country music

 

American popular music form originating in the Southeast (country music) and the Southwest and West (western music). The two regional styles coalesced in the 1920s when recorded material became available in rural areas, and they were further consolidated after musicians from various sections met and mixed during service in World War II. The primary traditional difference between the two styles is that country music is simpler and uses fewer instruments, relying on guitar, fiddle, banjo, and harmonica, whereas the music of the Southwest tends toward steel guitars and big bands whose style verges on swing (e.g., The Light Crust Doughboys). Bluegrass, exemplified by Bill Monroe, is a style of country and western music distinguished by a driving, syncopated rhythm, high-pitched vocals, and an emphasis on the banjo, mandolin, and fiddle.

Country and western music is directly descended from the folk songs, ballads, and popular songs of the English, Scottish, and Irish settlers of the U.S. southeastern seaboard. Its modern lyrics depict the emotions and experience of rural and (currently) urban poor whites; they often tell frankly of illicit love, crime, and prison life. Over the last 50 years country and western music has gained a nationwide audience. Since 1925 the “Grand Ole Opry,” a Saturday night performance featuring country and western singers, has been broadcast weekly from Nashville, Tenn.

Many of the musicians have been influenced by African-American blues (see jazz) and gospel music, but the performers and audience are almost all white. Leading performers include Hank Williams and his son, Jimmy Rodgers, Johnny Cash, Tex Ritter, June Carter-Cash, the Carter Family, Chet Atkins, Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Charley Pride, Charlie Rich, Dolly Parton, and Willie Nelson. In the 1960s and 70s, country and western music significantly influenced the development of rock music. Since then, it has undergone a national revival with performers such as Ricky Scaggs, Garth Brooks, the Judds, Tanya Tucker, and Reba McEntire achieving great popularity.

Bibliography

See B. C. Malone, Country Music USA (1968); P. Hemphill, The Nashville Sound (1971); C. Brown, Music USA: America's Country and Western Music (1985); K. Sparkman, A People and Their Music (2000).

This article is about the genre of popular music from the United States and Canada. For other music genres that are sometimes described as country music, see Country music (disambiguation)

Country music
Stylistic origins:	Appalachian folk music, blues, spirituals and Anglo-Celtic music
Cultural origins:	early 20th century Appalachia, esp. Tennessee, West Virginia, and Kentucky
Typical instruments:	Guitar - Steel guitar - Dobro - Harmonica - Bass - Fiddle - Drums - Mandolin - Banjo
Mainstream popularity:	Much, worldwide, especially the Nashville Sound
Derivative forms:	Bluegrass
Subgenres
Bakersfield Sound - Bluegrass - Close harmony - Country folk - Honky tonk - Jug band - Lubbock Sound - Nashville Sound - Neotraditional Country - Outlaw country - Red Dirt - Texas Country
Fusion genres
Alternative country - Country rock - Psychobilly - Deathcountry - Rockabilly - Country-rap - Country pop
Other topics
Musicians - List of years in country music

Country music, the first half of Billboard's country and western music category, is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States. It has roots in traditional folk music, Celtic music, blues, gospel music, hokum, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s.^[1] The term country music began to be used in the 1940s when the earlier term hillbilly music was deemed to be degrading, and the term was widely embraced in the 1970s, while country and western has declined in use since that time.^[1]

In the Southwestern United States a different mix of ethnic groups from Mexico, the British Isles, Germany, and the Czech Republic created the music that became the Western music of the term Country Western.

Country music has produced two of the top selling solo artists of all time. Elvis Presley, “The Hillbilly Cat”, appeared on the Louisiana Hayride for three years,^[2] went on to help define rock ‘n’ roll, and became known as “The King.” Garth Brooks, except for a short foray into non-country near the end of his recording career, recorded and performed country music and is one top selling solo artist.

As of 2007, country is the most popular radio format in America, reaching 77.3 million adults--almost 40 percent of the adult population--every week.^[3]

Subgenres

Country music is a catch-all category that embraces several different music genres. Each style is unique in its execution, use of rhythms, and its chord structures. Country music subgenres include:

• Nashville sound (the pop-like music very popular in the 1960s);
• bluegrass, a fast mandolin, banjo, and fiddle-based music popularized by Bill Monroe and by Flatt and Scruggs;
• Western, which encompasses traditional Western cowboy campfire ballads and Hollywood cowboy music made famous by Roy Rogers, The Sons of the Pioneers, and Gene Autry;
• Western swing, a sophisticated dance music popularized by Bob Wills;
• the Bakersfield sound which used the new Fender Telecaster guitars, a big drum beat, and dance style music that would catch your attention like "a freight train running" (Buck Owens) (popularized by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard);
• outlaw country made famous in the 1970s by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, David Allan Coe, Jerry Jeff Walker, Mickey Newbury, Kris Kristofferson and Hank Williams, Jr.;
• Cajun and zydeco;
• honky tonk;
• Old-time music;
• rockabilly;
• neotraditional country.

Early history

Immigrants to the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of the Old World along with them for nearly 300 years. The Irish fiddle, the German derived dulcimer, the Italian mandolin, the Spanish guitar, and the African banjo^[4] were the most common musical instruments. The interactions among musicians from different ethnic groups produced music unique to this region of North America. Appalachian string bands of the early 20th century primarliy consisted of the fiddle, guitar, and banjo.^[5] This early country music along with early recorded country music is often referred to as Old-time music.

Throughout the nineteenth century, several immigrant groups from Central Europe and the British Isles moved to Texas. These groups interacted with the Spanish, Mexican, Native American, and U.S. communities that were already established in Texas. As a result of this cohabitation and extended contact, Texas has developed unique cultural traits that are rooted in the culture of all of its founding communities. The settlers from the area now known as Germany and the Czech Republic established large dance halls in Texas where farmers and townspeople from neighboring communities could gather, dance, and spend a night enjoying each other’s company. The music at these halls, brought from Europe, included the waltz and the polka, played on an accordion, an instrument invented in Italy, which was loud enough to fill the entire dance hall. [3]

Early recorded history

Columbia Records began issuing records with "hillbilly" music (series 15000D "Old Familiar Tunes") as early as 1924.^[6] A year earlier on June 14, 1923 Fiddlin' John Carson recorded "Little Log Cabin in the Lane" for Okeh Records.^[7] Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nationwide hit in May of that same year with "The Wreck of Old '97".^[8][9] Other important early recording artists were Riley Puckett, Don Richardson, Fiddlin' John Carson, Al Hopkins, Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers and The Skillet Lickers.^[10] The steel guitar entered country music as early as 1922, when Jimmie Tarlton met famed Hawaiian guitarist Frank Ferera on the West Coast.^[11]

The origins of modern country music can be traced to two seminal influences and a remarkable coincidence. Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family are widely considered to be the founders of country music, and their songs were first captured at a historic recording session in Bristol, Tennessee/Bristol, Virginia on August 1, 1927, where Ralph Peer was the talent scout and sound recordist.^[12]

Rodgers fused hillbilly country, gospel, jazz, blues, pop, cowboy, and folk; and many of his best songs were his compositions, including “Blue Yodel” (Victor 21142 [4]), which sold over a million records and established Rodgers as the premier singer of early country music. [5] ^[13]

Beginning in 1927, and for the next 17 years the Carters recorded some 300 old-time ballads, traditional tunes, country songs, and Gospel hymns, all representative of America's southeastern folklore and heritage. [6]

Singing Cowboys, Western Swing, and Hillbilly Boogie

During the 1930s and 1940s Cowboy songs, or “Western music”, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Some of the popular singing cowboys from the era were, Gene Autry, the Sons of the Pioneers, and Roy Rogers. [7]

Another “country” musician from the Lower Great Plains had become very popular as the leader of a “hot string band”, and who also appeared in Hollywood Westerns was Bob Wills. His mix of “country” and jazz, which started out as dance hall music, would become known as Western Swing. Spade Cooley and Tex Williams also had very popluar bands and appeared in films. At the height of its popularity, Western Swing rivaled the popularity of other big band jazz.

Country musicians began playing boogie in 1939, shortly after it had been played at Carnegie Hall, when Johnny Barfield recorded "Boogie Woogie". The trickle of what was initially called Hillbilly Boogie, or Okie Boogie (later to be renamed Country Boogie), became a flood beginning around late 1945. One notable country boogie from this period was the Delmore Brothers' "Freight Train Boogie", considered to be part of the combined evolution of country music and blues towards rockabilly. In 1948 Arthur Smith achieved Top 10 US country chart success with his MGM Records recordings of "Guitar Boogie" and "Banjo Boogie", with the former crossing over to the US pop charts. [8] The Hillbilly Boogie period lasted into the 1950s, and remains as one of many subgenres of country into the 21st century.

Honky Tonk

Perhaps no other style of country music has had a greater influence on today's artists than the style known as Honky Tonk. Honky Tonk music embodied the spirit of dancing and drinking, and of loving and then losing the one you love. Its greatest practitioners owe their singing style to Jimmie Rodgers and much of the music to the steel guitar and drums of Bob Wills and Western Swing ^[14].

Hank Williams

Jimmie Rodgers is a major foundation stone in the structure of country music, but the most influential artist who was influenced by Rogers is undoubtedly Hank Williams, Sr. During the years 1949 through 1953, Williams had 7 songs in Billboard's annual Top 5 Country singles, and of the 66 songs recorded under his own name, an astonishing 37 were hits.^[15] His songs have been not only been covered by many country artists, they have also been recorded by jazz, pop, and rhythm and blues. Examples of those who reintrepreted his songs are: Tony Bennett (1951), Bob Dylan, jazz diva Norah Jones, crooner Perry Como, R&B star Dinah Washington, and British punk band, The The.^[16] Songs such as "Cold, Cold Heart" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" have long been pop standards.

Williams had two personas: as Hank Williams he was a singer-songwriter and entertainer; as Luke the Drifter, he was a songwriting crusader. The complexity of his character was reflected in the introspective songs he wrote about heartbreak, happiness and love such as I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry and Your Cheating Heart; and more upbeat numbers about Cajun life ("Jambalaya") or cigar store Indians ("Kaw-Liga").

Lefty Frizzell

Acquiring the nickname 'Lefty' after disposing of several opponents with his left hand during an unsuccessful attempt to become a Golden Gloves boxing champion, the Corsicana, Texas-born (1928) singer-songwriter-guitarist began life as William Orville Frizzell.

A childhood performer, at 17 he could be found playing the honky-tonks and dives of Dallas and Waco, molding his early, Jimmie Rodgers-stylings to his environment, thus creating a sound that was very much his own. In 1950, Frizzell exploded onto the charts with, "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time", claiming a chart position for some 20 weeks.^[17].

In the history of Country Music, a direct line can be drawn from Jimmie Rodgers to Lefty Frizzell to Merle Haggard to George Strait. Their styles and themes are similar but each has added something new to the genre.

The 1950s and 1960s

By the late 1940's, Nashville began to slowly integrate the popular big band jazz and swing sounds of top 40 radio with the honky tonk storytelling of country pioneers. Between 1947 and 1949, country crooner Eddy Arnold placed a total of 8 songs in the top 10.^[18][19]

The countrypolitan sound of Nashville

Beginning in the mid 50's, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the "Nashville Sound" turned country music into a multimillion-dollar industry centered on Nashville, Tennessee. Under the direction of producers such as Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley, and later Billy Sherrill, the "Nashville sound" brought country music to a diverse audience and helped revive country as it emerged from a commercially fallow period.^[20] This sound was notable for borrowing from 1950s pop stylings: a prominent and 'smooth' vocal, backed by a string section and vocal chorus. Instrumental soloing was de-emphasised in favor of trademark 'licks'. Leading artists in this genre included Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, and later Tammy Wynette and Charlie Rich. The "slip note" piano style of session musician Floyd Cramer was an important component of this style.

Rockabilly

1956 could be called the year of rockabilly in country music. The number 2, 3, and 4 songs on Billboard's charts for that year are: Elvis Presley "Heartbreak Hotel", Johnny Cash "I Walk the Line", and Carl Perkins "Blue Suede Shoes".^[21] Cash and Presley would place songs in the top 5 in 1958 with #3 Guess Things Happen That Way/Come In, Stranger by Cash, and #5 by Presley Don't/I Beg Of You.^[22]

What is now most commonly referred to as rockabilly was most popular with country music fans in the 1950s, and was recorded and performed by country musicians. Within a few years many rockabilly musicians returned to a more mainstrean style, or had defined their own unique style.

By the end of the decade, backlash as well as traditional artists such as Ray Price, Marty Robbins, and Johnny Horton began to shift the industry away from the Rock n' Roll influences of the mid-50's.

Bakersfield Sound

Located  miles ( km) north north west of Los Angeles, Bakersfield, California gave rise to the one of the next genres of country music. The Bakersfield Sound grew out of hardcore honky tonk, adding elements of Western swing. One time West Coast residents Bob Wills and Lefty Frizzell influenced the leading proponents of this sound. The Bakersfield Sound relied on electric instruments and amplification more than other subgenres of country, giving the music hard, driving, edgy flavor. [9]

By 1966 the sharp, Telecaster driven, no-frills, music with an unadorned drive was known as the Bakersfield Sound . The leading practitioners of this style were Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Tommy Collins, and Wynn Stewart, each of whom had his own style. [10]

Changing instrumentation in the mid 20th century

Drums

Drums were scorned by early country musicians as being "too loud" and "not pure", but by 1935 Western Swing big band leader Bob Wills had added drums to the Texas Playboys. In the mid 1940s, The Grand Ole Opry did not want the Playboys’ drummer to appear on stage. Although drums were commonly used by rockabilly groups by 1955, the less-conservative-than-the-Grand Ole Opry Louisiana Hayride kept their infrequently used drummer back stage as late as 1956. By the early 1960s, however, it was rare that a country band didn't have a drummer. [11]

Electric guitar

Bob Wills was one of the first “country” musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band. The year was 1938. [12]. A decade later (1948) Arthur Smith achieved Top 10 US country chart success with his MGM Records recording of "Guitar Boogie", which crossed over to the US pop chart, introducing many people to the potential of the electric guitar. For several decades Nashville session players preferred the warm tones of the Gibson and Gretsch archtop electrics, but a “hot” Fender style, utilizing guitars which became available beginning in the early 1950s, eventually prevailed as the signature guitar sound of country. [13][14]

Not Nashville

In 1962 Ray Charles surprised the pop world by turning his attention to country & western music, topping the charts and rating # 3 for the year on BillBoard’s pop chart^[23] with the "I Can't Stop Loving You" single, and recording the hugely popular album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.

Outlaw Country

Derived from the traditional and Honky tonk sounds of the late 50's and 60's, including Ray Price (whose band, the "Cherokee Cowboys", included Willie Nelson and Roger Miller) and mixed with the anger of an alienated subculture of the nation during the period, outlaw country revolutionized the genre of Country music.

"After I left Nashville (the early 70s), I wanted to relax and play the music that I wanted to play, and just stay around Texas, maybe Oklahoma. Waylon and I had that outlaw image going, and when it caught on at colleges and we started selling records, we were O.K. The whole outlaw thing, it had nothing to do with the music, it was something that got written in an article, and the young people said, 'Well, that's pretty cool.' And started listening." (Willie Nelson)^[24]

The term "Outlaw Country" is traditionally associated with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Billy Joe Shaver, and was encapsulated in the 1976 record Wanted! The Outlaws.

Country Rock

The late 1960's in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres. In the aftermath of the British Invasion, many desired a return to the "old values" of Rock n' Roll. At the same time there was a lack of enthusiasm in the Country sector for Nashville produced music. What resulted was a crossbred genre known as Country Rock.

Early innovators in this new style of music included Rock n' Roll icon band The Byrds (while Gram Parsons was the front man) and its spin-off The Flying Burrito Brothers, Commander Cody, and The Eagles.

Subsequent to the initial blending of the two polar opposite genres, other offspring soon resulted, including Southern Rock and Heartland Rock.

In the decades that followed, artists such as Alabama and Linda Ronstadt moved Country further towards rock influence.

Country-Pop

Country Pop or soft pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to adult contemporary.

Country pop found its first widespread acceptance during the 1970s. It started with Pop music singers, like Glen Campbell, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, and Anne Murray having hits on the Country charts. Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy" was among one of the biggest crossover hits in Country music history. These Pop-oriented singers thought that they could gain higher record sales and a larger audience if they crossed over into the Country world.

In 1974 Olivia Newton-John, an Australian pop singer, won the "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" as well as the Country Music Association's most coveted award for females, "Female Vocalist of the Year". In the same year, a group of artists, troubled by this trend, formed the short - lived Association of Country Entertainers. The debate raged into 1975, and reached its apex at that year's Country Music Association Awards when reigning Entertainer of the Year, Charlie Rich (who himself had a series of crossover hits), presented the award to his successor, John Denver. As he read Denver's name, Rich set fire to the envelope with a cigarette lighter. The action was taken as a protest against the increasing pop style in country music.

The Urban Cowboy Effect

The most infamous era in country music was in the early '80s. Influenced by both Country Rock and Country Pop, the Urban Cowboy movement led country music further away from its traditional roots. Country's move toward pop culture was popularized by John Travolta's Urban Cowboy and spurred on by Dolly Parton's movie 9 to 5. Some older artists from the 1960s and 1970s converted their sound to country pop or countrypolitan, such as Faron Young, Dolly Parton, Dottie West, and Ray Price.

By the mid-80s, however, fans of more traditional country music were growing restless. What resulted was a return to the roots of Country Music, and a sigh of relief from traditional listeners.

Neotraditional Country

After the dismal failure of the Urban Cowboy era, a generation of "new traditionalists" -- George Strait, Ricky Skaggs, the Judds, Randy Travis, and Ricky Van Shelton -- brought country out of its post-Urban Cowboy doldrums by reminding young audiences what made the music great in the first place.

Ricky Skaggs

In the mid-1980s Ricky Skaggs, a picking prodigy who took his inspiration from Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley (Skaggs was a Clinch Mountain Boy as a teen), began making music that he believed brought country back to its roots. With Skaggs's release of "Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine" in 1981, he reached the top of the country charts, a place he frequently stayed during most of the 80's, and made a statement that "true country music" was back.

Other developments

The two strands of country music have continued to develop since 1990s. The Jimmie Rodgers influence can be seen in a pronounced "working man" image promoted by singers like Brooks & Dunn and Garth Brooks. On the Carter Family side, singers like Iris DeMent and Nanci Griffith have written on more traditional "folk" themes, albeit with a contemporary point of view.

In the mid 1990s country western music was influenced by the popularity of line dancing. This influence was so great that Chet Atkins was quoted as saying "The music has gotten pretty bad, I think. It's all that damn line dancing."^[25] By the end of the decade, however, at least one line dance choreographer complained that good country line dance music was no longer being released.

In the 1990s a new form of country music emerged, called by some alternative country, neotraditional, or "insurgent country." Performed by generally younger musicians and inspired by traditional country performers and the country reactionaries, it shunned the Nashville-dominated sound of mainstream country.

One infrequent, but consistent theme in country music is that of proud, stubborn independence. "Country Boy Can Survive"^[26] and "Copperhead Road"^[27] are two of the more serious songs along those lines; while "Some Girls Do"^[28] and "Redneck Woman"^[29] are more light-hearted variations on the theme.

There are at least three U.S. cable networks devoted to the genre: CMT (owned by Viacom), CMT Pure Country (also owned by Viacom), and GAC (owned by The E. W. Scripps Company). The original American country music video cable channel was TNN (The Nashville Network). The channel was launched in the early 1980s. In 2000, the channel was renamed and reformated to TNN (The National Network), which was a general interest network to compete with USA Network, TNT, and Superstations, such as TBS and WGN. Subsequently, The National Network became Spike TV, the first network for men.

Performers

Main article: List of country music performers

Main article: List of country performers by era

Television and radio shows of note (Listed Alphabetically)

• Austin City Limits, PBS goes country
• The Beverly Hillbillies, legendary situation comedy series that featured a country theme song and frequent appearances, by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs
• The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, 1969 - 1972
• Grand Ole Opry, broadcasting on WSM from Nashville since 1925 now on GAC
• Hee Haw, featuring Buck Owens and Roy Clark and a pack of droll, cornball comedians, notably Junior Samples. Other artist of note, Archie Campbell, writer and on-air talent.
• The Johnny Cash Show (1969-1971) on ABC Networks
• Lost Highway, a significant BBC documentary on the History of Country Music
• Louisiana Hayride, featured Hank Williams in his early years
• Nashville Star country music talent show that has produced such stars as Miranda Lambert, Buddy Jewel, George Canyon, and Chris Young
• Pop! Goes the Country, a weekly syndicated country music variety television series, hosted by Ralph Emery, running between 1974 and 1982.
• The Porter Wagoner Show, aired from 1960 to 1979 and featured a young Dolly Parton and Mel Tillis.
• That Good Ole Nashville Music, 1970 - 1985
• Nashville Now, hosted live by Ralph Emery, it was the cornerstone nightly program for The Nashville Network from 1983 through 1993. Featured muppet co-host, Shotgun Red.
• The Statler Brothers Show, the highest rated show on The Nashville Network from 1991 until its last episode in 1998.
• The Wilburn Brothers Show, long running syndicated country variety television series, hosted by The Wilburn Brothers, running between 1963 and 1974. Launched the career of Loretta Lynn.

See also

• Academy of Country Music
• Country Music Association
• WSM Radio
• Country Music Hall of Fame
• Great American Country
• List of country genres
• Country and Western dance
• Tejano: Country music performed in Spanish to a Polka beat
• Western music (North America)
• Southern Culture

Further reading

• In The Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music,
  Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998, ISBN 0-375-70082-X
• Are You Ready for the Country: Elvis, Dylan, Parsons and the Roots of Country Rock,
  Peter Dogget, Penguin Books, 2001, ISBN 0-14-026108-7
• Roadkill on the Three-Chord Highway,
  Colin Escott, Routledge, 2002, ISBN 0-415-93783-3
• Guitars & Cadillacs,
  Sabine Keevil, Thinking Dog Publishing, 2002, ISBN 0-9689973-0-9
• Proud to Be an Okie: Cultural Politics, Country Music, and Migration to Southern California,
  Peter La Chapelle, University of California Press, 2007, ISBN 0-52-024889-9
• Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity,
  Richard A. Peterson, University of Chicago Press, 1999, ISBN 0226662853
• Country Music USA,
  Bill C. Malone, University of Texas Press, 1985, ISBN 0-292-71096-8, 2nd Rev ed, 2002, ISBN 0-292-75262-8
• Don't Get Above Your Raisin': Country Music and the Southern Working Class (Music in American Life),
  Bill C. Malone, University of Illinois Press, 2002, ISBN 0-252-02678-0

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Peterson, Richard A. (1999). Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity, p.9. ISBN 0-226-66285-3.
2. ^ http://www.jim-reeves.com/hayride.html Jim-reeves.com
3. ^ http://www.roughstock.com/history/garthnew.html Roughstock.com
4. ^ http://bluegrassbanjo.org/banhist.html Bluegrassbanjo.org
5. ^ http://www.shoppbs.org/sm-pbs-the-appalachians-dvd--pi-2048969.html#Details Shoppbs.org
6. ^ http://settlet.fateback.com/COL15000D.htm Settlet.fateback.com
7. ^ http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/chronpop/215 Ourgeorgiahistory.com
8. ^ http://www.blueridgeinstitute.org/ballads/old97song.html Blueridgeinstitute.org
9. ^ http://www.blueridgeinstitute.org/ballads/old97.html Blueridgeinstitute.org
10. ^ http://www.southernmusic.net/gidtanner.htm Southernmusic.net
11. ^ Cohn, Lawrence: "Nothing But the Blues" chapter titles "A Ligher Shade of Blue - White COuntry Blues" by Charled Wolfe page 247, 1993
12. ^ David Sanjek, "All the Memories Money Can Buy: Marketing Authenticity and Manufacturing Authorship", p. 155–172 in Eric Weisbard, ed., This is Pop, Harvard University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-674-01321-2 (cloth), ISBN 0-674-01344-1 (paper). p. 158.
13. ^ Nothing But the Blues 1993, White Country Blues by Charles Wolfe page 233
14. ^ [1] roughstock.com
15. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_index.jsp Billboard.com
16. ^ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/williams_h.html PBS.org
17. ^ [2] roughstock.com
18. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_index.jsp Billboard.com
19. ^ http://rcarecordslabel.com/ea/bio.htm Rcarecordslabel.com
20. ^ http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/floyd-cramer Rockhall.com
21. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=Hot+Country+Songs&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1956 Billboard.com
22. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=Hot+Country+Songs&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1958 Billboard.com
23. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=The+Billboard+Hot+100&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1962 Billboard.com
24. ^ The Roots of Country Music" Collectors Edition by Life September 1, 1994 page 72
25. ^ The Roots of Country Music" Collectors Edition by Life September 1, 1994
26. ^ http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/williams-hank-jr/country-boy-can-survive-10123.html Cowboylyrics.com
27. ^ http://steveearle.net/lyrics/ly-coppe.php Steveearle.net
28. ^ http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/sawyer-brown/some-girls-do-15017.html Cowboylyrics.com
29. ^ http://www.lyricstop.com/r/redneckwoman-gretchenwilson.html Lyricstop.com

External links

• "CountryMusicNews.de" Online magazine (in German) with upcoming CD releases (in the US and Germany)
• The Beginning to Present of Country Music
• Country Music Publishing
• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
• The Country Music Association
• Country Weekly magazine
• Grand Ole Opry
• Honky Tonk Magazine - Keepin it Country
• Country Music Television
• Country Music Across America
• Twangwire Country News
• The Country Music Genome Project
• The Honky Tonk Gap: Country Music, Red State Identity, and the Election of 2004
• Country.de - Online Magazin for German speaking Territory (Deutsch)
• RAM Radio - Internet radio playing the history of country music
• Country music and interviews with country artists
• Real Country Lyrics Classic Country/Cowboy/Western Lyrics
• Country Music Radio, mainly in the US

American roots music
African American music • Appalachian/old-time • Blues (Ragtime) • Cajun music • Country (Honky tonk and Bluegrass) • Folk music revival (1950s/'60s) • Jazz (Dixieland) • Native American • Spirituals and Gospel • Swamp pop • Tejano • Zydeco

Country music • Country genres
Bakersfield sound • Bluegrass • Close harmony • Country blues • Honky tonk • Lubbock sound • Nashville sound • New Traditionalists • Outlaw country • Australian country music • Alternative country • Country pop • Country rock • Psychobilly • Rockabilly • Country-rap

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