á Origins:
á Traditional music passed along by Oral Tradition
á In the late 19th century, mountain people were attracted to cities and devised new, American-slanted lyrics to traditional ballads
á Commercial aspect: recording companies scouted hills as early as 1920Õs for unique sounds, e.g. the Hill Billies of Virginia, 1925. The term Hillbilly music denoted music of country fiddlers, harmonica players, singers of traditional ballads.
á Jimmie Rodgers (1897-1933) Òthe Singing BrakemanÓ (railroad worker) from Mississippi
á Promoted by recording companies
á Introduced yodel (rapid alternation between full voice and falsetto), which many country singers subsequently adopted
á Often used Blues style and format
á Carter Family: from Virginia mountains
á Sang traditional ballads, hymns etc. in the Òmountain style:Ó high-pitched, pinched voices, often with close harmony. Also accompanied themselves on guitar and autoharp.
á They also performed occasional instrumental works.
á In 20Õs and 30Õs Carters collected and recorded large numbers of American traditional spiritual and fold songs Ð laid track for modern country music.
á Country styles: The early days of country radio included hillbilly (or traditional) music, gospel, religious country music, work songs, sentimental parlor songs. These were performed by country singers with country vocal quality; instruments were also traditional, often fiddle, banjo, maybe guitar
á
American Folk Ballads had always been around, but at beginning of 20th century,
they started to be about social causes, often with a left-wing political
agenda. Still about sensational
events, still sentimental but detached.
á
Bluegrass:
style arose in 1930Õs-40Õs, Bill Monroe (1911-96) is considered the founder of
the style; headed a group called the Blue Grass Boys for which the movement was named in the 50Õs
á
Blend of string band music with blues holler and jazz
improvisation. Virtuosic
instrumental style; bluegrass is primarily instrumental, unlike most other
country music. Instruments include
fiddle, guitar, string bass, banjo (5-string Ð one is a drone), and
mandolin. An acoustic (unamplified) genre
á
Example from Ferris: ÒItÕs Mighty Dark To Travel;Ó
contains vocals in mountain vocal style; interspersed with instrumental ÒbreaksÓ or interludes; these are very virtuosic
á Cajun Music
á Music of French Acadians (Nova Scotians) who moved to SW Louisiana, remained very isolated, continued to speak Cajun French
á Preserved culture through music, esp. dance music with accordion. Cajun accordion has melody buttons instead of keys on one side and bass accompaniment buttons on the other. Very loud! Singers strain to be heard over it.
á
ÒNashville SoundÓ
á Country had to adjust when Rock and Roll became popular; developed Rockabilly, combination of country-type texts and rock and roll instrumentation, including electric guitar, electric bass, drums. Background vocals also changed: lost tight mountain sound, more of a trained vocal sound. These adaptations mostly in response to commercial demands.
á Western Music: a style brought about by hard times: Depression, droughts (forced off farms) caused more people to move west. Traditional music (country) mingled with western local sounds (Mariachi in Texas, etc.). Western music focused more on dancing than eastern Country had done.
á Western Swing: took urban dance or big bands of the 40Õs (piano, saxes, brass, jazz rhythm section), added fiddles, steel guitar, and country-style singing
á Honky-Tonk: a name for small bars and clubs in Texas: patrons more focused on listening to music than dancing. Honky-tonk songs expressed Òharsh realityÓ of life, like infidelity, alcoholism, prison. Because bars were noisy, accompaniment was usually amplified, esp. piano. Mostly white male performers.
á Cowboy Songs: born of popularity of western films. Songs made popular by Gene Autry and Tex Ritter, both from Texas. Many of these songs were written by Tin Pan Alley composers, e.g. Tumbling Tumbleweed. There were also authentic cowboy songs, often with Irish tunes and lyrics about life in the American West.
á
ÒCountry PopÓ or Urban Folk Music: a further dilution of traditional style for the
sake of popularization to general audiences. Pop singers recorded country songs with pop singer voices
and string accompaniments
á
Woody Guthrie
(1914-1967) started as hillbilly singer, later sang and composed protest songs. Strong proponent of Union movement,
expressed this in his songs. Took
a stand against Irving BerlinÕs God Bless America, which he felt was
romanticized. His song This
Land is Your Land
was an answer to BerlinÕs song.
Guthrie inspired revival of Folk music in late 50Õs, bloomed in 60Õs.
á
Pete Seeger (b. 1919) was inspired by Guthrie; formed a folk group specializing in political
protest songs called the Weavers. Very popular but under much suspicion
in McCarthy era; he was investigated by Congress for Òsubversive activitiesÓ in
mid-50Õs. Blacklisted from
television, but had very successful solo career.
á
Late 50Õs Urban Folk Revival: Kingston Trio, Peter Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Bob
Dylan were major participants.
Instead of re-arranging existing tunes, these artists wrote lots of new
ones addressing current issues.