country roots of rock
TRANSCRIPT
Country & Western Roots of Rock and Roll
Original Folk/CountryEarly Sources: English Scottish
BalladsFolk Song Collector Francis James
Child, found English ballads. Published 1882-98
Childs Ballads often referred to by number
Early Irish Settlers kept music alive
Appalachian Mountain BalladsOld Songs Kept Alive by Mountain
SettlersJean Ritchie, dulcimer, Sang
Songs With Her FamilyBA Sociology, Moved to New York
1946Brought Her Family Songs To
NYC: Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Oscar Brand
Jean Ritchie & Dulcimer
1st Country Recording1922 Eck Robertson & Henry
Gilliland recorded Turkey in the Straw (Zip Coon)
1923 Ralph Peer recorded on location he discovered Fiddlin’ John Carson
1927 Peer recorded in Bristol TN & discovered the Carter Family & Jimmie Rodgers
The Carter FamilyOne of the Most Popular Acts
from 1927-1936.Broke up in 1936, Maybelle
Carter performed with her Daughters
Maybelle Carter, thumb-brush guitar style
June Carter became a regular Grand Ole Opry
Married Johnny Cash
Jimmie RodgersFather of Country Music, The
Singing Brakeman.Worker on the railroad, collected
African-American songs from workers
Blue Yodel, or T For Texas (blues without the response)
Died 1933 at age 35
Country HarmonyThe Sound of Country Harmony
likely came from Shaped-Note Singing (Sacred Harp)
Religious Songbooks used different shaped notes to indicate harmony.
Shaped-Note Music
Barn Dance Radio ShowsNational Barn Dance, WLS
Chicago, 1924Grand Ole Opry, WSM Nashville,
1925National Life & Accident
InsuranceWSM = We Shield MillionsSeveral Locations, 1940 The
Ryman Auditorium1970s Opry House, Opryland
Hotel & Convention Center
Western Music/Cowboy SongsJohn Lomax, Cowboy Songs and
Other Frontier Ballads (1911)1st Recorded Cowboy Song Carl T
Sprague, When The Work’s All Done This Fall
The Hollywood Singing Cowboy, Sons of the Saddle (1930)
John Wayne started as Singing Cowboy (1933)
Western Music cont.Singing Cowboys:Gene Autrey, 1935 a serial The
Phantom Empire (outer space and cowboys).
Roy Rogers (Leonard Sly) Song of the Pioneers led to Movie & TV Career with Dale Evans.
Both Autrey and Rogers had TV Shows
Western SwingA Combination of Swing and
CowboyString Band with Trumpets,
Saxophones, and Drums1931 Burrus Mill & Elevator
Company started the Light Crust Doughboys
Bob Wills & the Playboys; Bob Wills left the Doughboys in 1931 and formed the Playboys
BluegrassA Stylized version of Old Time Country
musicInstrumentation: Fiddle, Mandolin, Banjo,
Guitar, String BassVocals feature high male harmony, High
Lonesome SoundMonroe considered Father of BluegrassMonroe Brothers recorded 60 songs
19363-8Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys
formed 1939 played Grand Ole Opry
BluegrassWell-Known Bluegrass: Stanley
Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs
Honky TonkOrigin of the term is vague:1889 there was a theater in Ft Worth, TX called Honky Tonk TheaterTexas/Oklahoma Bar featuring
music Move off Farm for Urban
Employment & Breakdown of Family Structure
Honky Tonk cont.Bands: Steel Guitar & Fiddle are
Featured Themes: Alcohol, Adultery, Lost
Love, Loneliness Floyd Tillman, Hank Williams,
George Jones, Ernst Tubb, Hank Thompson