Part 3 The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music America’s Musical Landscape 5th edition PowerPoint by Myra Lewinter Malamut Georgian.

Part 3The Growth of Vernacular

TraditionsChapter 10: Country Music

America’s Musical Landscape 5th edition

PowerPoint by Myra Lewinter MalamutGeorgian Court University

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music

2© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Country Music Various vernacular musics evolved in America’s

rural and urban environments in the 19th century

People living in remote areas in the Eastern hills continued to sing and play their traditional music as it had been performed by their ancestors These people were isolated from mainstream popular

music and unaffected by modern trends Through oral tradition, the people passed through the

generations the old tunes and customs Early folk ballads, originally from the British Isles, such as

“Barbara Allen” were preserved



After the Civil War New influences invaded all

areas, including isolated mountains

Music and other aspects of life were affected Migrant workers came to

the rural hills and brought new kinds of music and new musical instruments, including the 5-string banjo

Banjo



Mountain People took temporary jobs in cities These people brought home new subjects for

songs and new musical sounds New “folk” songs evolved

Similar to the traditional ballads But characteristically American in subject and style

Sometimes people lost track of a song’s origin A song included in the “folk” repertoire might actually have

been composed rather than improvised, memorized, and passed down in the traditional ways



From Country to City The early 1920s

Commercial recording companies began to send talent scouts into the hill country

To search for folk singers and instrumentalists with a distinctive sound

To entice country musicians to come to the cities, where the market for recordings of “old time” music was increasing



Hillbilly Music The term “hillbilly music” was

coined in 1925 “Hillbilly music” somewhat scornfully

referred to music of Country fiddlers Harmonica players Singers of country ballads

“Old-time,” “hillbilly,” and “country,” traditional music from the hills

The term Hillbilly Music came from a 4-musician group from Virginia named the Hill Billies, who recorded music

A fiddle was a violin



Hill musicians Traveled with tent shows, medicine shows, and vaudeville

shows

Amazed audiences with virtuosic performances at fiddlers’ contests

At country fairs they sang songs about love, work, family life, death in a semidetached impersonal manner that made their music all the more moving

City listeners enjoyed the music, and the audience for country music continued to expand



As commercal radio evolved Hillbilly music proved widely popular “Barn dance” radio shows sprang up in the

South and throughout the Midwest The most famous of these shows was the Grand

Ole Opry Debuted on a station in Nashville, Tennessee, in

1924 Instrumental in establishing Nashville as the all

time base for the country music industry



Effects of popularity and commercialization of Hillbilly Music The end of the old way—the oral tradition—of preserving

original folk songs and performance practices

The commercial market required a constant supply of new pieces Country musicians adapted by writing new songs and

performing them in a manner acceptable to a city audience

Ballads were popular Many were about the dramatic current events of the day

People lost track of which folk songs were traditional and which were created by modern professionals



By 1927 two different strains of hillbilly music reached the public:

One introduced by Jimmie Rodgers, from Mississippi in the Deep South

The other made popular by the Carter Family, a singing family from the mountains of Virginia



Jimmie Rodgers (1897-1933) Wandered through several states during his brief career; had

little formal music training

Played guitar while singing in a clear tenor voice Often used the vocal falsetto range Known and imitated for his yodel, a rapid alternation between

the full voice and falsetto Known for his thirteen songs called “blue yodels”, with form and

harmonies of twelve-bar blues

Nicknamed the “singing brakeman” for singing about his experiences working on the railroad, along with other topics such as love gone wrong, cowboys, his Southern home, etc.



Listening example 33Blue Yodel No. 9Composed by Jimmie RodgersSung by Jimmie RodgersAccompanied by

Louis Armstrong, trumpetLil Hardin Armstrong, piano

Listening guide page 167

Form: StrophicTempo: Moderately slow

Notice the sound of Rodgers’ yodel.

During his lifetime Rodgers established thesolo song as an important part of hillbillymusic.

Rodgers was the first person elected to theCountry Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.



The Carter Family:From the Mountains of Virginia Symbolized the close, conservative family: Alvin Pleasant

Delaney (A. P.) Carter (1891-1960); Sara Carter, the wife of A. P.; and, Maybelle, Sara’s cousin and A. P.’s sister-in-law

Sang traditional songs, ballads, and hymns in pinched nasal voices and tight harmony characteristic of mountain people Favored ragtime and early jazz rhythms Spiked their music with a zesty backbeat (accents on beats two

and four instead of the usual one and three) Songs: Ballads about train wrecks and disasters, sentimental

songs about mountain flowers, country churchs, and lovely pale maidens, plus hymns and joyful camp meeting spirituals



Listening Example 34Chinese BreakdownBy The Carter FamilyPerformed by

Sarah Carter, autoharpMaybelle Carter, guitar

Listening guide page 34

Meter: DupleStyle: Mountain music

Hear the “Carter Scratch”: Picking a melody on the bass strings

Autoharp: A folk instrument whose strings are strummed or plucked with one hand as the other hand presses buttons to form chords

During the 1920s and1930s the Carter Familycollected, arranged and recorded hundreds of American traditional songs, spirituals, andfolk songs, laying thefoundation for moderncountry music.

Carter heirs, includingJune Carter (1929-2003)continue to perform.



Johnny Cash, the “Man in Black”(1932-2003) Cash, June Carter’s third husband, was not part of the country music

establishment

Cash had ties to rockabilly, but his best songs sounded like country music, including “I Walk the Line,” and, “The Green, Green Grass of Home”

1992: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Cash was country music’s first protest singer

Roseanne Cash, daughter of June Carter and Johnny Cash, has been a major country music performer since the 1980s

Grammy winner Roseann Cash mixes country, folk, pop, and rock Roseann’s stepsister Carlene Carter combines rock and country



Listening Example 35The Ballad of Casey JonesWords by Wallace SaundersMelody: AnonymousSung by Johnny CashListening guide page 169

Form: Verse-chorusTempo: FastMeter: QuadrupleAccompaniment: Banjo, background choral harmonies

Hear a train whistle and a percussion instrument’s rhythmic “chugging”

Written by a black laborer who never received a penny for the song, white entertainers made this into one of the most popular and enduring American ballads. The lyrics tell the story of train engineer Casey Jones, who sped his train for passengers to arrive on time at their destination without injury, as he sacrificed himself in the ensuing train wreck.



Styles of Country Music By the 1920s Americans had radios and heard

Hillbilly or old-time music White religious music called gospel performed by country

singers accompanied by fiddle, banjo or guitar Rollicking dance tunes played by string bands consisting of

fiddles, banjos, guitars, and sometimes string bass Dance songs consisting of a vocalist and instruments Sentimental parlour songs Old English and American ballads Work songs

Spiritual songs became part of country music



The Gift of Country and Folk Musicians: The ability to absorb and reflect in music various influences and life

experiences

Development of characteristic sounds, country in flavor but distinctive in style

Rural music has evolved, reflecting local experience and preferences, producing a varied body of modern country and folk musics Music reflects country people’s perception of and reaction to

urban developments that change the country way of life

Country music evolved as an urban, commercial expression of rural folk culture



American Folk Ballads Folk songs about current events were always part of America

But as people forgot past events, they also forgot the songs Few topical songs we remember today are more than 100 years old

Around the turn of the 20th century the trade union movement and interest in social causes produced topical songs for city audiences

Most of these songs had a leftist bent

Railroads, representing progress and the future, proved a popular subject for ballads

‘Wabash Cannon Ball,” written and recorded in 1936 by Roy Acuff

Twentieth century ballads had the flavor and appeal of traditional folk ballads and were reminiscent of earlier broadside ballads



Bluegrass A virtuosic instrumental style rooted in mountain

music Bluegrass started in the 1930s and 1940s with

mandolinist Bill Monroe (William Smith Monroe, 1911-1996), the “Father of Bluegrass,” who blended old-time string band music with the holler of the blues, plus improvisation of jazz Monroe’s string band was called the Blue Grass Boys,

named for his home state of Kentucky



Characteristics of Bluegrass Primarily instrumental music

Sung ballads in verse-chorus form emphasize the important instrumental interludes or breaks

A bluegrass ensemble consists of acoustic instruments: Fiddle Guitar String bass Five-string banjo Often, mandolin, a plucked stringed instrument

Fast tempos and virtuosic playing provide excitement



Listening Example 36Earl’s BreakdownComposed by Earl ScruggsPerformed onGuitar, by Lester FlattBanjo, by Earl ScruggsMandolinFiddleBassListening Guide on page 172

Form: Variations on a tune

The virtuosic performances reveal the reasons bluegrass remains among the most appreciated styles of music today

Notice how Scruggs uses a tuner to bend the pitches expressively

Flatt and Scruggs left Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in 1948 to form their group the Foggy Mountain Boys



More recently During the 1960s Bluegrass was popular on college

campuses, in coffeehouses, and at folk festivals

Bluegrass has flavored television shows and movies TV shows Petticoat Junction, Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres Films including Bonnie and Clyde, Deliverance, O Brother,

Where Art Thou? (2000)

Recent songs, albums and CDs referring to Bluegrass: Steve Wariner’s “Domino Theory” (1990) Vince Gill’s album High Lonesome Sound (1996) Steve Earl’s CD The Mountain (1999)



Today’s Performers

Alison Krauss, Illinois fiddle virtuoso and vocalist Sings with the award winning band Union Station

Union Station has outstanding solo musicians, including Jerry Douglas, virtuoso performer on the Dobro

A dobro is a wood-body resonator guitar with metal cover plate over the sound hole and aluminum cone for amplification

Emmylou Harris, folk and country music revivalist Fans gather each summer at bluegrass festivals



Newgrass style A movement that began in the early 1970s

Rock and jazz musicians began to share the instrumental techniques of bluegrass

Newgrass combines rhythmic and harmonic complexities of jazz and classical music with lyrical melodies as well as humor

Newgrass musicians John Hartford, one of the architects of the newgrass movement John Prine Lyle Lovett Jerry Garcia



Country Pop and the Nashville Sound Country music achieved popularity during the

1940s Northern United States GIs at Southern training camps

had their first exposure to hillbilly music and liked it Soldiers in Europe often found country music their favorite War caused an exodus of Southern whites, who moved

for work to the North and West In 1947 the Grand Old Opry staged a successful two-night

performance at Carnegie Hall, New York City



Country Music Faced Disaster with the 1950s Explosion of Rock and Roll Recording executives and performers realized

that two new audiences needed to be addressed Youngsters excited by rock and roll Urban adults uncomfortable with traditional country music

Both audiences resisted traditional instrumentation but accepted country songs accompanied by electric guitar and drums for the young people, or piano and strings for adults



Rockabilly After World War II, teenagers preferred to spend

money on rock and roll, which had been inspired by black rhythm and blues

The audience for traditional country music dropped

Rockabilly, the style of the new singing sensation Elvis Presley, was successful in combining country themes with the rhythms and instrumentation of rock and roll



The Birth of the Nashville Sound Renowned Chet Atkins (1924-2001) was appointed head of

the Nashville division of RCA records in the late 1950s Atkins decided to change the sound of country music The unexpected commercial success of Patti Page’s recording

of “Tennessee Waltz” influenced Atkins to produce songs that would score on both popular and country music charts

The new sophisticated polished sound Atkins achieved by toning down rhythm sections and adding background voices to soften the harsh effect of traditional country music became known as the Nashville Sound.



Nashville From 1942 Nashville was the center of the country music business

Roy Acuff (1903-1992) From the Tennessee mountains Symbolized old-time country music and its related shows and

recording sessions as well as modern commercial country music 1942, Nashville: Set up the first modern music publishing company

The Nashville sound: Country themes with pop instrumentation Vocal soloists of traditional country topics jived rhythms and added a

vocal chorus similar to the doo-wop singers of Motown rock and roll Chet Atkins sang country songs and played guitar in a Tin Pan Alley

style



Country Musicians Modified Their Style Country singers modified their twang and polished

their performances, presenting country-style songs in pop format This was necessary to survive as commercial entertainers Cover recordings of country hits appeared on popular

music charts Popular singers were Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine and

others Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves, often with string orchestra,

represented country pop



Many country artists adopted techniques of rock and roll Johnny Cash’s strong rhythm and lively instrumentation

attracted the rock and roll audience

Tennessee Ernie Ford’s recording of “Sixteen Tons”, written by guitarist Merle Travis, hit the top of the best-selling charts

Some Nashville soloists substituted a “hot” guitar for their banjos and mandolins

Instrumentation now included electric guitars, drums, and electric bass



The Early 1960s Nashville had become a recording capital of

popular music Country’s flirtation with rock and roll faded Country pop has flourished since then:

Faith Hill Shania Twain Tim McGraw Randy Travis George Strait Garth Brooks



Country Goes Western Early on, country music moved west where it

developed distinctive styles

1930s and 1940s Forced migration west was caused by the Great

Depression and the drought-stricken Dust Bowl People carried their music customs with them Soldiers associated with others from diverse backgrounds,

and discovered the joys of country music Country music changed in Western states, reflecting

mariachi sounds, Cajun music, Hawaiian steel guitar, and cowboy songs called country-western



Western Swing Country music in the Eastern United States reflected the

conservative mood and morality of the Christian home

Western country flavor was closer to the atmosphere of the dance hall

Texans responded to the big band craze of the 1930s and 1940s with their own dance band style, western swing: Added to Eastern big band instrumentation were fiddles and

steel guitar Singers added yodeling in the style of Jimmie Rodgers Fast tempos, hot rhythms, and virtuosic instrumental solos were

indicative of a strong jazz influence



Bob Wills (1905-1973) The major person in the development of western swing

Performed Country fiddle tunes Hispanic folk music African American folk blues Jazz

Wills’ band was the Texas Playboys The Texas Playboys performed fiddle tunes, cowboy numbers,

hit parade songs, jazz instrumental, blues numbers, Mexican music and more



Listening Example 37New San Antonio RoseComposed by Bob WillsPerformed by Bob Wills and His Texas PlayboysListening guide page 177

Meter: QuadrupleForm:

Hear the 4-measure introduction in swing dance style, followed by fox-trot style. Notice the mariachi (Mexican) favor in the C strain

A B A B C A C A

Bob Wills, who played fiddle and mandolin, punctated the band’s performances with jive talking, falsetto asides, and cries of “ah-ha!” as heard in this song, which is his signature tune that became a huge national success in the 1940s.



Honky-Tonk: Another country-western style Patrons in honky-tonks, intimate crowded Texan bars and

clubs, danced to the honky-tonk songs

About life relevant subjects including infidelity, divorce, alcohol, home sickness, separation, loneliness, prison

Rough, realistic lyrics were sung in the earthy, matter-of-fact manner typical of country style

Electrified amplified instruments were used to carry above the noise in the honky-tonks

Amplified piano often was the sole accompaniment Other instruments included those used in blues, jazz, or Hawaiian

ensembles, electrified



Honky-tonk stars White men from the Southwest: Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, Buck

Owens, Merle Haggard, George Jones, George Strait Charlie Pride, the only black country music performer to have a

long and distinguished career Hispanic singers Freddie Fender and Johnny Rodriguez Hank Williams, Sr. (1923-1953) was the greatest honky-tonk star,

as well as starring in other country music styles. Williams was the best-known and most financially successful country singer

Recent honky-tonk responds to the new publicfrankness on subjects such as sex, drugs, andviolence with strong new lyrics, often sung by females



Cowboy Songs By the mid-1930s the craze for western films was full-blown;

cowboys in the films portrayed heroes, singing romantic cowboy songs by Tin Pan Alley professionals

Popular “singing cowboys” included Texas born Gene Autry, “Oklahoma’s yodelin’ cowboy”

Publisher, producer, and the first movie star to get into television Tex Ritter, also from Texas Roy Rogers starred in about 100 western films

Bob Nolan, a founder of the singing trio Sons of the Pioneers, wrote cowboy songs

There were cowboy songs written by real cowboys



The late 1940s: Cowboy songs faded in popularity Gene Autry, who earlier had recorded songs from the African

American blues tradition went on to sing songs in the popular rather than the western vein Sang “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” written by Johnny

Marks, and “Here Comes Santa Claus,” cowritten with Oakley Haldeman

Tex Ritter’s popular “High Noon” written by Dimitri Tiomkin was high on the pop charts, not the country-western charts

Recent films helped revive country music, attracting listeners who enjoy simple melodies and straightforward lyrics



Women in Country: The Early Days Road life, honky-tonk settings and all-male bands

of country music were unwelcoming to women Women’s place in society was rigidly defined

Women who were successful were crossover artists bridging country and pop Patsy Cline (1932-1963) From a country background; had

a strident powerful country sound Kitty Wells, the original “Queen of Country Music” Loretta Lynn favored honky-tonk instrumentation,

appealed to beleaguered housewives



Women Recently: The 1990s: Women established a commanding presence in

country music as writers and singers of “new country”

Mary Chapin Carpenter and Reba McIntyre broke ground singing about contemporary city people

Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Deana Carter, Mindy McCready have mixed old-fashioned values and country instrumentation with frank sexuality and samplings of other sounds

Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” was the top country single in 2000



Women and Country Music Harmony Close tight country music harmonies between a

man and a women constituted a musical dialogue implying sexual tension Duets between George Jones and Tammy Wynette;

between Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton

Same-sex combinations of women singers, with a close blend Collaboration of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Londa

Ronstadt in creating albums



Recent Country “New country” competes with “Traditional

Country” California and Nashville

Traditionalists are in Nashville Modernists are in California and other areas

Dwight Yoakam, George Strait, Alan Jackson A new activism

The Dixie Chicks criticized the president of the US



Country Music Today New traditionalism has led some country stars to

replace electronic instruments and pop drumbeats with acoustic guitars and fiddles Some seek to recapture the friction and grit of original

honky-tonk Fiddling and banjo contests are popular Western swing and bluegrass have a strong presence Banjoist Bela Fleck does amazing things with bluegrass,

jazz, classical and rock Fiddle virtuoso Mark O’Connor blends bluegrass with funk

and jazz



Chapter 10 Image Credits Slide 3, Five string banjo.

©Jerry Howard/ Stock Boston Slide 6, Violin and Music, © Digital

Vision/Getty Images Slide 45, Couple Dancing.

©Steve Mason/Getty Images.

Part 3 The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music America’s Musical Landscape 5th edition PowerPoint by Myra Lewinter Malamut Georgian.

Documents

hill country

traditional music

country music6 hillbilly

country musicians

country music3

country music5

country fairs

mcgrawhill companies