Third Generation 1950s-1960s

A melting pot By the early 1950s most country bands were playing a mix of Western swing and honky tonk. The musical influences from the southwestern U.S. (cowboy ballads) and northern region of Mexico (this form of music was known as Tejano or Tex-Mex music) rose in popularity.

Down in the West Texas…. El Paso, a ballad recorded by Marty Robbins in 1959 is a perfect examples of this blending of cultures. – Activity: Listen to an excerpt from El Paso What parts of this track sound particularly ‘cowboyish’? Where can you hear the Spanish influence?

Rockabilly You’ve seen Walk The Line. Based on the scenes depicted in the film, describe what is rockabilly.

Rockabilly Rockabilly was a mixture of rock-and-roll and hillbilly music. Elvis Presley’s songs during this time period can be considered rockabilly. – The 2 nd, 3 rd,4 th songs on the billboard charts of 1956 were Elvis tunes.

African American influence In speaking of rhythm and blues, Elvis is noted as attributing to African American musicians that have “been singin’ and playin’ it just the way I’m doin’ it now for more years than I know…my stuff is just hopped-up country.”

Rockabilly During this time country gained national exposure on ABC’s Ozark Jubilee ( ) from Springfield Missouri. – The show showcased top Rockabilly artists. – Shows like the Ozark Jubilee opened up country music to a wide audience. Radio and television transcended regional and geographic boundaries. Now longer was a sound confined to one particular area.

The Nashville Sound From the mid 1950s – 1960s Nashville established itself as a dominate force in country music. The Nashville sound turned into a multimillio- dollar industry

4 th Generation 1970s-1980s

Outlaw Country To sum it up, angry, alienated country music Notable Artist: – Hank Williams JR – Willie Nelson – Waylon Jennings

Pop Country Term was first used to describe country musicians that were being played on the top 40 radio. – John Denver – Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers

5 th Generation

A New Age of Country Country music really became popular in the 1990s. New FCC regulations added more high-fidelity (better quality) FM stations to rural areas. More stations developed and many other stations moved from Am to FM radio

A New Age With more country stations emerging there was a wider audience for country. As rock music continued to become louder and less melodic (Nirvana, Metallica, etc…) some of the traditional rock influence along with musicians drifted over into country. This new electric country was nicknamed “New Country”

With all these factors coming together, country music became a worldwide phenomenon.

Notable Artist Billy Ray Cyrus – While in Thornsburg’s opinion a ‘one-hit wonder’, Achey Breaky Heart was a popular song for a while. Business in the front Party in the back

Notable Artist You can’t talk about 90s country without talking about Garth Brooks who has sold over 113 million albums. Clint Black, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, and Brooks & Dunn

6 th & 7 th Generations

6 th Generation Not a lot to say. Alison Krauss was kind of cool.

7 th Generation You tell me.