part 3 the growth of vernacular traditions chapter 10: country music america’s musical landscape...
TRANSCRIPT
Part 3The Growth of Vernacular
TraditionsChapter 10: Country Music
America’s Musical Landscape 5th edition
PowerPoint by Myra Lewinter MalamutGeorgian Court University
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
2© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Country Music Various vernacular musics evolved in America’s
rural and urban environments in the 19th century
People living in remote areas in the Eastern hills continued to sing and play their traditional music as it had been performed by their ancestors These people were isolated from mainstream popular
music and unaffected by modern trends Through oral tradition, the people passed through the
generations the old tunes and customs Early folk ballads, originally from the British Isles, such as
“Barbara Allen” were preserved
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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After the Civil War New influences invaded all
areas, including isolated mountains
Music and other aspects of life were affected Migrant workers came to
the rural hills and brought new kinds of music and new musical instruments, including the 5-string banjo
Banjo
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Mountain People took temporary jobs in cities These people brought home new subjects for
songs and new musical sounds New “folk” songs evolved
Similar to the traditional ballads But characteristically American in subject and style
Sometimes people lost track of a song’s origin A song included in the “folk” repertoire might actually have
been composed rather than improvised, memorized, and passed down in the traditional ways
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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From Country to City The early 1920s
Commercial recording companies began to send talent scouts into the hill country
To search for folk singers and instrumentalists with a distinctive sound
To entice country musicians to come to the cities, where the market for recordings of “old time” music was increasing
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Hillbilly Music The term “hillbilly music” was
coined in 1925 “Hillbilly music” somewhat scornfully
referred to music of Country fiddlers Harmonica players Singers of country ballads
“Old-time,” “hillbilly,” and “country,” traditional music from the hills
The term Hillbilly Music came from a 4-musician group from Virginia named the Hill Billies, who recorded music
A fiddle was a violin
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Hill musicians Traveled with tent shows, medicine shows, and vaudeville
shows
Amazed audiences with virtuosic performances at fiddlers’ contests
At country fairs they sang songs about love, work, family life, death in a semidetached impersonal manner that made their music all the more moving
City listeners enjoyed the music, and the audience for country music continued to expand
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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As commercal radio evolved Hillbilly music proved widely popular “Barn dance” radio shows sprang up in the
South and throughout the Midwest The most famous of these shows was the Grand
Ole Opry Debuted on a station in Nashville, Tennessee, in
1924 Instrumental in establishing Nashville as the all
time base for the country music industry
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Effects of popularity and commercialization of Hillbilly Music The end of the old way—the oral tradition—of preserving
original folk songs and performance practices
The commercial market required a constant supply of new pieces Country musicians adapted by writing new songs and
performing them in a manner acceptable to a city audience
Ballads were popular Many were about the dramatic current events of the day
People lost track of which folk songs were traditional and which were created by modern professionals
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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By 1927 two different strains of hillbilly music reached the public:
One introduced by Jimmie Rodgers, from Mississippi in the Deep South
The other made popular by the Carter Family, a singing family from the mountains of Virginia
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Jimmie Rodgers (1897-1933) Wandered through several states during his brief career; had
little formal music training
Played guitar while singing in a clear tenor voice Often used the vocal falsetto range Known and imitated for his yodel, a rapid alternation between
the full voice and falsetto Known for his thirteen songs called “blue yodels”, with form and
harmonies of twelve-bar blues
Nicknamed the “singing brakeman” for singing about his experiences working on the railroad, along with other topics such as love gone wrong, cowboys, his Southern home, etc.
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Listening example 33Blue Yodel No. 9Composed by Jimmie RodgersSung by Jimmie RodgersAccompanied by
Louis Armstrong, trumpetLil Hardin Armstrong, piano
Listening guide page 167
Form: StrophicTempo: Moderately slow
Notice the sound of Rodgers’ yodel.
During his lifetime Rodgers established thesolo song as an important part of hillbillymusic.
Rodgers was the first person elected to theCountry Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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The Carter Family:From the Mountains of Virginia Symbolized the close, conservative family: Alvin Pleasant
Delaney (A. P.) Carter (1891-1960); Sara Carter, the wife of A. P.; and, Maybelle, Sara’s cousin and A. P.’s sister-in-law
Sang traditional songs, ballads, and hymns in pinched nasal voices and tight harmony characteristic of mountain people Favored ragtime and early jazz rhythms Spiked their music with a zesty backbeat (accents on beats two
and four instead of the usual one and three) Songs: Ballads about train wrecks and disasters, sentimental
songs about mountain flowers, country churchs, and lovely pale maidens, plus hymns and joyful camp meeting spirituals
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Listening Example 34Chinese BreakdownBy The Carter FamilyPerformed by
Sarah Carter, autoharpMaybelle Carter, guitar
Listening guide page 34
Meter: DupleStyle: Mountain music
Hear the “Carter Scratch”: Picking a melody on the bass strings
Autoharp: A folk instrument whose strings are strummed or plucked with one hand as the other hand presses buttons to form chords
During the 1920s and1930s the Carter Familycollected, arranged and recorded hundreds of American traditional songs, spirituals, andfolk songs, laying thefoundation for moderncountry music.
Carter heirs, includingJune Carter (1929-2003)continue to perform.
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Johnny Cash, the “Man in Black”(1932-2003) Cash, June Carter’s third husband, was not part of the country music
establishment
Cash had ties to rockabilly, but his best songs sounded like country music, including “I Walk the Line,” and, “The Green, Green Grass of Home”
1992: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Cash was country music’s first protest singer
Roseanne Cash, daughter of June Carter and Johnny Cash, has been a major country music performer since the 1980s
Grammy winner Roseann Cash mixes country, folk, pop, and rock Roseann’s stepsister Carlene Carter combines rock and country
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Listening Example 35The Ballad of Casey JonesWords by Wallace SaundersMelody: AnonymousSung by Johnny CashListening guide page 169
Form: Verse-chorusTempo: FastMeter: QuadrupleAccompaniment: Banjo, background choral harmonies
Hear a train whistle and a percussion instrument’s rhythmic “chugging”
Written by a black laborer who never received a penny for the song, white entertainers made this into one of the most popular and enduring American ballads. The lyrics tell the story of train engineer Casey Jones, who sped his train for passengers to arrive on time at their destination without injury, as he sacrificed himself in the ensuing train wreck.
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Styles of Country Music By the 1920s Americans had radios and heard
Hillbilly or old-time music White religious music called gospel performed by country
singers accompanied by fiddle, banjo or guitar Rollicking dance tunes played by string bands consisting of
fiddles, banjos, guitars, and sometimes string bass Dance songs consisting of a vocalist and instruments Sentimental parlour songs Old English and American ballads Work songs
Spiritual songs became part of country music
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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The Gift of Country and Folk Musicians: The ability to absorb and reflect in music various influences and life
experiences
Development of characteristic sounds, country in flavor but distinctive in style
Rural music has evolved, reflecting local experience and preferences, producing a varied body of modern country and folk musics Music reflects country people’s perception of and reaction to
urban developments that change the country way of life
Country music evolved as an urban, commercial expression of rural folk culture
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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American Folk Ballads Folk songs about current events were always part of America
But as people forgot past events, they also forgot the songs Few topical songs we remember today are more than 100 years old
Around the turn of the 20th century the trade union movement and interest in social causes produced topical songs for city audiences
Most of these songs had a leftist bent
Railroads, representing progress and the future, proved a popular subject for ballads
‘Wabash Cannon Ball,” written and recorded in 1936 by Roy Acuff
Twentieth century ballads had the flavor and appeal of traditional folk ballads and were reminiscent of earlier broadside ballads
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Bluegrass A virtuosic instrumental style rooted in mountain
music Bluegrass started in the 1930s and 1940s with
mandolinist Bill Monroe (William Smith Monroe, 1911-1996), the “Father of Bluegrass,” who blended old-time string band music with the holler of the blues, plus improvisation of jazz Monroe’s string band was called the Blue Grass Boys,
named for his home state of Kentucky
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Characteristics of Bluegrass Primarily instrumental music
Sung ballads in verse-chorus form emphasize the important instrumental interludes or breaks
A bluegrass ensemble consists of acoustic instruments: Fiddle Guitar String bass Five-string banjo Often, mandolin, a plucked stringed instrument
Fast tempos and virtuosic playing provide excitement
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Listening Example 36Earl’s BreakdownComposed by Earl ScruggsPerformed onGuitar, by Lester FlattBanjo, by Earl ScruggsMandolinFiddleBassListening Guide on page 172
Form: Variations on a tune
The virtuosic performances reveal the reasons bluegrass remains among the most appreciated styles of music today
Notice how Scruggs uses a tuner to bend the pitches expressively
Flatt and Scruggs left Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in 1948 to form their group the Foggy Mountain Boys
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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More recently During the 1960s Bluegrass was popular on college
campuses, in coffeehouses, and at folk festivals
Bluegrass has flavored television shows and movies TV shows Petticoat Junction, Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres Films including Bonnie and Clyde, Deliverance, O Brother,
Where Art Thou? (2000)
Recent songs, albums and CDs referring to Bluegrass: Steve Wariner’s “Domino Theory” (1990) Vince Gill’s album High Lonesome Sound (1996) Steve Earl’s CD The Mountain (1999)
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Today’s Performers
Alison Krauss, Illinois fiddle virtuoso and vocalist Sings with the award winning band Union Station
Union Station has outstanding solo musicians, including Jerry Douglas, virtuoso performer on the Dobro
A dobro is a wood-body resonator guitar with metal cover plate over the sound hole and aluminum cone for amplification
Emmylou Harris, folk and country music revivalist Fans gather each summer at bluegrass festivals
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Newgrass style A movement that began in the early 1970s
Rock and jazz musicians began to share the instrumental techniques of bluegrass
Newgrass combines rhythmic and harmonic complexities of jazz and classical music with lyrical melodies as well as humor
Newgrass musicians John Hartford, one of the architects of the newgrass movement John Prine Lyle Lovett Jerry Garcia
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Country Pop and the Nashville Sound Country music achieved popularity during the
1940s Northern United States GIs at Southern training camps
had their first exposure to hillbilly music and liked it Soldiers in Europe often found country music their favorite War caused an exodus of Southern whites, who moved
for work to the North and West In 1947 the Grand Old Opry staged a successful two-night
performance at Carnegie Hall, New York City
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Country Music Faced Disaster with the 1950s Explosion of Rock and Roll Recording executives and performers realized
that two new audiences needed to be addressed Youngsters excited by rock and roll Urban adults uncomfortable with traditional country music
Both audiences resisted traditional instrumentation but accepted country songs accompanied by electric guitar and drums for the young people, or piano and strings for adults
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Rockabilly After World War II, teenagers preferred to spend
money on rock and roll, which had been inspired by black rhythm and blues
The audience for traditional country music dropped
Rockabilly, the style of the new singing sensation Elvis Presley, was successful in combining country themes with the rhythms and instrumentation of rock and roll
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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The Birth of the Nashville Sound Renowned Chet Atkins (1924-2001) was appointed head of
the Nashville division of RCA records in the late 1950s Atkins decided to change the sound of country music The unexpected commercial success of Patti Page’s recording
of “Tennessee Waltz” influenced Atkins to produce songs that would score on both popular and country music charts
The new sophisticated polished sound Atkins achieved by toning down rhythm sections and adding background voices to soften the harsh effect of traditional country music became known as the Nashville Sound.
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Nashville From 1942 Nashville was the center of the country music business
Roy Acuff (1903-1992) From the Tennessee mountains Symbolized old-time country music and its related shows and
recording sessions as well as modern commercial country music 1942, Nashville: Set up the first modern music publishing company
The Nashville sound: Country themes with pop instrumentation Vocal soloists of traditional country topics jived rhythms and added a
vocal chorus similar to the doo-wop singers of Motown rock and roll Chet Atkins sang country songs and played guitar in a Tin Pan Alley
style
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Country Musicians Modified Their Style Country singers modified their twang and polished
their performances, presenting country-style songs in pop format This was necessary to survive as commercial entertainers Cover recordings of country hits appeared on popular
music charts Popular singers were Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine and
others Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves, often with string orchestra,
represented country pop
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Many country artists adopted techniques of rock and roll Johnny Cash’s strong rhythm and lively instrumentation
attracted the rock and roll audience
Tennessee Ernie Ford’s recording of “Sixteen Tons”, written by guitarist Merle Travis, hit the top of the best-selling charts
Some Nashville soloists substituted a “hot” guitar for their banjos and mandolins
Instrumentation now included electric guitars, drums, and electric bass
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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The Early 1960s Nashville had become a recording capital of
popular music Country’s flirtation with rock and roll faded Country pop has flourished since then:
Faith Hill Shania Twain Tim McGraw Randy Travis George Strait Garth Brooks
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Country Goes Western Early on, country music moved west where it
developed distinctive styles
1930s and 1940s Forced migration west was caused by the Great
Depression and the drought-stricken Dust Bowl People carried their music customs with them Soldiers associated with others from diverse backgrounds,
and discovered the joys of country music Country music changed in Western states, reflecting
mariachi sounds, Cajun music, Hawaiian steel guitar, and cowboy songs called country-western
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Western Swing Country music in the Eastern United States reflected the
conservative mood and morality of the Christian home
Western country flavor was closer to the atmosphere of the dance hall
Texans responded to the big band craze of the 1930s and 1940s with their own dance band style, western swing: Added to Eastern big band instrumentation were fiddles and
steel guitar Singers added yodeling in the style of Jimmie Rodgers Fast tempos, hot rhythms, and virtuosic instrumental solos were
indicative of a strong jazz influence
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Bob Wills (1905-1973) The major person in the development of western swing
Performed Country fiddle tunes Hispanic folk music African American folk blues Jazz
Wills’ band was the Texas Playboys The Texas Playboys performed fiddle tunes, cowboy numbers,
hit parade songs, jazz instrumental, blues numbers, Mexican music and more
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Listening Example 37New San Antonio RoseComposed by Bob WillsPerformed by Bob Wills and His Texas PlayboysListening guide page 177
Meter: QuadrupleForm:
Hear the 4-measure introduction in swing dance style, followed by fox-trot style. Notice the mariachi (Mexican) favor in the C strain
A B A B C A C A
Bob Wills, who played fiddle and mandolin, punctated the band’s performances with jive talking, falsetto asides, and cries of “ah-ha!” as heard in this song, which is his signature tune that became a huge national success in the 1940s.
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Honky-Tonk: Another country-western style Patrons in honky-tonks, intimate crowded Texan bars and
clubs, danced to the honky-tonk songs
About life relevant subjects including infidelity, divorce, alcohol, home sickness, separation, loneliness, prison
Rough, realistic lyrics were sung in the earthy, matter-of-fact manner typical of country style
Electrified amplified instruments were used to carry above the noise in the honky-tonks
Amplified piano often was the sole accompaniment Other instruments included those used in blues, jazz, or Hawaiian
ensembles, electrified
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Honky-tonk stars White men from the Southwest: Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, Buck
Owens, Merle Haggard, George Jones, George Strait Charlie Pride, the only black country music performer to have a
long and distinguished career Hispanic singers Freddie Fender and Johnny Rodriguez Hank Williams, Sr. (1923-1953) was the greatest honky-tonk star,
as well as starring in other country music styles. Williams was the best-known and most financially successful country singer
Recent honky-tonk responds to the new publicfrankness on subjects such as sex, drugs, andviolence with strong new lyrics, often sung by females
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Cowboy Songs By the mid-1930s the craze for western films was full-blown;
cowboys in the films portrayed heroes, singing romantic cowboy songs by Tin Pan Alley professionals
Popular “singing cowboys” included Texas born Gene Autry, “Oklahoma’s yodelin’ cowboy”
Publisher, producer, and the first movie star to get into television Tex Ritter, also from Texas Roy Rogers starred in about 100 western films
Bob Nolan, a founder of the singing trio Sons of the Pioneers, wrote cowboy songs
There were cowboy songs written by real cowboys
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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The late 1940s: Cowboy songs faded in popularity Gene Autry, who earlier had recorded songs from the African
American blues tradition went on to sing songs in the popular rather than the western vein Sang “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” written by Johnny
Marks, and “Here Comes Santa Claus,” cowritten with Oakley Haldeman
Tex Ritter’s popular “High Noon” written by Dimitri Tiomkin was high on the pop charts, not the country-western charts
Recent films helped revive country music, attracting listeners who enjoy simple melodies and straightforward lyrics
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
42© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Women in Country: The Early Days Road life, honky-tonk settings and all-male bands
of country music were unwelcoming to women Women’s place in society was rigidly defined
Women who were successful were crossover artists bridging country and pop Patsy Cline (1932-1963) From a country background; had
a strident powerful country sound Kitty Wells, the original “Queen of Country Music” Loretta Lynn favored honky-tonk instrumentation,
appealed to beleaguered housewives
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Women Recently: The 1990s: Women established a commanding presence in
country music as writers and singers of “new country”
Mary Chapin Carpenter and Reba McIntyre broke ground singing about contemporary city people
Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Deana Carter, Mindy McCready have mixed old-fashioned values and country instrumentation with frank sexuality and samplings of other sounds
Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” was the top country single in 2000
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Women and Country Music Harmony Close tight country music harmonies between a
man and a women constituted a musical dialogue implying sexual tension Duets between George Jones and Tammy Wynette;
between Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
Same-sex combinations of women singers, with a close blend Collaboration of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Londa
Ronstadt in creating albums
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Recent Country “New country” competes with “Traditional
Country” California and Nashville
Traditionalists are in Nashville Modernists are in California and other areas
Dwight Yoakam, George Strait, Alan Jackson A new activism
The Dixie Chicks criticized the president of the US
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Country Music Today New traditionalism has led some country stars to
replace electronic instruments and pop drumbeats with acoustic guitars and fiddles Some seek to recapture the friction and grit of original
honky-tonk Fiddling and banjo contests are popular Western swing and bluegrass have a strong presence Banjoist Bela Fleck does amazing things with bluegrass,
jazz, classical and rock Fiddle virtuoso Mark O’Connor blends bluegrass with funk
and jazz
Part 3: The Growth of Vernacular Traditions Chapter 10: Country Music
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Chapter 10 Image Credits Slide 3, Five string banjo.
©Jerry Howard/ Stock Boston Slide 6, Violin and Music, © Digital
Vision/Getty Images Slide 45, Couple Dancing.
©Steve Mason/Getty Images.