A brief history of country music
This post was originally published as the 5th issue of the “Midweek Crisis”, my music newsletter, to which you can subscribe here: https://midweekcrisis.substack.com/welcome ✌️
Howdy Friends!
Pardon me for this cowboy way to say hello 👋 , but I’m excited to serve you this issue in country music style.
Disclaimer: This is a long issue. So if you want to skip song stories and country music history, suit yourself and listen to a complete playlist from this issue on Spotify: Midweek Crisis #5 or on YouTube 🎧
For the rest of you: Giddy-Up! and let’s explore country music world together 🤠.
Last week I watched the “Lost Highway — The Story Of Country Music” BBC documentary about the history of American country music. I was so fascinated that I could not help but write down the stuff I found most interesting.
Traditional country music has its roots in the American history of British and Irish immigrants settling the Appalachian Mountains ⛰. Long before the first country song was officially recorded, people made this kind of folk music which became an inspiration for future artists. Songs were passed down in families from generation to generation. They were simple, honest, and matching their everyday life. After a day of hard work, tired folks sat down on the porches, gathered together, played instruments, and sang. It was a central form of entertainment that bonded the mountain communities. People learned how to sing and play instruments in churches and their houses from older members of their families.
One of the most famous mountain families was The Carter Family. They are known worldwide as the founders of country music. Before the carbon microphone invention in 1926, they were mostly known in their community in Clinch Mountain, Virginia. At that time in America, there was a demand for music other than classical and vaudeville. They hit perfect timing with their fresh style unknown to the masses 🎯. They recorded over 300 songs between 1927–1941, which are considered the bedrock of commercial country music. Some lyrics were theirs. They collected others from various families during the leaders’ trips over the mountains. And some of them were folk songs of unknown authors, never recorded before.
The Carter Family was a trio of musicians — a married couple Alvin Pleasant (A.P.) and Sara Carter and her cousin Maybelle. A.P. did most of the singing with Sara, who also played autoharp. Maybelle played the guitar and banjo in a unique style, called later “the Carter scratch”. Her guitar solos were so iconic that they became the most replicated in the history of country music. Here’s my personal favorite from the Carters:
*If you ever played Bioshock Infinite, you for sure know this choral version: Will The Circle Be Unbroken
In 1930 the Great Depression hit the USA. Most people couldn’t afford to buy records and tickets to concerts anymore. And here came the radio 📻. All you had to do was to collect money to buy it. The music was free. People gathered around it, hypnotized by the music. A lot of musicians turned from song recording to radio performances and live transmissions. Barn dances became hugely popular at that time. The radio spread country music to the wider public, and basically, it made the whole nation enjoy it. Family relations were the backbone of this music genre. When people close to each other start to sing together, the magic happens and unique harmony ✨. At this time, the trend of brothers duos and trios emerged, such as The Stanley Brothers or The Louvin Brothers.
Back then, in the early stages of country music development, there were many musicians with original sounding voices. One of them was Bill Monroe, with his high-pitched voice. He expanded this music genre in a new direction. His expressive style was named “high lonesome”. It’s on the edge of what the ear can tolerate. Check it yourself:
Bill Monroe created a band The Bluegrass Boys, and marched towards forming a new sound. Bluegrass music was born after he heard Earl Scruggs , the great banjoist. Something clicked, and he filled his missing puzzle with a revolutionary banjo sound in Scruggs style 🪕. Supposedly, Monroe was very protective of the bluegrass, acting like bluegrass police, criticizing anybody who did something fresh. He changed musicians in his band so fast that no one could keep track. It was hard to work with a tyrant and many musicians quit his band to form their own. Some of them developed their own styles. The masterful use of banjo, mandolin, and guitar makes the core of the bluegrass. It has an intriguing name after a grass common in America — Kentucky bluegrass of the Poa genus. You may be wondering now: “Wow, ‘I’ve never seen grass which is blue!”. And you won’t, because it isn’t. It is like every other kind of grass, green. But if this grass grows long enough to release its seed pods, these can be considered purplish-blue 🌱💙.
In the 40s and 50s, country music evolved and competed with the rock and roll genre 🤘. The end of prohibition in the South USA in 1943 made people open bars, known as honky-tonks, on a massive scale. Folks could drink booze and listen to local country music there. And it’s where the new subgenre of country music developed. Honky-tonk started in the oil boom areas of Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. It was energetic and loud so that people could hear it in the overcrowded, and noisy beer joints. Honky-tonk loudest voices were: Ernest Tubb and Floyd Tillman. They are symbols of a whole new side of country music. The music for drinking, driving, flirting, and having fun dancing in the bar. Total opposite of traditional, family, and church-oriented country music. Honky-tonk songs were juicy, often mentioning infidelity and sexual desires. These subjects weren’t touched by well-known musicians before, and if they were, they moralized.
One of the greatest artists from that era was Hank Williams. He was the first country musician of this scale who sang about his addictions to alcohol and drugs. It was outrageous back then for the religious communities in Alabama. Williams’s music mentor passed on him the love for blues. You can hear it in the song “Move It On Over”. It’s a mix of rock and roll, traditional country, bluegrass, and blues. It may be the first rockabilly track ever made:
Hank Williams’s music inspired many well-known artists like Bill Haley (“Rock Around The Clock”), Elvis Presley, or The Beatles. His death went down in history. Some say he died from a broken heart, and some say that it was a heart attack caused by a mix of alcohol, morphine, and sedatives.
In the mid-50s there was a high demand for something more elegant and smooth than honky-tonk, and rockabilly. The new subgenre of country music emerged and helped country music to survive. The Nashville sound was calm and sensual. It was a country-pop made for the living rooms, not barns, and bars. Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold were one of its stars. They tended to sing love ballads, stay close to the microphone, and seduce the global audience.
Post-war optimism of 50s could be still felt in early 60s. Then inflation ratcheted upwards, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and antiwar protests happened. Post-war optimism of the 50s could be still felt in the early 60s. Then inflation ratcheted upwards, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and antiwar protests happened. Troubled people loved bluegrass music again. Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, and Allison Krauss were the most famous bluegrass-country names in the 70s. They managed to attract and connect both fans of rock and roll and country music. Its folk character, lyrics about real-life problems, and everyday struggles resonated with the masses. Especially this song by Ralph Stanley, recorded in 1948, made its way back to people’s hearts:
You may be more familiar with the other version of this song, from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” movie. Some people thought that George Clooney sang it himself, but he only lip-synced. The voice behind it was a great musician Dan Tyminski. No one knows who wrote this song. People sang it for generations until Ralph Stanley recorded it.
The soundtrack from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” reintroduced country music to the audience all over the world in 2003. It was a huge success with almost multi-million sales. Many traditional country music and bluegrass artists and songs were brought to the new crowd. And here’s where the history of the commercial type of country begins.
My personal journey with country music started a long time ago with 70s star Dolly Parton, and her iconic song “Jolene”:
It’s impossible to talk about the 70s and not mention the absolute legend — Johnny Cash. I was introduced to his music by the “Ring of Fire”, his most famous song:
He opened the doors to commercial country music for outlaws and bad boys. Johnny sang about his feelings, about drinking, smoking his brains out, the time he spent in prison, and other bad things. Dangerous aura and smoky voice still make people fall in love with his records. Johnny Cash played historic concerts in prisons. Check out those from San Quentin State Prison and Folsom State Prison. Most of Johnny Cash’s hits were self-penned, but one of the best was written by Kris Kristofferson. “Sunday Morning Coming Down” is about being an addict, losing a family, and lonesomeness. It was an autobiography, and its authenticity resonated with Americans. It became a huge success hitting #1 on the charts in the 70s.
Johnny Cash wore many masks. Outlaw was only one of them. He melted people’s hearts with beautiful duets, performing with his wife June Carter Cash.
Other stars of outlaw country music were Willie Nelson from Texas and Buck Owens from Bakersfield. They stay in contrast to the Nashville sound and pop-country style.
To survive media trends, country music had to stay close to pop music. Country artists started to give big concerts, doing spectacular shows, and observe global trends. One of the greatest performers of this time was: Garth Brooks.
Ok, so we talked about country music a lot. But it feels like something is missing 🤔. Where are the cowboys, ranchers, and their music? As I found out during my research, country and western are different genres. Country music today is a term that describes both country and western music. They grew out of the same roots of Appalachian Mountains settlers. Western music talks about many things, not only cowboys, and ranchers. It’s about outlaws, horses, immigrants, working on the farm with cattle, the beauty of the West, and many more. Western is a mix of folk music: English, Irish, Scottish, Mexican, and Southwestern. Everything started with strings, harmonicas, and singing around campfires 🏕🔥.
A huge boom for western music happened throughout the 30s and 40s. One of the earliest reps of this genre were the Sons of the Pioneers. Hollywood movies idealized cowboys and their world, producing “Singing Cowboys”, like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, or Tex Ritter.
With jumping to the 60’s I want to tell you about Marty Robbins, who was a western and country-making machine. He recorded over 500 songs during his career. He went down in history by winning Grammy Awards, and his places in two Halls of Fame. Here’s one of his most famous records, from “Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs” 1959 album:
These days many movies and games are still keeping alive the cowboy trend, and love for country music. If you like this style, you for sure know the famous soundtrack for Quentins’ Tarantino’s “Django” movie.
I’ve always liked cowboy-like music, but I truly fell in love with it last year during the COVID19 lockdown. It created the space for me and my husband to play the games we did not have time to play before. We started with the famous “Red Dead Redemption 2”. And it was epic! With this game, you become a real deal outlaw cowboy. You bond with your horse 🐴, and live with your messed-up gang family. You can decide if you make folks around happy or miserable. It’s up to you if you help or terrorize. The soundtrack to the RDR2 game is for sure well put together. It makes you excited for the missions, you laugh, cry, and get attached to its heroes. Hear my favorite one:
Kudos! 🎈 You’ve reached the end of this issue. If you’re a fan of country music genre take a look at my bigger playlist: 🤠 Yeehaw! for your inner Cowboy/Cowgirl 🤠
Have a great Thursday,
Stygi
*Check out my Spotify profile for other playlists. And if you’re not yet a subscriber, feel free to join the Midweek Crisis club.
