History of Country Music

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Questions and Answers

What was the original image associated with country music?

  • Hillbilly image (correct)
  • Rockabilly image
  • Honky tonk image
  • Cowboy image

What style of music emerged when Western swing bands started playing R&B songs?

  • Western swing
  • Country and Western music
  • Honky tonk
  • Rockabilly (correct)

What instrument was commonly used in Western swing bands?

  • Pedal steel guitar (correct)
  • Fiddle
  • Electric bass
  • Acoustic guitar

Who is known as the 'man in black' in country music?

<p>Johnny Cash (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the typical setting where honky tonk music was developed?

<p>Working-class honky tonk bars (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was a common theme in honky tonk songs?

<p>Loneliness, love, heartbreak, and pain (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who is considered one of the greatest singer-songwriters in country music?

<p>Hank Williams (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the name of the popular band led by Bob Wills?

<p>The Texas Playboys (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What region of the USA did country music develop in?

<p>The southeastern states (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What instrument did Maybelle Carter play?

<p>Autoharp (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was taught how to play guitar and sing by African Americans in railroad gangs?

<p>Jimmie Rodgers (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What technique did Jimmie Rodgers often use in his singing?

<p>Yodeling (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In what year did Jimmie Rodgers' first hit record 'Blue Yodel' sell nearly half a million copies?

<p>1927 (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the name of the popular country-music variety show broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee?

<p>The Grand Ole Opry (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What style of music often had horse-like clip-clop rhythms and songs about lovesick cowboys and gun-fighting outlaws?

<p>Western music (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What decade did Western music become popular?

<p>1930s and 40s (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

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Study Notes

Country Music Origins

  • Developed in southeastern USA as a mix of folk music from the British Isles, church music, and African American blues
  • Played on instruments like acoustic guitar, mandolin, autoharp, fiddle, and banjo

Old-Time Music

  • First recorded in the 1920s
  • Carter Family's recordings were the most popular, with songs like "Can The Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)" and "Wildwood Flower" becoming hit records
  • A.P. Carter collected folk songs and wrote new ones, singing in harmony with his sister-in-law Maybelle and wife Sarah

Jimmie Rodgers

  • Another early country music star, recorded at the same sessions as the Carters
  • Learned guitar and singing from African Americans in railroad gangs
  • Combined blues, work chants, and old-time music in his songs
  • Used a vocal technique called yodeling; his first hit record, "Blue Yodel", sold nearly half a million copies in 1927

Country Music 1930-1960

  • Before TV, families listened to the radio, with the "Grand Ole Opry" being a popular live country-music variety show broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee
  • Nashville became the center of the country music business
  • Western music emerged, characterized by horse-like clip-clop rhythms and songs about lovesick cowboys and gun-fighting outlaws
  • Singing cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers became huge country-music stars, leading to the renaming of the genre to "Country and Western music"

Western Swing and Rockabilly

  • Western swing developed in Texas, Oklahoma, and California, characterized by loud music for large dance halls
  • Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys were a popular Western swing band
  • Rockabilly developed when Western swing bands began playing R&B songs, influencing singers like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash

Honky Tonk and Hank Williams

  • Honky tonk developed in the 1940s in working-class bars near Texas oil fields
  • Characterized by acoustic and pedal steel guitars, fiddle, stand-up bass, and drums, with songs about loneliness, love, heartbreak, and pain
  • Hank Williams was a prominent honky tonk singer-songwriter, known for songs like "Lovesick Blues", "Cold Cold Heart", and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

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