4.01 Introduction

Overview

First called “hillbilly music” by record labels, early country and western music was recorded in southern areas of the United States by ambitious record producers who were looking for a new, commercially-appealing sound. With the advent of radio, this type of music became incredibly popular, spawning a number of subgenres, such as bluegrass, honky-tonk, and country crooning. The film popularity of singers such as Gene Autry also cemented the image of the singing cowboy in the minds of many Americans. As we will see, early country and western music had many themes and images that continue to permeate country music to this day.

Objectives

Examine how country music was first discovered by record executives such as Ralph Peer and what made it so commercially appealing
Identify early recording artists who increased the commercial appeal of hillbilly music.
Recognize the several subgenres of country music developed during and after World War II.
Identify instruments played in a bluegrass ensemble
Recall the BMI and the ASCAP strike in the early 1940s and how it helped the development and distribution of early country music.

Introduction

First called "hillbilly music," early country and western music was recorded in the American South by record producers who were looking for a new and commercially-appealing sound. Record companies eventually dropped the term "hillbilly music" in favor of "country and western music," which was then shortened to just "country." With the advent of radio, this type of music became incredibly popular, spawning a number of subgenres in the 1940s, such as bluegrass, honky-tonk, and country crooning. The migration of southern Americans to northern urban areas further increased the demand for radio broadcasts of country and western music, and the Grand Ole Opry became a particular favorite for radio listening audiences. During the 1930s and 1940s, the film popularity of singers such as Gene Autry cemented the image of the so-called "singing cowboy" in the minds of many Americans. Another artist who represented this early country and western music was the troubled honky-tonk singer Hank Williams, who epitomized the genre in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

“I don’t know why we like [Country Music.] Some of it I don’t think we do like […] I think it speaks to our basic fundamental feelings, you know. Of emotions. Of love. Of breakup. Of Love and Hate and Death and Dying. Mama, apple pie, and the whole thing. It covers a lot of territory, Country Music does.”

-Johnny Cash

“[The country singer] sings more sincere than most entertainers, because the hillbilly was raised tougher than most entertainers. The people who has been raised something like the way the hillbilly has, knows what he is singing about and appreciates it. For what he is singing, is the hopes, and prayers, and dreams and experiences of what some call the "common people."”

-Hank Williams

"The very beginning of country music can be traced to folk songs played by immigrants that settled in the Appalachian Mountains."

Wide Open Country