Unit 3
The Folk Origins of Country
Music
Chapter 10
Day 1
What is country about country
music?
• It was developed by rural dwellers
• Ironically has been produced in urban
centers for years
• Nashville, New York and Hollywood
• Continues to draw from the imagery and
values of rural life and the common people
who live that life
Country music stars are typically
•
•
•
•
White
Male
From the poor working-class (blue collar)
From the South
Characteristics of the South
• The climate of the South was more suitable for
agriculture
• Farms were widely separated; farmers were
more isolated
• The competition of black slave labor and the lack
of job diversity discouraged new immigrants
from settling there
• Little ethnic diversity
• This all led to a society that did not change as
quickly as the more urban North
Characteristics of people of the
South
• Three classes – wealthy landowners, black slaves, poor
white farmers
• After slavery was ended, whites were in direct
competition with blacks for jobs
• Led to an inferiority complex
• To cure self image problem, whites decided that
endurance and power is displayed in proficiency at hard
physical labor and sports and less principled acts
(drinking, fighting, seducing women)
• Very religious
• Combination of religion and sinful behavior led to inner
conflicts
• Also known for longwinded storytelling with
exaggerations
CLASSWORK/HOMEWORK
• Read Chapter 10 page 117-124. Answer
questions on page 124 in your notebooks.
• Find a country song that tells a story. Write
a summary of the story in your own words.
• EMAIL the name of the song, the artist,
and your summary to
alaine.bolton@woodbridge.k12.nj.us by
midnight tonight.
Unit 3
The Folk Origins of Country
Music
Birth of Country
Chapter 10
How country music reflects rural
characteristics
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•
•
•
•
•
• Topics include
Praise of a simpler rural life
Ideal love
Family ties
Religious conviction
Male machismo
Pride of the working class
• Many country songs express the inner
conflict between pleasure-seeking and the
pursuit of religious devotion
• These moral issues can be seen in
remorseful songs about drinking, infidelity,
and the consequences suffered from being
away from home
• This early country music can be
considered 'white blues'
• Why does the portrayal of conflict spell
success for country music (or any other
style of music for that matter)?
• Conflict makes for more interesting songs,
and our desire to cope with it compels us
to write, sing or listen to those songs
• In the 1920’s rural youth longed for the excitement,
wealth and glamour of the city life
• Sparked a growth of lower middle class
• Rural youth realized city life wasn’t what they thought it
was
• Found themselves bewildered and lost in the ‘big city’
• Fell victim to its pale human relationships and familial
strains
• This left them longing nostalgically for home, love of
family, and the simple rural life
• Instead of moving back to the country, they adapted the
rural value system
• This is where country music began to identify with the
blue-collar worker (i.e. construction workers) and the
truck driver, not just the farmer
Country music developed from folk
songs, dance music and ballads
• Ballads – narrative songs that tell a story
•
Sung by amateur singers
•
Unaccompanied
•
Emotionless and plain
• Plots are usually dramatic events (family
feuds, romantic encounters) with no
elaboration as to time
• Usually depressing and tragic
Unit 3
The Folk Origins of Country
Music
Traits of and Influences on
Early Country Music
Chapter 10
Topics of American ballads
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Trains wrecks
Coal mine disasters
Famous murders
Epic journeys
American ballads were topical in nature, similar
to British ballads; their subject matter was
related to events of pioneer America
• Distinctive trait of American ballads was the
addition of a moral at the end
• This was a result of the new southern
fundamentalism taking root
Instruments primarily used in early
country music
• Fiddle
• Guitar
• Banjo
Fiddle VS. Violin
• Is there a difference??
• Anglo-American country music was
influenced by urban and African American
culture and music
• Because poor whites and blacks worked
together and shared the same
religion/values they came to share speech
patterns, cuisine and music
• Urban influence came from rural dwellers
coming into contact with ragtime, jazz and
the blues in red-light districts
Unit 3
The Folk Origins of Country
Music
Early Commercialization of
Country Music
Chapter 11
The importance of radio
• Radio was important to the spread of all
popular music, but especially so with
country music
• Rural isolation and comparatively lower
incomes made it difficult for southerners to
purchase records
• The advantage of radio was its ability to
cater to specific local audiences, or mark
• Today Nashville is synonymous with
country music but at the beginning of
country music’s commercialization the key
city was Atlanta, Georgia
• In 1920 songwriter Perry Bradford
persuaded the General Phonograph
Company to make the first blues recording
by a black singer
• Proved to be a success
• Also proved there was a viable market
outside the white, urban middle class
• In response to radio catering to specific
interests, the record industry began to do
the same thing to compete
• Race record labels were created
• Talent scouts were dispatched to southern
cities in search of folksingers
Ralph Peer
• producer for GPC
• Recorded Fiddlin’ John Carson in June 1923
• The record became immensely popular and
Carson became the first commercial country
recording artist
• Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane p.126
http://youtu.be/XXOIBcnvOKY
• Soldier’s Joy - Gid Tannere and His Skillet
Lickers page 127 http://youtu.be/RpZ8umpz42c
Grand Ole Opry
• radio show developed in 1925
• Originally a cast of three, local amateur solo and
group acts began to vie for a spot on the show
for a chance to play on the radio – for free
• The Grand Ole Opry experienced higher
exposure when the National Broadcasting
Company established network radio in 1926 and
the show was broadcast around the country
The Carter Family
• A. P. and Sara Carter (husband and wife)
and Maybelle (A. P.’s sister-in-law) Carter
• Their music deals with themes of family
stability, godly life, human tragedy and
secure rural life
• Maybelle’s guitar playing set a standard in
the tradition of country music
• Wildwood Flower http://youtu.be/g5T5Gt_0Lw
Jimmie Rodgers
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•
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In 1929 he settles in Kerrvile Texas
Very proud of his adopted state
Fascinated by the cowboy lore associated with it
Frequently performs in Texas, featuring western
themes in his songs and posing in cowboy
regalia for publicity shots
• This provides a catalyst for a commercial
western style in country music
• Waitin’ For a Train p. 133
http://youtu.be/M0ftVEeRtn4
Jimmie Rodgers, cont.
• Known for incorporating yodels into his singing
• Sang about themes ranging from risqué to
religious, humorous to sentimental
• Sang with a relaxed, throaty quality
• Would sometimes pose for publicity photos in a
brakeman or cowboy outfit
• The American West of the 1800’s already had a
mythical image associated with it - Wild West
shows of Buffalo Bill Cody helped this
The End
CLASSWORK
Read Chapter 11
Answer questions at the end in your
notebook.
You will need to study both these questions
and those from chapter 10 for your test.
HOMEWORK
• Listen to the 4 songs listed for country
music. NOT JUST ANY COUNTRY
SONGS! THE 4 IN THIS POWER POINT!
• For each song, write down at least 2
characteristics for each – such as
instruments used, etc.