Oxford, MS: Yoknapatawpha Press (2018)

First Edition. Signed.

Fine in dust jacket.

College football fans, especially followers of Southeastern Conference and Ole Miss sports, as well as fans of Rhythm & Blues and Country music, will find a book that encompasses all that and more in Midnight Train.

Follow former Ole Miss quarterback Jim Weatherly’s unique journey from All-SEC player in the 1960s, as a quarterback on the only undefeated and untied Ole Miss football team, to a lengthy career in music and a 2014 enshrinement into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York.

Co-written with Mississippi sportswriter Jeff Roberson, Weatherly’s story is one of guts and glory, persistence, and accomplishment.

From a Southern childhood in the northeast Mississippi town of Pontotoc, Weatherly persevered despite the tragic death of his father when he was only 14, becoming the man of the house for his mother and three younger siblings. After his high school years as an accomplished quarterback, Weatherly helped lead Ole Miss to two Sugar Bowls, two SEC titles, a national championship, and the school's only unblemished football season during his time in Oxford.

Adding to the drama of the perfect 1962 season when Weatherly was a sophomore, the University of Mississippi was also experiencing a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights movement with the admission of James Meredith, the first African-American to enroll. How football helped Ole Miss and Mississippi survive the turmoil of the times is a part of Weatherly's story as well.

Having written songs in his youth and with a rock and roll band throughout high school and college, Weatherly moved on to a successful career in music. Starting in the 1970s and into the 21st century, he had major hits recorded by multiple artists which landed on numerous charts.

His "Midnight Train to Georgia," which moved to the top of those charts and also into the Grammy Hall of Fame, was one of several hits for Gladys Knight and the Pips. Country music Hall of Famer Ray Price recorded 38 of Weatherly's songs. Even in the current decade, Neil Diamond, Garth Brooks, and Aretha Franklin were among those recording his songs.