Country & Western

Country music is a musical style that originated among whites in rural areas of the southern and western U.S. In its early form, its lyrics and song structure were influenced by the ballads of the British Isles, brought by immigrants to Appalachia and other rural areas, and by the African-American folk tradition. The fiddle and guitar were the first instruments associated with this type of music, although banjo quickly became just as popular and important.

Country music is actually a category that embraces several different genres of music. These include the Nashville sound (country rooted with a pop-like sheen), bluegrass (a fast mandolin, banjo and fiddle-based music), western (traditional Western ballads and Hollywood cowboy music), western swing (this music has nearly as much to do with jazz as with country music), Bakersfield sound (popularized by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard), outlaw country; Cajun; Zydeco; gospel; oldtime (generally pre-1930 folk music); honky tonk, rockabilly, neotraditional country and even Tex-Mex conjunto.

Known first as hillbilly music, country music was originally a non-commercial endeavor. People played on their porches and in their living rooms, and eventually the rhythm instrument began to provide a back beat for dances held in barns, fields, and church halls. The first person to have a country music recorded hit was Texan Vernon Dalhart, in 1924. The recording industry, primarily located in New York, began to realize the commercial potential of regional music, and in 1927, Ralph Peer began to seek out local performers to record. Two of Peer’s “discoveries” went on to become the most influential artists of their era: The Carter Family, and Jimmie Rogers.

Radio programs began to disseminate country music throughout the United States, and Barn Dance shows such as Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and Chicago’s National Barn Dance made national stars out of their performers. World War II heralded a population shift to urban areas, and the “hillbilly” image of country music was replaced with a western look, and nostalgic rural lyrical themes were replaced with modern stories of heartbreak, cheating, and celebrating the “honky tonk” lifestyle.

The honky tonk sub-genre of country music dominated in the post-war era, and Hank Williams was its biggest star. In the 1950s, the advent first of rockabilly, then rock and roll (and the debilitating British Invasion) very nearly rendered country music obsolete. During the 1960s, Nashville orchestrated a country music renaissance, and it became a multimillion-dollar industry. Under the direction of producers such as Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley, and later Billy Sherrill, the Nashville sound borrowed from 1950s pop stylings: a prominent and ‘smooth’ vocal, backed by an string section and vocal chorus. Instrumental soloing was replaced by trademark ‘licks’. Leading artists in this genre included Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, and later Tammy Wynette and Charlie Rich.

Western swing is a genre associated with country music because it was created in Texas, and utilized “country” instruments such as fiddles, banjos, and guitars. However, this music had more to do with jazz than hillbilly. The originators of the genre, Bob Wills and Milton Brown, brought together the myriad of styles present in Texas in the 1920s and 1930s, blending them into a sophisticated southwestern jazz, influenced by the jazz of New Orleans, Dixieland, Blues, and Mexican orquestas music, as well as the fledgling country music. Western Swing adapted with the times, and reflects the changes that country music went through, however; it remained and remains a separate genre.

As the “countrypolitan” style brought a smooth, palatable sound to global audiences, some of the artists began to feel stifled and began to buck the Nashville model. The rise of outlaw country (hard-edged country music exemplified by Waylon Jennings) and the cosmic cowboy movement in Austin Texas brought hippies and rednecks together in appreciation for a new, true art form which celebrated the songwriter as much as the singer.

Although the 1980s saw a rise in “neo-traditionalist” performers who wore the hillbilly label with pride and sang the praises of Hank Williams and other early influences, the modern country music era continues to incorporate pop stylings, and to weaken the most prominent characteristics of country music.