Country & Western Styles Chart Start Key Contributing Key Concepts Date Instruments People Technology The Carter Family, Carry-over from 19th century folk music. Centered in Appalachian Fiddle, banjo, Phonograph, mountains. Acoustic instruments provided portability for traveling Hillbilly pre-1920’s guitar, Jimmie Rodgers, musicians. Aug. 1927 - both Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers gutbucket Radio discovered. Grand Ole Opry in Nashville gave broad exposure to Roy Acuff (30’s-70’s) C&W. Gene Autry, Early Cowboy singers made their appearances in western movies. Guitar, fiddle, From the silver screen, they gained popularity. Lyrics of the songs Cowboy Mid “Tex” Ritter, Movies 1930’s string bass, Roy Rogers were based on clean-cut all-American life: a girl back home, a banjo horse, and the lonesome prairie. Vocals less nasal than early Patsy Montana country singers. Electric & steel Cowboy meets jazz swing! The feel of the cowboy song Western Late guitars, drums, Bob Wills with a heavy, more dance-able beat and jazz instrumentation trumpets, clarinets, / Asleep at the Radio borrowed from the swing bands of the era. Piano, drums, clarinet Swing 1930’s saxophones, or trumpet join the guitar, fiddle, steel guitar, and stand-up bass (return: 80’s) accordion Wheel (80’s) for this musical hybrid. The logical successor to the early hillbilly music of the mountain Mid Guitar, banjo, Bill Monroe, country singers. Emphasis placed on virtuoso (fast and accurate) Bluegrass mandolin, fiddle instrumentalists. Often considered some of the fastest (primarily 1940’s Flatt & Scruggs instrumental) music in America. Honky tonks were the blue collar bars of the ‘40s. The music fit the Piano, fiddle Lefty Frizzell, lifestyle of the crowd: loud, raucous, with an emphasis on drinking, Late Electric Guitar, Ernest Tubb, carousing, fighting, and feeling miserable over unrequited love. Honky Tonk 1940’s Juke Box When live performers weren’t available, jukeboxes gave the Steel guitar Hank Williams, working man the luxury of choice. “Slowed down” western swing; Kitty Wells emphasis on steel guitar, piano & fiddle; nasal vocals, sliding into pitches. AmPopMusic.com: An Interactive Etext © 2019 Styles Chart: Country & Western Advanced Developed as attempt to “crossover” to pop market to make Nashville Mid Strings, Guitar, Chet Atkins, Recording country more commercially successful. Included use of strings, Brass, Winds Patsy Cline soft guitar, mellow “pad” as harmony backup. Singers were “Pop” 1950’s Piano Techniques countrified ballad singers. Helped develop sophisticated recording (eg reverberation) techniques such as reverberation and overdubs. Electric Guitar, Electrified Centered in Bakersfield, CA. Provided more power with use of Bakersfield Early Buck Owens, solid body electric guitar & heavier drum beat to the honky-tonk 1960’s Bass Guitar, Instruments sound, therefore, more “drive” to the music. Shows influence of Drums Merle Haggard (Amplifiers) early rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly on country & western music. Electric Guitar, Waylon Jennings, Emphasis on “bad boy”, “renegade”, and “outlaw” image. Singers Austin Late emphasized rough look and “trouble with the law” lyrics. Honky- Bass Guitar, Willie Nelson tonk or “Bakersfield” with an edge: music much more gritty lyrics “Outlaw” 1960’s Drums Kris Kristopherson reflected bitterness and unfairness of life. Heavy influence of ‘70s rock guitar & drums. Buddy Holly, Hybrid combination of country (honky-tonk), rhythm & blues and Electric Guitar, “Single” a little gospel. Most early rockabilly artists came from the country Early Bass Guitar, Carl Perkins, Rockabilly Jerry Lee Lewis, 45 rpm side of the tracks, but were greatly influenced by music of 1950’s Drums records African-Americans. Rockabilly was some of first music designed Elvis Presley specifically for the new demographic group called “the teenager”. © 2019 AmPopMusic.com