The Bakersfield Sound: How the Dust Bowl Changed Music
Carolyn Weaver
Carolyn Weaver
Professor Fleury
Honors Global Environmental Change
19 November 2011
The Bakersfield Sound: How the Dust Bowl Changed Music
One step across the threshold of the run down bar and suddenly you are immersed in
boisterous laughter and dancing, the pungent scent of alcohol, and blaring honky-tonk music
that fills the air. On stage a group of colorfully dressed musicians in cowboy hats, complete
with bass, fiddle, banjo, guitar, and vocals, entertain the joyful crowd of migrant workers
winding down after a long days work in the fields. This was a typical scene in cities like
Bakersfield, California following migration of people from the plains to the west to find a
new life after losing their farms during the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. The introduction of dust
bowl refugees to California helped pave the way for the emergence of the ‘Bakersfield Sound,’
a term used to describe the new type of country-folk music introduced to the west by migrant
musicians that brought their musical traditions with them. Experts agree that the dust bowl
migration was almost wholly responsible for the emergence of this new sound that had
significant impact on later country musicians.
Understanding the cultural impact of the migration of people from the plains states to
California during the Dust Bowl is crucial to understanding the birth of the Bakersfield Sound.
By 1940, 2.5 million people had left the plains. An estimated 200,000 people, mainly from
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, and Missouri, packed up their most prized
belongings and began the long, difficult journey to California. The Dust Bowl affected every
single type of person in that area. The migrants were “people from all walks of life…less than
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half were farmers, and many were by no means poor”(Gregory 12). California meant safety
from dust storms and related illnesses, and the promise of healthy farmland and work. Also,
positive media portrayal of California living and job opportunities made the influx of people
only continue to grow as the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression wore on. Californians did
not openly welcome the migrants. The cultural differences and increased job competition
caused great tension between the two groups and there existed a “mutual hostility of migrant
for local and local for migrant” (Stein 58). Many of these poor migrants set up camps along
the roadside after arriving in California, but after complaints from local governments and
hostility from locals, President Roosevelt’s Farm Security Administration built thirteen camps
that had self-governing communities and could hold up to three hundred families who worked
for their food and board. These camps helped lessen animosity between locals and migrants
and also became pivotal in allowing the ‘Okies,’ as they were nicknamed, to freely and safely
embrace their culture and more relevantly, play their distinctively unique music.
This music allowed the migrants to express their culture and led to regaining
confidence in their homeland once it became popular across the country. During this era the
Nashville music industry was the dominant source of country and became known for its focus
on lucrative, professional country music. Nashville producers focused on clean, formal
production and supported only artists that fell within their normal demographic, which is why
this new Okie country music was so revolutionary to the genre. It had a new, unpolished
sound and focused on music as something everyone could participate in and use as a creative
outlet for storytelling, stress relief, and fun. Local observers of the migrants found it
impossible to ignore “the importance of music in their leisure activities…music brought
people together in the labor camps”(Gregory 450). Not only was the sound completely
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different than its Nashville counterpart, the content was as well. The country music flowing
from Nashville at the time “retained a conservative core, celebrating traditional values like
family, church, nation, and work”(Haslam 10). Instead of following this pattern, migrants
used music as a way to reminisce about the homes they left behind, lament about struggles
they all could relate to, and explain their plight to local Californians. The average, mundane
topics usually utilized in country music were contrasted as “the honkytonk singers put fresh
colors on country music’s palette: chill blue of loss, the dull grey of loneliness, the fiery red of
illicit passion” (Russell 207). This new style of honky-tonk music began spreading like
wildfire across the west. It appealed to Californians with its notoriously infectious danceinspiring sound and also to Okies because “it communicated values and symbols which
meant a great deal to South westerners in California”(Gregory 458). This music quickly
became popular in bars and heard on radio stations and paved the path for the development of
the Bakersfield Sound. The new style gained fans quickly throughout the west and “by 1937
many [radio] station owners were convinced that they needed at least one singing cowboy to
round out their schedule”(Stein 56). Before the introduction of Dust Bowl refugees, this
‘cowboy-hillbilly’ sound had a miniscule following and often was seen as more of a
performance act than actual music. As people began loving the new music style, tensions
eased between locals and Okies, and the migrants began to gain confidence again in their
roots. They began to strongly identify with their music and even dress like the stereotypical
cowboy singer as they “learned a certain self confidence from the music,” a confidence that
helped them turn the “Okie” label from something negative to positive (Gregory 468). This
new musical style helped the migrants assimilate and paved the way for the emergence of the
Bakersfield Sound movement.
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The Maddox Brothers and Rose was one of the earliest groups to popularize this type
of music. Nicknamed “America’s Most Colorful Hillbilly Band,” the four Maddox brothers
and their sister Rose lived up to their title with vibrant ‘cowboy’ style outfits and upbeat tunes.
Californians loved the new sound, completely different from the “polished and lifeless tunes
coming out of Nashville”(travel magazine). Once their fame began to grow, Californian’s
stopped obsessing over the Nashville country as the Maddox Brother’s and Rose made “a lot
of the country music that followed seem awfully serious and dull” (Russell 251). They also
appealed to fellow Okies with their relatable lyrics about the migrant plight and own personal
life struggles. In 1933, the young musicians hitchhiked on railroads with their two
sharecropping parents from Alabama to California in hopes of a more promising future in the
west. All of the children showed musical talent from an early age, and they began playing as a
group in local honky tonk bars. Their big break happened when they first appeared on radio
KTRB Modesto in 1937. Their fame grew quickly and “by the late 1940s the Maddox
brothers and rose had a nationwide following”(Gregory 457). People responded
overwhelmingly positive to The Maddox Brothers and Rose new look, new sound and new
approach to music. As one of the earliest groups to play this new type of music, they had
significant influence on following musicians and country music as a whole.
This new genre has many specific musical and performance elements that made it
completely different than contemporary country music of the time. The Maddox Brothers and
Rose’s song, “Honky Tonkin,” released in 1965, but played much earlier by the band in many
performances, is one of my personal favorites. It embodies the perfect example of a honky
tonk country tune in many ways. The song urges its listeners to forget their worries and
instead enjoy the music and dance, a common message in Okie style songs. The opening
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lyrics “when you are sad and lonely... We'll go honky tonkin' round the town” perfectly
conveys this message. This message also describes the music’s social function within the
migrant population. Honky tonk music provided a way for Okies to get together, reminisce
about their homes, and forget their troubles. This song also shows the way The Maddox
Brothers and Rose changed country music by introducing the comedic aspect of storytelling
and performance that still holds true of country today. “What the record buyers and radio
listeners of New Deal America now demanded of their country music was that it tell them
stories,” which is exactly what they did through their music (Russell 156). In the chorus,
instead of focusing on the professional, choral sound of the music, Rose lets her voice
embody a stereotypical yodeling country western sound every time she sings “honky,” which
adds a comedic element characteristic of this group. Also, the call and response between Rose
as the lead singer and the brothers backing up with repeats, talking and laughing during
instrumental breaks, depicts something never seen before in the commercially clean type of
country coming out of Nashville. The laid back performance made the band seem more
personable, emphasizing that the music’s main purpose was enjoyment. They focused on the
care free nature of music and this attitude paved the way for future bands, exemplifying their
huge influence in making the migrant music famous as they became one of the first famous
bands playing music stapled as ‘Bakersfield Sound’.
The Bakersfield Sound truly emerged and peaked in popularity about twenty years
after the Dust Bowl migration, in the 1950s and 1960s. Buck Owens emerged as the most
influential Bakersfield Sound artist for a variety of reasons. Owens’ parents were both farmers
and like many families during the dustbowl, moved away from their home in Texas in 1937
and settled in Arizona. Owens learned music from a very early age because “Mrs. Owens also
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played the piano and…music provided some relief from a tough life” (Haslam 26). His
mother’s emphasis on the importance of music during his childhood led Buck to realize his
talent early on and he actually dropped out of school in the eighth grade to begin working and
pursuing his true passion, music. He taught himself to play the acoustic and steel guitar in
addition to the fiddle. In 1945, he teamed up with another guitarist named Theryl Ray Britten
and the pair began performing regularly on local radio stations. This gave Buck Owens his
true start as he became know in the public music sphere. During the late 1940s, Owens
performed at honky-tonk bars with the group Mac's Skillet Lickers. In 1951 he moved to
Bakersfield, California after visiting and falling in love with the music scene. Once in
Bakersfield, he briefly played with Bill Woods & The Orange Blossom Playboys before
forming his own band, The Schoolhouse Playboys. Owens credits Bakersfield with largely
influencing his music and called it his true home because of its role in forming his own
characteristic sound. He gained popularity during the 1950s when he contributed to a number
of singles produced by Capitol Records. In 1960 he was named the Most Promising Country
and Western Singer by Billboard, which proved true when Buck Owens and the Buckaroo’s
released their first number one hit in 1963, "Act Naturally.” Buck Owens fame only grew
from there and by 1965, “many people called him the Baron of Buckersfield” because of the
influence he had on the Bakersfield music scene (Sisk 101). Even as his stardom grew, his
music still retained the classic “exciting style that refused to abandon the Bakersfield base…
[and] he brought the central valley town with him to his heights” (Haslam 207). He also
joined Roy Clark as the front man for the TV show "Hee-Haw" in 1969, which featured
country music and rural humor. This show stressed the importance of comedy in music and
added to his fame as an increasing number or people became loyal fans of the show and
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subsequently, Buck Owens. “The ability of country musicians to laugh at themselves and their
culture has been a strain of humor at the heart of the genre historically” (Ellis). Hee-Haw
perfectly showed this and was a pivotal point in his career because it solidified Owens’ ability
to embrace this humor. Even with his talent and humor, Buck Owens would never have
achieved this level of fame without crucial supporting people like his talented guitar player
Don Rich and his laid back producer Ken Nelson. Nelson’s “hands off” approach embodied
the exact opposite of the Nashville system, and is what made Buck Owens sound so unique.
Without the normal restraints placed on so many other country musicians of the time, Owens
had the ability to embrace his Okie music roots and form a sound completely his own. With
the help of these people and his dedication to maintaining a distinctive sound, “Buck Owens
became the quintessential California country musician”(Haslam 216).
Buck Owens’, “My Heart Skips a Beat,” exemplifies the new elements and approach
of the Bakersfield Sound. Released in 1964, it became his third number one hit on the country
charts, spending seven weeks as number one. The picking style of guitar, instead of
strumming, in addition to the heavy drum beat and use of pedal steel guitar, contributes to the
‘rockabilly’ sound, a term used to describe the rock influenced hillbilly country style
Bakersfield Sound embodied. These stylistic choices depict something completely different
than anything before, and expanded on the ideas and sounds of previous honky tonk bands
like The Maddox Brothers and Rose. Also, before the time of lengthy guitar solos in rock
music, Buck Owens revolutionized country music with his mini breaks, like the one in this
song. He uses the steel pedal guitar for that rock sound so characteristic of his music as his
band hoots and cheers him on, in the similar style of The Maddox Brothers and Rose. The
conversational lyrics depict another unique characteristic of Buck Owens’ songs and the
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Bakersfield Sound approach to music. The song begins with the catchy chorus and then
breaks for the story before returning again to the chorus. This A-B-A pattern actually has
roots in classic twelve bar blues, showing how Owens fused a huge variety of musical styles
together. According to Buck Owens himself during an interview for a BBC documentary, he
“couldn’t understand the silky, syrupy stuff flowing out of Nashville” and wanted to invent a
unique sound from a fusion of country, rock, honky tonk and folk to create something that
“just made you want to shut up and dance” (BBC). His description perfectly shows everything
the Bakersfield Sound came to embody: a less polished country music style used for fun and
entertainment, not simply for commercial success or revenue generation. When “Buck Owens
is onstage, singing those songs, the years fall away. He is as energized by the audience as his
guitar is by electricity, and the young man in flight from the cotton fields is present
again”(Newsweek). This timeless energy in conjunction with revolutionary new approach to
music explains how his music had such a huge influence on later musicians of various types.
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Rascal Flatts and Donavon
Frankenreiter are some of the most famous bands clearly influenced by the Bakersfield Sound.
The Beatles adopted the Bakersfield call and response form in addition to its goal of wanting
to make people dance. After listening to Buck Owens, this influence became extremely clear,
especially when comparing his upbeat tunes like “I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail” with The
Beatles’ upbeat ones like “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The songs have similar guitar patterns
paired with duo vocalization harmonies that create danceable music. Also, they both utilize
guitar solo breaks with ‘happy’ riffs that are written in generally major chords. The Rolling
Stones, with songs like “Hang Fire,” take the next step away from country and more towards
hard rock, but still use aspects of the Bakersfield Sound. Their fast paced dance rhythms and
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heavy drums with complementing guitars have roots in the Bakersfield Sound style. The
Eagles also seem to have been influenced by Buck Owens. The bittersweet lyrics and slow
melody of Buck Owens’ “Together Again” is reminiscent of The Eagle’s “Tequila Sunrise.”
The Eagles retain more of the twangy country style than other Bakersfield-influenced bands.
Modern day bands like Rascal Flatts also have clear ‘rockabilly’ influence and retain musical
elements characteristic of the Bakersfield Sound. Rascal Flatts utilizes lyrics that fall in the
similar storytelling pattern as those of The Maddox Brothers and Buck Owens. For example,
in their song “She’d be California,” the colloquial verses resemble the Maddox Brother’s
“Small Town Mama,” both idealizing a specific ‘small-town’ woman through descriptive
verses and catchy, upbeat choruses. Also Rascal Flatts is known for their rock-country sound
with guitar solos and dance style music that clearly draws inspiration from Bakersfield Sound
musicians. Donavon Frankenreiter is a modern day musician that fuses country, folk, and rock
in a style similar to Buck Owens. After recently seeing him perform live, I think he perfectly
represents a modern musician largely influenced by the Bakersfield Sound. Wearing cowboy
boots and a turquoise studded western guitar strap, he alternated between mellow folk songs
and more danceable tunes, most with positive messages of moving forward through strife.
Owens’ song “Love’s Gonna Live Here” and Frankenreiter's “Life, Love, and Laughter” have
similar messages and show this connection. Frankenreiter is a solid example of how fans of
Buck Owens still incorporate his style into their music today. In addition to these central
musicians previously analyzed, there are countless groups influenced by the Bakersfield
Sound including the Grateful Dead, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Desert Rose
Band, Dwight Yoakam, Dave Alvin, The Mavericks, and many more. The Bakersfield Sound
influence reaches beyond country, it was a movement that left an impact on music in general.
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In addition to affecting musicians and their music style, the concentration of musicians
in Bakersfield, California also helped the local economy. When migrants first began moving
to Bakersfield, it stimulated the economy of this small town that the Great Depression had
taken a major toll on. This stimulation continued and as a result, many small guitar companies
set up shop in Bakersfield in the 1960s as musicians continued to settle there because of the
city’s musical focus. Soon Bakersfield was widely know not only for its famous musicians,
but also for these music shops and how they transformed this poor town into a musical oasis.
In 2012 the Country Music Hall of Fame opened an exhibit dedicated to the Bakersfield
Sound and its importance. The exhibit highlights the origins of this music type, the effects on
Bakersfield County, famous musicians of the movement, and its impact on later music.
The Bakersfield Sound had a lasting influence on music and steered it in a direction
that it may never have taken. Without the Dust Bowl and musical traditions brought by Okie
migrants to California, the Bakersfield Sound probably would never have emerged and
country music today may be drastically altered. Famous Bakersfield sound artists, including
The Maddox Brothers and Rose and Buck Owens, both had unique musical stylistic and
performance elements that made them revolutionary to music during this era. These artists
had lasting effects on music that still carry through the country music scene today.
So, next time you step into a local bar on country music night, imagine yourself
transported back seventy years in the past to a honky tonk bar in California watching some
Okie band and the birth of the Bakersfield Sound. Maybe those characteristic guitar solos and
dance rhythms of the country-pop tune playing would never have become emerged without
Bakersfield music. Or perhaps the band in the music video being played above the bar would
not be proudly wearing cowboy hats and boots without the Maddox Brothers and Rose first
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sporting that apparel. Remember as you tap your foot, sip on a beer, and sing along to your
most beloved country tune, that every song played on the speakers may have never existed
without those crucial beginnings and the Dust Bowl migration.
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