Country music’s roots lie in rural white working-class values, patriotism and conservatism – yet has long been perceived as being exclusive of outsiders.
In the ’70s, country music’s insularity was broken by artists like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings who donned leisure suits while growing out their hair.
The 1920s
Country music’s origins lie in folk songs, which tell tales about everyday life in rural communities and reflect their values. Country’s distinctive twangy sound is produced by using stringed instruments with an accented upper harmonic technique; this technique was brought over from Europe and Africa by working-class emigrants resulting in its development into what we know today as country.
Country became immensely popular during the 1920s and 1930s thanks to artists like Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers, whose songs championed an easier and more traditional lifestyle that inspired many Americans to explore the Western United States. Additionally, country was popularized through Hollywood Westerns where singers like Gene Autry would portray rugged cowboy heroes.
Record and radio broadcasts were instrumental in spreading country music’s popularity around the globe. Not only could listeners listen to it for free on radio, but small town musicians could reach larger audiences without having to travel into larger cities for performance and promotion purposes. This was an enormous improvement over previous methods of distribution which required travelling around to promote their music and perform.
The 1930s
In the 1930s, country music emerged as a distinct genre. A blend of Appalachian folk music and blues achieved immense success, along with the Grand Ole Opry helping popularize and spread it further. Additionally, various subgenres such as honky tonk and western swing emerged.
One major change, according to author Dave Marsh, was that country musicians could now sing about universal themes rather than just hillbilly life; songs could now address love and death as well as military service, civil rights issues and family relationships.
This period also saw the birth of bluegrass music, made popular by Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys and later revived by bands like Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack album. Bluegrass can be identified by fast-plucked string instruments like fiddles or banjos in two, three or four part harmony arrangements.
The 1940s
Country music didn’t become truly prevalent until the 1940s. Radio shows such as Grand Ole Opry and Louisiana Hayride provided country with exposure, while talented banjo, fiddle and guitar players helped solidify its sound as uniquely American style of music.
stories about working families and rural life were central themes in country music’s earliest songs, with modern country songs continuing this theme of everyday concerns. Such lyrics also had an immense influence on other genres like blues and rockabilly.
In the 1930s and 1940s, white farmers moving into cities for work provided new markets for country music. Performers like Gene Autry and Hank Williams helped popularize country music to a wider audience while Western swing emerged as a hybrid genre combining jazz with country. Honky tonk–featuring its unique combination of fiddle, steel guitar, and Mexican influence–also emerged as an increasingly dominant form of country music genres.
The 1950s
By the 1950s, country music had grown increasingly popular. Artists such as Hank Williams and the Carter Family gained fame, producing hits like Will The Circle Be Unbroken and Wildwood Flower. Meanwhile, Lefty Frizzell and Webb Pierce helped establish honky-tonk as a subgenre within country music. Furthermore, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison popularized rockabilly music combining country boogie, western swing, and honky-tonk to form this genre.
This period also saw the creation of the Grand Ole Opry, broadcast live from Nashville on radio stations across America and renowned for launching many country music stars’ careers – Gene Autry and Uncle Dave Macon among them – on national radio. Slim Whitman brought country music internationally, becoming a top 10 hit both in Britain and the US with his 1953 single Indian Love Call featuring horse-like clip-clop rhythms with lyrics about lovelorn cowboys and gunslingering outlaws; thus broadening its acceptance as an accepted American musical style.
The 1960s
In the 1960s, a new generation of artists took up country music. As a result, many country songs featured basic instrumentation to allow vocalists to shine as well as straightforward progressions that let each song tell its own tale – whether through an honest verse or emotive chorus.
The 1990s marked a golden age of country music with artists like Elvis Presley and Hank Williams becoming national stars. These country singers took advantage of a carefree generation who appreciated rock n roll while remaining loyal to its roots – an environment which provided fertile grounds for success for country singers such as themselves.
At this time, dynamic string band players like Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson introduced dynamic playing to country music for the first time, and for the first time country artists collaborated with black performers – as pointed out by Patrick Huber of Missouri University of Science and Technology’s professor of history Patrick Huber who believes more often than is commonly acknowledged that black and white artists collaborated together in studio sessions known as Bristol Sessions to give birth to what’s now considered Classic country; their harmonies and guitar styles still set an archetype that still exist today.
The 1970s
Post World War II, country music began to move gradually away from its folk roots and into more commercial territory. Country artists became stars themselves – Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, Jean Shepard, Barbara Mandrell and Tammy Wynette became household names; rockabilly was gradually integrated into its sound; hillbillies gradually lost any negative connotations they once held; hillbillies eventually lost any negative associations associated with being labeled as such.
Nashville, Tennessee became the hub of country music industry, with live radio show called Grand Ole Opry broadcast across America. Radio stars Gene Autry and Roy Rogers transitioned from radio shows onto television programs while Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb introduced a style known for singing about hardships associated with rural living – something Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb popularized through their radio and TV programs.
Buck Owens and Merle Haggard transformed honky tonk music using electric guitars, while Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson added elements from progressive folk music and rebellious rockabilly music into outlaw country to form outlaw country – which bridged the gap between country music and mainstream pop music, making it more appealing to an urban audience.
The 1980s
While most were donning leg warmers and watching keep fit videos, country music was experiencing its golden age in the 80s. Artists ranging from Willie Nelson’s groundbreaking ‘Outlaw Movement’ to timeless hits from Kitty Wells and Dolly Parton made headlines everywhere from music videos to concert halls across the nation.
New Country (or countrypolitan) was an evolution of classic country, adding elements from rock, pop and rhythm and blues into it to produce a more refined and soothing sound typified by artists such as Asleep at the Wheel, George Strait and Reba McEntire who personified its influence.
Loretta Lynn and Naomi Judd rose to prominence during this era, alongside fearless feminists like Reba McEntire who championed gender equality with hit singles such as “Wild Horses”. As society became more divided, country music too saw increased division. Conservative forces produced “bro-country”, targeted toward white men that opposed gun control, feminism and minority rights while americana, which mixed traditional country with working-class folk music, attracted artists such as Steve Earle and Rhiannon Giddens.
The 1990s
In the 1990s, country music experienced an explosion with massive hits like Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart,” Brooks & Dunn’s 1991 hit “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” and Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells and Dolly Parton becoming stars.
Subgenres within country music were also expanded. Artists began experimenting with mixing rock and pop styles. Country musicians adopted the Nashville Sound movement’s sleek sound – which mixed rockabilly with more traditional styles – especially beloved country stars Jim Reeves, Ferlin Husky, Eddy Arnold and Patsy Cline were pioneers of this sound while female stars Jean Shepard Dottie West Barbara Mandrell Tammy Wynette also became prominent examples.
As country musicians adjusted to a shifting world, some fought against pop influences becoming more mainstream; others continued forward, and this back and forth struggle made the 1990s one of the most pivotal decades in country music history.