Forgotten Treasures Links Contact Us Search CDNOW Home History of Original Country Music

What is Original Country Music and why is it so popular? Original Country music is the heart, voice and soul of the American people. Country music is joys, hopes, fears and troubles, of the people as expressed in song. Song lyrics are often comprised of off the wall humor, love ballads and hard times. Country music has great appeal - the directness, the simplicity and down-to-earth quality of the lyrics. Country music is a diverse combination of artists and their styles and backgrounds. These styles were blended together to make country music popular in many countries.

Listening to country music can take your imagination far beyond your own experiences, yet it is authentic. It's simple to understand and many Americans relate to the circumstance comprising the lyrics. Country music has no race, religion, color, age or geographical boundaries. It is a genre that from its inception, exemplified high standards in attire, mannerism and humanitarianism. The majority of country artists promoted such standards and were proud to be a part of the country music family. Today the vibrant voice of Ernest Tubb and the vitality of Patsy Cline is loved throughout every part of the United States. Simply because Original Country Music was America's music of choice for several decades.

An incredible amount of work went on behind the scenes to produce this music. However, background singers and session musicians, the backbone of the recorded material, often went unrecognized. Most importantly though, country music was made up of extraordinary talented artist. Had it not been for thousands of loyal performers, none of this would have been possible.

Contrary to what some people may think, country music didn't pop up in the ‘70s or ‘80s. Moreover, it wasn’t invented by Waylon Jennings or Willie Nelson; although they gave it a tremendous boost, during their outlaw movement of the ‘70s. Actually Waylon and Willie's involvement in country music was as significant as some of the early pioneers. During their era (70s - 80s), thousands of people jumped on the country music bandwagon and the genre experienced growth more rapidly than any other class of music.

Country music evolved out of ancient Scottish, Irish -and English songs that were brought to the Appalachians by early settlers, more than 200 years ago. Although the roots of country music extend well back into the formative years of our nation's history, the genre experienced a spurt of growth in the early ‘20s, when it was first captured on phonograph. Country music has often been associated with the phonograph record. However, similar music was first heard at tent shows and local gatherings early in this century. Ralph Peer and other pioneer recording men began setting up temporary studios in the '20s to record local talent. Recordings grew more sophisticated in the next decade, but not much. Country music had a very limited audience until after World War II. The phonograph changed things. It was a revelation, people had something to listen to and learn from. It opened up a whole new world of entertainment. Country music and blues helped record companies compete with a new phenomenon called radio in the ‘20s and ‘30s.

The Pre-War Era
At the turn of the Century, the development of radio was well underway. Dr. Lee DeForest (Father of Radio) and Edwin Howard Armstrong were principal and competing inventors of the radio apparatus and its circuitry. Their ongoing circuit inventions and refinements lead to full commercial radio broadcasting in 1927. From 1900 to 1920, the state of the radio art went from crude spark apparatus to vacuum tube equipment. By 1930 many homes occupied a radio and a decade later, it was the dominate form of home entertainment.

The advent of radio did much to foster the growth and development of country music. During the ‘30s, two programs were of special importance. The National Barn Dance, aired from station WLS in Chicago and the Grand Ole Opry, which was broadcast from Nashville's WSM Radio. These programs and scores of others were broadcast throughout the nation and helped popularize country music and inspired the formation of countless more country bands.

Country Music already possessed considerable variety when it was first placed on record in the early ‘20s. Once the music was recorded and broadcast throughout the land, it began to change at a rapid pace. The mid-'30s was an era of tremendous change. Recordings and later, radio, had basically served the function of preserving the folk tradition as it was found a decade earlier. However, these changes were being wrought by the musicians themselves, who, by discovering that a reasonably good living could be made in the midst of a nationwide depression, began to focus their creative energies on both styling a distinctly personal sound and pleasing a growing public interest as well

The ‘20s and ‘30s were a time of discovery. Riches of country music was unearthed by resourceful record companies, who marketed it on phonograph to an enthusiastic audience. The development of a whole new field of music was underway and each year brought new discoveries and popular performers. Vigorous competition occurred among major recording companies while prospecting for good native talent whose music they could record, promote and sell to the national market. Ralph Peer and other musical talent scouts searched the country for aspiring performers. Among their discoveries were early pioneers like Jimmie Rogers. The Original Carter Family, Eck Robertson, Henry Gilliland and Fiddlin' John Carson.

Nothing, however, matched the influence of Jimmie Rogers. Though his career was shortened and hampered by tuberculosis, Jimmie left a legacy unparalleled in the history of country music. Rodgers pioneered hillbilly music and is primarily responsible for the advancement of early country music. Widely regarded as the Father of Country Music, Rodgers became the first member elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, in 1961, nearly thirty years after his untimely death.

By the late "30s the Depression was ending and a new era was beginning. The era would spawn a new type of country music that drew less on the traditions of earlier times and more on the realities of the present. The birth of a new form style, western swing had just emerged in the southwest and was flourishing. Bluegrass and honky-tonk music was also quickly gaining popularity. Hillbilly music, like other genres, changed with the times and by the late '40s the old-time string bands and balladeers had for the most part been replaced by the more polished and professional performers such as Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Roy Acuff and Hank Williams.

The Post-War Fra
The decade between 1935-1945 was one of profound difficulty and change perhaps unparalleled in American history, covering the nucleus of the Great Depression, the ravages of the dust bowl, the horror of a brutal war and a multitude of other rapid changes, encompassed in the fiber of American life. After World War II country music consolidated its professionalism and gradually centered its operations in Nashville, Tennessee, the acknowledged Country Music Capitol and the home of the world famous Grand Ole Opry. It is from this time forward that the history of country music as a full fledged part of American popular music is traced.

The Honky-Tonk Years
Honky-tonks were a place for music, dancing, drinking and sometimes rowdy behavior, that originated in Southwestern dance-halls. Honky-tonks offered a place where hard-working people could spend their time relaxing at the end of a long, hard day on the job. Honky-tonk is a musical art form comprised in part of hard-core country fiddle-and-steel sounds. Honky-tonk, the core of country music, served as country music's backbone for more than half a century.

Roadhouses and taverns in the Southwest were spawning grounds where honky-tonk thrived. Honky-tonk reflected the rural, religious upbringing of its listeners, who sometimes fluctuated between depression of lost love and liquor-filled cockiness and occasional violence. Although honky-tonk began before World War II, it flourished after the war and spawned a cache of phenomenal singers. Floyd Tillman, Ernest Tubb, Al Dexter, Hank Thompson, Hank Williams, Ray Price, Kitty Wells, Webb Pierce and Carl Smith, were all great figures of the post-war era.

Following World War II, Ernest Tubb, the Texas Troubador, ruled as the number one honky-tonk hero and trend-setter. Throughout his 46 year tenure, Tubb recorded hundreds of songs, including 49 Top-10 singles. Tubb's famous Walking the Floor Over You, became a million-seller and won Ernest his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. Tubb not only fostered country music, but also helped dozens of aspiring singers break into the business. He was the sixth member elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame (1965), won the Academy of Country Music "Pioneer Award" (1980) and was honored with Music City News "Living Legend Award" (1984).

By the end of the '40s, Hank Williams emerged as the dominate honky-tonk artist. Within the relatively short span of 6 years, Williams was to play a vital role in changing the face of the music. He evolved it from its rural imagery and helped create today's multi-billion dollar industry. Hank's contributions to country music denoted the end of an old era and the dawning of, a new. Reasonably enough, there had been successes in country music prior to his arrival and a number of country entertainers were known to far wider audiences. But, country music was still very much a specialty area, with the majority of its activities confined within its traditional Southern settings. In 1961, along with Jimmie Rodgers and Fred Rose, Hank Williams became the first artist to be elected to the prestiges Country Music Hall of Fame.

Today, through a new generation of singers, like George Straight, Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam, among others, the honky-tonk influence thrives. Honky-tonk has been overshadowed by other, more pop-oriented styles from time to time, but continues to play into country music's quintessence.

Singing Cowboys of the Silver Screen
The decade between 1935-1945 germinated an influx of great movie and recording stars, who revolutionized both the motion picture and recording industries. Known as the singing cowboys of the silver screen, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Rex Allen and Tex Ritter, sang and appeared in a series of B-westerns and exposed a new audience to country music.

Gene Autry came to prominence as one of America's most popular and influential movie and recording stars. Gene developed a recording style taken from Jimmie Rodgers' handbook. Autry became the first successful singing cowboy of the silver screen, thereby introducing country music to the largest audience it had ever enjoyed. Autry was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1969.

Roy Rogers rose to fame as a singing cowboy, who starred in 87 musical westerns for Republic Pictures. Rogers was the No. 1 box office star in all westerns for 12 consecutive years. Roy was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1980.

Rex Allen made more than 32 feature-length films during a five year period, including many western movies. Allen (nicknamed "Mister Cowboy") thrilled millions of Saturday moviegoers, when he graced the silver screen, along with his famous horse Koko. His subsequent success in the movie industry secured his election into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1968.

Legendary Tex Ritter had an intense interest in the lore of country music and greatly contributed to its development and direction. Ritter was as a standout star of radio, television, music, motion pictures and Broadway stage. Although he didn't parallel the fame of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, Ritter was still one of the most popular cowboys to grace the silver screen. Through his perpetual efforts, Ritter worked earnestly to persevere the historical expression of the genre. Tex was one of the originators of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1964.

Western Swing
Some of the best American music of the past several decades was represented in a musical style called western swing. Western swing made an indelible imprint on the history of country music via the innovative efforts of Bob Wills. Much of what is heard today under the "western swing" heading can be traced to musical innovations generated by the Wills organization. Wills and his Texas Playboys defined and refined the modern big-band sound of country music. The essence of Wills' style germinated from his employment of huge bands, comprised of amplified fretted instruments, multiple fiddles and horns, jazz instruments, as well as guitars, pianos and drums.

As Wills' style of music swept across the United States, scores of western swing bands emerged and vitalized country music. In the postwar years, Wills and the Texas Playboys remained popular, even though most big bands folded. Wills' style of music has remained fresh through the efforts of Hank Thompson, Johnny Gimble, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Asleep at the Wheel and George Strait. In 1968, Wills was elected to the prestiges Country Music Hall of Fame.

Bluegrass
Bluegrass music is a composite of folk-derived styles that evolved from old-time string band music. Bluegrass music was pioneered and honed through the skillful innovations of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs who were key members of the Blue Grass Boys, assisted Monroe in the formulation of bluegrass. Bluegrass has been called "the folk music with overdrive" and it is generally acknowledged as the fundamental source of much of our native American folk music. Bluegrass features the 5-string banjo which is considered the only instrument that originated in America.

Few artists have played such an important role in innovating a music genre as has Bill Monroe. Known as the Father of Bluegrass, Monroe is primarily responsible for the creation and development of early bluegrass music. Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys dramatically changed the art of the vocal and instrumental ensemble. The impact of these changes are not only still being felt today but are actually continuing to grow, a half century later. Monroe who died in 1996, was a vital force in bluegrass for nearly five decades.

Monroe, who frequently changed his band members, employed Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs during his most fertile years (1945-48). Few artists have done as much for bluegrass music as Flatt and Scruggs. Monroe hired Earl Scruggs in 1445. Earl's unique and unprecedented new approach to banjo-playing not only helped Monroe define the essential bluegrass sound, but also revived the banjo. In fact, in the early years, Earl's style of banjo playing became the hallmark behind Flatt and Scruggs' bluegrass music. Lester Flat, who also joined the Blue Grass Boys (1946) played rhythm guitar and was key to defining many of the enduring bluegrass rhythms. Flatt, who developed a G-chord guitar run that now bears his name, sang lead vocal against Monroe's high range tenor on many of the Blue Grass Boys numbers. Flatt & Scruggs broke away from Monroe in 1948 to form The Foggy Mountain Boys.

For more than five decades, countless bluegrass bands have helped refine and sustain bluegrass, many of which inodeled themselves from Bill Monroe's band. Hilo Brown, Josh Graves, Jim & Jesse, Grandpa Jones, Joe Maphis, Benny Martin, the Osborne Brothers, Don Reno, Arthur Smith, the Stanley Brothers, The Stonemans, Carl Story, Merle Travis and Mac Wiseman, exemplify just a few. These musicians were all basically influenced by Monroe's approach, but also introduced their own innovative and pertinent ingredient.

Bluegrass music has prospered through the years with the advent of several newcomers-Allison Krauss, Bluegrass Cardinals, Boone Creek, The Dillards, Hot Rize, J. D. Crowe, Nashville Bluegrass Band, New Grass Revival, Ricky Skaggs and Seldom Scene. Today bluegrass encompasses all the different approaches and styles of the past fifty years, yet most musicians remain consistent with the idiom.

The Rock 'n' Roll Revolution
By the mid-‘50s, weekly barn dance broadcasts were thriving in many major cities. Nearly every city in the South and Midwest had something like the Big D Jamboree in Dallas or the Chicago Barn Dance. By the end of the decade however, country music was learning to compete with the rock 'n' roll revolution, which had threatened to bury it a couple of years earlier.

Most country singers had abandoned their attempts to imitate the young rockers and were following the lead of Johnny Cash, Buck Owens and George Jones, popular performers with strong country roots. Producers, taking a cue from Elvis Presley's records, began adopting a leaner instrumental style. Gone for the most part were the fiddle and pedal steel guitar. In their place were the electric lead guitar, piano, a backup vocal group and drums. Although drums were still banned at the Grand Ole Opry until the mid-'70s.

Rockabilly
During the mid-‘50s, a revolutionary style known as rockabilly, imposed upon Nashville, by influences from nearby Memphis. Rockabilly, a mixture of country music and rock 'n' roll, was flourishing at Sun Records. The owner Sam Phillips, took on such aspiring singers as Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. But the line between pure country and the new rockabilly was clearly drawn. Artists were either country or rockabilly. However, some artists like Webb Pierce, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich and the late Marty Robbins, managed to perform both. 1959 was the beginning of the end of rock 'n' roll. Country music had weathered its storm.

The Dawning of a New Generation
As the ‘60s dawned, country's resurgence was still dealing with the rock 'n' roll onslaught as well as other industry elements. Veteran songwriters who had helped put Nashville on the map, seemed to have run out of steam. Soon, however, a new generation of writers appeared. Willie Nelson, Harlan Howard and Hank Cochran all came to Nashville in 1960. Bill Anderson made the move in 1959 and Mel Tillis in 1957. By 1961, in an explosion of creativity, these writers produced a cache of songs that dominated the charts, revitalized the career of many artists and re-established country music as a class with its own identity.

The ‘70s saw a more important musical development, when the so-called "Outlaws" arrived on the scene, Led by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. While acts such as Barbara Mandrell, Kenny Rogers and Ronnie Milsap leaned toward a more pop sound and submitted to stringent Nashville control, Jennings and Nelson defied the establishment and refused to take part in their regime or the pop-crossover wave. They instead invoked the spirit and mystique of the Austin, Texas music scene. Nashville's establishment also took exception to their bizarre lifestyles. Thus, Waylon and Willie became known throughout the country music circles as the Outlaws.

Country Music Today - the Grim Future
By the early '80s, country music saw the emergence of yet more sweeping change. The genre was moving toward a contemporary flavor and industry executives were mandating new recording, broadcasting and marketing schemes. Virtually all weekly barn dance broadcast were gone. The old traditionalism was not producing new stars and interest in veteran singers, like Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and George Jones was quickly fading. Many radio stations had themselves backed into a comer and would only play "safe" music, primarily top-40 hits. Music that racked up sales, not necessarily music that many loyal listeners wanted to hear was the norm. Top-40 songs were often replayed several times in a day while original tunes were collecting dust in far reaches of music libraries.

Nevertheless, the turnabout seems to have been effective for the revenue seekers, although it seemed to be the demise of legendary singers. Today more people than ever--young, old, city-dwellers and urbanites-- are attracted to the new sound of country music. Nashville's fabled Grand Ole Opry is still running and now draws more fans than any time in its 65 year history. A relatively new and effective form of artist exposure is The Nashville Network (TNN) and Country Music Television (CMT). These days, however, it's not all coming out of Nashville, Tennessee. Branson, Missouri is a whole other hotbed for country music entertainment. Established artist perform there year around and it also serves as a spawning ground for aspiring artists.

The growth of country music underscores "modern country" and is becoming the dominant sound. After the days of the outlaws and pop movement, country music had once again, leveled off. But Randy Travis, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Ricky Van Shelton and Reba McEntire, were among a new wave of singers who emerged in the ‘80s and gave country music a healthy boost.

The fact is, Original Country Music was so essential and durable. It had survived the period of the hill music of the Appalachian and the Great Depression. It even survived the rock 'n' roll movement of the ‘50s, which threatened to destroy the genre altogether. Today, Original Country Music still has a substancial following throughout the world. However with more than 2,100 country music stations in the United States and Canada, only few play Original Country Music. Say what you will about country music, but one thing is certin, as Ferlin Husky once sang in a song, "country music is here to stay," no longer seems a reality.

back Revised: 12/5/1999 | Thanks for visiting!