Coda

Country performers have always balanced two contradictory impulses: on the one hand, they value their musical influences and the many earlier styles that made the music what it is today; on the other, they are interested in adding to the tradition by incorporating the latest technical and musical innovations. The Coda shows how, in the twenty-first century, we see the same scenario playing out among the latest country stars. While some stars adjust their music to fit the times, others continue to perform pretty much in the same style for decades. Country music keeps trucking along, despite many transformations and changes over the years.

4. “Honky-tonkin’”

“Honky-tonkin’” describes new stars, including Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, George Jones, Kitty Wells, and Patsy Cline, as well as a new approach to string band music—bluegrass—and its main creator, Bill Monroe. After World War II, the displacement of people from rural farms to urban factories led to both a wider spread of country music and also a nostalgia for the world left behind. The honky-tonk—a bar featuring either live music or the newly introduced jukebox—became a center of entertainment for men in search of companionship. The chapter also describes the new rockabilly style of the mid-1950s introduced by Elvis Presley.

Introduction

The Introduction explains that like all popular music styles, the best country music balances the personal with the commercial; it is both nostalgic and progressive, reflecting earlier influences while rejecting their limitations; and ultimately it is expressive of our cultural values—both the laudable and the lamented. Country music is the most “popular” of all musical styles in terms of sheer numbers. While it rises to the surface of America’s consciousness occasionally, it is country’s deep-rooted, almost subterranean, nature that has made it in many ways America’s most profound indigenous pop music. It is a music of timeless themes, telling stories of love gone wrong and families torn asunder.

3. “Back in the saddle again”

“Back in the saddle again” explains how the figure of the singing cowboy was cemented by a series of radio and Hollywood stars, from Gene Autry to Roy Rogers and Patsy Montana. Much of this music was popularized over the radio, particularly on Chicago’s National Barn Dance, which led to pressure on the Grand Ole Opry to modernize its sound. This era also saw the rise of the so-called “brother acts”—notably the Blue Sky Boys—who created a smoother form of old-time singing. During the mid-1930s, Western swing combined the cowboy image and country instrumentation with big-band stylings through the work of artists like Bob Wills.

2. “Wildwood flowers”

“Wildwood flowers” focuses on some of the early country stars, including Fiddlin’ John Carson and Lily May Ledford, along with the two best-known acts of the era: the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. Realizing that a market existed for country music, the primarily New York-based recording industry scrambled to record “authentic” acts. This involved sending producers to the South, who relied on leads from local dealers, newspaper announcements, and word of mouth to produce a string of possible performers. Thanks to this commercial push, many artists were recorded who would have otherwise probably never have been heard on disc.

1. Behind the “big bang”

How did country music evolve? What were its antecedents? How did this unique style draw on different cultures to become a uniquely American creation? Behind the “big bang” explores how country music developed out of many different influences, and how this music was initially documented and received by scholars and folklorists, and performers and songwriters themselves. It also explores how selective aspects of these musical influences were used to market this music, particularly through new performance styles and music publishing. It begins with the ballads, dance, and religious music of Anglo-American traditions, before considering the influences of work songs and blues from the African American traditions.

6. “Mama tried”

While the Nashville sound dominated much of country radio in the 1960s and countrypolitan turbocharged its pop leanings in the 1970s, other styles of country music were still being played that would ultimately help bring a revival of “traditional” country sounds back to the charts. “Mama tried” describes the new amalgam of rockabilly, honky-tonk, and Western swing that was developed by artists like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens in the mid-1960s, along with the outlaw movement in Nashville, the members of which rebelled against the major labels’ limitations and returned to country’s roots. Other artists who formed their own unique sounds included Johnny Cash.

5. “Make the world go away”

Rock ‘n’ roll shook Nashville and the rest of the popular music world. While some performers tried to wed country sounds with a rock beat in the new “rockabilly” style, Nashville’s music industry turned to popular stylings to reach a new audience. “Make the world go away” describes how leading producers like Owen Bradley, Chet Atkins, and Billy Sherrill wed light jazz and pop sounds to create the Nashville sound, embraced by key artists such as Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline, George Jones, and Tammy Wynette. The Nashville Sound matured in the late 1960s into “countrypolitan,” blending elements of orchestral pop, adult contemporary, and light rock into a winning formula for country stars.

7. “Friends in low places”

“Friends in low places” describes the roles of notable female performers in the new country world: Patty Loveless, Gretchen Wilson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Shania Twain, and Taylor Swift. The 1980s saw a return to country’s roots in reaction to the demise of countrypolitan and the influence of the country outlaws. Honky-tonk revivalists like George Strait, Randy Travis, and Alan Jackson brought traditional country themes of lovin’, cheatin’, drinkin’, and hell-raisin’ back to the top of the country charts. Superstar Garth Brooks modernized the subjects addressed in country music as well as its presentation onstage, borrowing from rock and mainstream performers.