country music

I have been a fan of country music for a lot of years, but, I have been complaining (as many fans have) about how commercial and how similar all a lot of today's artists sound.  Willie Nelson was the first "country" artist I began listening to and I had a chance to see him in concert.  I care a lot more about the genres legends and the roots of the music which started out in the Virginia and Kentucky mountains.  It was called mountain music in the beginning and then spread through other areas of the country including Texas, Oklahoma and other parts of the southwest.  Nashville is country's home because that's where the epicenter of the industry is.  People like Chet Atkins revolutionized the music because with him producing records at RCA particularly, it brought a pop-like sound to a very roots oriented form of music.

But, in the 2000s or so, maybe country has gotten a little too glamorous.  There are some artists who stick to the roots of the music.  But others take a similar route to Chet Atkins' philosophy abd try to put the pop spin on it.  Now, I'm not saying this is a bad thing.  But, it (in my opinion), takes away from some of the elements of the songwriting aspect.  I don't know.  A lot of people may complain that country is twangy, and it is.  The pedal steel guitars and "Nashville" tuned Fender Telecasters that are played in a lot of the songs make it that way.  Nashville tuning consists of tuning a Telecaster (or any other electric guitar for that matter) where three of the strings (I am not sure which three, though), are unwound.  I think it's the bass strings. 

There are so many great artists though.  Just as a sampling of some of the country legends and current artists who I listen to (or who have influenced me as far as writing, singing, or even, guitar playing), I'll put them here as I remember the names

Alan Jackson
Vince Gill
Willie Nelson
Waylon Jennings
Johnny Cash
Roger Miller
Charlie Daniels
Glenn Campbell
Eddy Arnold
Buck Owens
Merle Haggard
Hank Williams Sr.
Hank Williams Jr.
Ray Price
Chet Atkins
Faron Young
George Jones
George Strait
June Carter Cash
Maybelle Carter (early country music)
Jimmie Rodgers (early country music)
Bill Monroe (bluegrass)
Dwight Yoakam
Dr. Ralph Stanley (bluegrass)
Lefty Frizzell
Kenny Rogers
Carl Perkins
Emmylou Harris
Kris Kristofferson
Bob Wills

These are a lot of the artists I've drawn influence from.

Country music had many great eras from it's beginnings in the Virginia mountains, to moving into other parts of the south (including it's current "home" of Nashville, Tennessee).  But, there were also big followings for the music in the southwest.  Buck Owens and Merle Haggard came out of Bakersfield, California.  Haggard actually grew up in Oklahoma, during the dust bowl.  Texas has also seen many great singers in country.  Willie Nelson, George Jones, George Strait, Lefty Frizzell and others.  The city of Austin is a hub for all music, but not the least of which is traditional country and also, Americana/alt country which was pioneered by Jennings, Nelson, Steve Earle and Jack Ingram who all came from that area.

That was in the 1960s and '70s when some artists felt disenfranchised by Nashville's slick, pop oriented, mainstream sound that they felt lacked personality and was akin to having artists serve the record companies instead of making their own music.  This movement gave rise to several trends of bringing traditional country back to Nashville and giving the artists a way to probably still do things on their own terms (but who is to say).  It started with Willie and Waylon for me.  I saw Willie Nelson in concert back in 2002 and was hooked on country music for a long while.

That love is still there.  Though it hasn't diminished, it just has sort of intermixed with other styles I find influential to me such as jazz in all of it's forms, the myriad of blues styles and of course, rock and roll or folk music.  Artists like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash are "universal".  Country music cannot "claim" them because they are well recognized and artists like Cash, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, and to a certain extent, a lot of modern country acts or even someone like Charlie Daniels and his remarkable band (who have had pop success), are universal, because people know their names, even if it is for maybe one hit song.

Today, that's still true.  A lot of country music has gotten very glitzy and pop oriented again which is the same criticism that may have been lobbied back in the '60s and '70s when some artists were trying to shed that image.  But, the roots are undoubtedly still there in mountain music (bluegrass), gospel songs, cowboy songs (Gene Autry, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans), and western swing (Bob Wills), mixing country and fiddle music with swing jazz.  If you trace the roots of a lot of music, you will find where it all comes from.  That's what I do.  I get into a given band in almost any genre and then go back and find out where their influence came from.

That's the beauty of music.  Country music (despite it's vices about infidelity in relationships, drinking, lost love etc.), still has it's happy sides or spiritual sides (if you delve into country artists who have sung gospel songs and made gospel records like the Stanley brothers or the Carter family), it's got a rough and tumble side and a sweet, pretty, melodic side, like any kind of music.  People, I think, are sometimes too quick to judge the music without delving into the whole of it.  But, I've looked into it and really enjoy it. 

I will get to reviewing and looking into the country records in my collection on this blog.  Stay tuned.  It's a great form of music.  As an old cowboy might say, "yee ha!" and, "happy trails to you, until we meet again."