......Monday, June 11, 2007

Just what is Country music?

Country music is actually a catch-all catagory that embraces several music genres. Each one unique in its execution, rythum, and chord structure. It seems to have started in the South Western United States , where a different mix of ethnic groups from Mexico, the British Isles, Germany, and the Czech Republic created the music that became the Western music of the term Country Western. It has roots in traditional folk music, Celtic music , blues, gospel, hokum(a humorous song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendoes), and old-time music .
It first surfaced around the 1920s, but didn't start being called 'Country music' until the 1940s.
Country music has many sub-genres, that quite often, folks just don't realize are country. They include:
Nashville sound the pop-like music very popular in the 1960s;
Bluegrass, a fast mandolin, banjo, and fiddle-based music popularized by Bill Monroe and by Flatt and Scruggs;
Western, which encompasses traditional Western cowboy campfire ballads and Hollywood cowboy music made famous by Roy Rogers, The Sons of the Pioneers, and Gene Autry;
Western swing, a sophisticated dance music popularized by Bob Wills;
Bakersfield sound which used the new Fender Telecaster guitars, a big drum beat, and dance style music that would catch your attention like "a freight train running" (Buck Owens) popularized by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard;
Outlaw country made famous in the 1970s by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, David Allan Coe, Jerry Jeff Walker, Mickey Newbury, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, and Hank Williams, Jr.;
Cajun and zydeco is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Catholics of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced Zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin.
honky tonk primarily oriented toward blues and jazz;
Old-time music;
Rockabilly ;
neotraditional country
As you can see, almost any music could fall under the heading of 'Country music'. Even Plácido Domingo, the world-famous Spanish operatic tenor, has sung country. The one that comes to mind is Perhaps Love, sung with John Denver. Groups like the Gateful Dead, The Eagles, and Areosmith, can fall under the heading 'Country', if you truely listen. Sure, maybe not every tune they do, but quite a few.
According to Wikipedia "As of 2007, country is the most popular radio format in America, reaching 77.3 million adults--almost 40 percent of the adult population--every week."
Staggering, isn't it?

Posted by Scottage at 12:10 AM /

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