition was published by the Clairmont Corporation. Yours truly discovered the Second Edition after this web site had been created and on the internet for about 3 or 4 years. It felt like he would have appreciated the work documented here as he incorporated the basic biographical information about many performers in country music. It took a while, but the first edition eventually became part of our collection. The first edition told readers about Mr. Gentry in the title page. Former Academic Dean and Professor of Education, Martin College, Pulaski, Tennessee (1958—1960. Now full-time graduate student at George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenenssee, completing course requirements for the Ph.D. When the second edition was published, he was an Associate Professor of Education at Middle Tennessee State Univerity in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He married Sally Christine Anderson (Born: July 26, 1927; Died: July 2, 2013) in 1951. They had a son, Mike and a daughter, Sally Ann. Mr. Gentry's gravestone contains this notation: Loved God, Family, Country, Rotary Country Music and Baseball