Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Music of the United States
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Country music=== {{Main|Country music}} [[File:George Strait 2014 2.jpg|thumb|right|[[George Strait]] on the Cowboy Rides Away Tour, Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, March 1, 2014]] Country music is primarily a fusion of African American blues and spirituals with [[Appalachian folk music]], adapted for pop audiences and popularized beginning in the 1920s. The origins of country are in rural Southern folk music, which was primarily Irish and British, with African and continental European musics.<ref>Malone, p. 77.</ref> Anglo-Celtic tunes, dance music, and balladry were the earliest predecessors of modern country, then known as ''hillbilly music''. Early [[hillbilly]] also borrowed elements of the blues and drew upon more aspects of 19th-century pop songs as hillbilly music evolved into a commercial genre eventually known as ''country and western'' and then simply ''country''.<ref>Sawyers, p. 112.</ref> The earliest country instrumentation revolved around the European-derived [[fiddle]] and the African-derived [[banjo]], with the [[guitar]] later added.<ref>Barraclough, Nick and Kurt Wolff. "High an' Lonesome" in the ''Rough Guide to World Music, Volume 2'', p. 537.</ref> String instruments like the [[ukulele]] and [[steel guitar]] became commonplace due to the popularity of [[music of Hawaii|Hawaiian musical]] groups in the early 20th century.<ref>Garofalo, p. 45.</ref> [[File:Alison_Krauss_MerleFest_2007_01.jpg|thumb|left|[[Alison Krauss]] holds the most awards in the Country Music field out of any other female artist.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.grammy.com/news/who-are-the-top-grammy-awards-winners-of-all-time | title=Who Are the Top GRAMMY Awards Winners of All Time? Who Has the Most GRAMMYs? }}</ref>]] The roots of commercial country music are generally traced to 1927, when music talent scout [[Ralph Peer]] recorded [[Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)|Jimmie Rodgers]] and [[The Carter Family]].<ref>Collins, p. 11.</ref> Popular success was very limited, though a small demand spurred some commercial recording. After [[American music during World War II|World War II]], there was increased interest in specialty styles like country music, producing a few major pop stars.<ref>Gillett, p. 9, cited in Garofalo, p. 74.</ref> The most influential country musician of the era was [[Hank Williams]], a bluesy country singer from Alabama.<ref name="Werner"/>{{sfn|Gilliland|1969|loc=show 9}} He remains renowned as one of country music's greatest songwriters and performers, viewed as a "folk poet" with a "honky-tonk swagger" and "working-class sympathies".<ref>Garofalo, p. 75.</ref> Throughout the decade the roughness of [[honky tonk|honky-tonk]] gradually eroded as the [[Nashville sound]] grew more pop-oriented. Producers like [[Chet Atkins]] created the Nashville sound by stripping the hillbilly elements of the instrumentation and using smooth instrumentation and advanced production techniques.{{sfn|Gilliland|1969|loc=show 10}} Eventually, most records from Nashville were in this style, which began to incorporate strings and vocal choirs.<ref>{{AllMusic|access-date=June 6, 2005 |title=Nashville sound/Countrypolitan |class=explore|id=style/d2676 |work=Allmusic}}</ref> [[File:Loretta_Lynn_LCCN2021643178_(cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Loretta Lynn]] was a country music singer during the 1960s and 1970s]] By the early part of the 1960s, however, the Nashville sound had become perceived as too watered-down by many more traditionalist performers and fans, resulting in a number of local scenes like the [[Bakersfield sound]]. A few performers retained popularity, however, such as the long-standing cultural icon [[Johnny Cash]].<ref>Garofalo, p. 140.</ref> The Bakersfield sound began in the mid to late 1950s when performers like [[Wynn Stewart]] and [[Buck Owens]] began using elements of [[Western swing]] and rock, such as the [[breakbeat]], in their music.<ref>Collins.</ref> In the 1960s performers like [[Merle Haggard]] popularized the sound. In the early 1970s, Haggard was also part of [[outlaw country]], alongside singer-songwriters such as [[Willie Nelson]] and [[Waylon Jennings]].<ref name="Clarke"/> Outlaw country was rock-oriented and lyrically focused on the criminal antics of the performers, in contrast to the clean-cut country singers of the Nashville sound.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=June 6, 2005 |title=Hank Williams|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/williams_h.html|work=PBS' American Masters}}</ref> By the middle of the 1980s, the country music charts were dominated by pop singers, alongside a nascent revival of honky-tonk-style country with the rise of performers like [[Dwight Yoakam]]. The 1980s also saw the development of [[alternative country]] performers like [[Uncle Tupelo]], who were opposed to the more pop-oriented style of mainstream country. At the beginning of the 2000s, rock-oriented country acts remained among the best-selling performers in the United States, especially [[Garth Brooks]].<ref name="Garofalo_2">Garofalo.</ref>
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Music of the United States
(section)
Add topic