There are multitudes of music genres in today's musical world. Country music is truly one of my favorites and so I thought I would bring a little bit of country history to the forefront. If you don't know very much about country music suffice it to say that all country songs tell a tale. It has been said that these songs are about our lives, who we are and where we came from. It developed two of the very best selling solo musical artists of all time in the United States. Elvis Presley's early career was certainly country hillbilly music and he happened to become one of the defining figures in the birth of Rock n Roll. Garth Brooks is the second bestselling solo artist in United States history and has a very well liked show in Las Vegas. That's a reasonably amazing start. Going back in history, however, we discover that it goes back to the early 1920's in America and it has its roots in classic folk music, Celtic music, Blues, Bluegrass and Gospel music. Early country music was termed "Hillbilly" music however the terminology changed to Country Music in the early 1940's. In its beginnings, Country music was pure American; the country music viewers were American, its performers were American and its tone was American.
1925 ushered in the era of the "Singing Cowboy" when the very first cowboy song was recorded by Carl T. Sprague. The full public attention towards the singing cowboy wasn't really identified until talking movies starring Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter and even a young John Wayne became popular in the 1930's. John Wayne, however, didn't actually sing, he just played the movie part of the cowboy while someone else presented the singing voice. But he was off to an incredible movie career. With the introduction of Television to the American people, the time of the singing cowboy movies ended in the 1950's. Gene Autry and Roy Rogers continued their roles as "singing cowboys" in some of the first western series produced for television. In the film Toy Story 2, "Woody's Roundup" was shown as a depiction of one of those first television series.
The 1960's introduced alterations and diversity to the country music genre as Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, June Carter Cash, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Marty Robbins, Eddie Arnold and others became the Country music stars. Quite a few of the country songs recorded in the 1960's crossed over to the Pop charts incorporating another music culture to the country sound. Several country music singers employed their songwriting skills for both themselves and other artists. Kris Kristopherson wrote countless songs for country artists, however, he also wrote "Me and Bobby McGee" which Janis Joplin made popular before her untimely death. A very well liked Elvis song "Kentucky Rain" was composed by Eddie Rabbitt; another excellent country music songwriter. Eddie Rabbitt also wrote songs for films such as the title song for "Every Which Way but Loose" starring Clint Eastwood. The 70's and 80's brought brand new changes to the scene. With the popularity of the film "Urban Cowboy" in 1980 starring John Travolta, artists like Barbara Mandrell, Alabama, the Oak Ridge Boys, The Bellamy Brothers, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and George Strait became very popular among many more in the that field. Everybody wanted to be a cowboy. As the times have changed, country music has reinvented itself to fit to these changing times. To name just a few, performers like Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Reba McIntyre, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts are all making their mark on the country music scene.
In closing, listen closely to the words of the songs...hear the stories about life and discover if you can locate a little bit of yourself and your life in these amazing songs.
1925 ushered in the era of the "Singing Cowboy" when the very first cowboy song was recorded by Carl T. Sprague. The full public attention towards the singing cowboy wasn't really identified until talking movies starring Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter and even a young John Wayne became popular in the 1930's. John Wayne, however, didn't actually sing, he just played the movie part of the cowboy while someone else presented the singing voice. But he was off to an incredible movie career. With the introduction of Television to the American people, the time of the singing cowboy movies ended in the 1950's. Gene Autry and Roy Rogers continued their roles as "singing cowboys" in some of the first western series produced for television. In the film Toy Story 2, "Woody's Roundup" was shown as a depiction of one of those first television series.
The 1960's introduced alterations and diversity to the country music genre as Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, June Carter Cash, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Marty Robbins, Eddie Arnold and others became the Country music stars. Quite a few of the country songs recorded in the 1960's crossed over to the Pop charts incorporating another music culture to the country sound. Several country music singers employed their songwriting skills for both themselves and other artists. Kris Kristopherson wrote countless songs for country artists, however, he also wrote "Me and Bobby McGee" which Janis Joplin made popular before her untimely death. A very well liked Elvis song "Kentucky Rain" was composed by Eddie Rabbitt; another excellent country music songwriter. Eddie Rabbitt also wrote songs for films such as the title song for "Every Which Way but Loose" starring Clint Eastwood. The 70's and 80's brought brand new changes to the scene. With the popularity of the film "Urban Cowboy" in 1980 starring John Travolta, artists like Barbara Mandrell, Alabama, the Oak Ridge Boys, The Bellamy Brothers, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and George Strait became very popular among many more in the that field. Everybody wanted to be a cowboy. As the times have changed, country music has reinvented itself to fit to these changing times. To name just a few, performers like Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Reba McIntyre, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts are all making their mark on the country music scene.
In closing, listen closely to the words of the songs...hear the stories about life and discover if you can locate a little bit of yourself and your life in these amazing songs.
