Evolution Of Country Music Essay

The Evolution of country music throughout the 20th century Do you ever enjoy listening to music to relieve stress or just in general? Many of us do, but have you ever thought about how your favorite music genre evolved over the years to what you listen to today? Well country music has a really complicated and interesting history of how it evolved throughout the 20th century.

1920s

The music genre was first called country and western music and emerged in Bristol, Tennessee during the 1920s. Country music was known as hillbilly music. It was influenced by African American style music. Eck Robertson sang the very first country song ever called Sallie Gooden which was recorded on July 1, 1922 in New york which was played with a fiddle.

Two legends started to appear which were Elvis Presley and Johnny cash. Johnny Cash recorded his first songs, “Hey Porter '' and “Cry! Cry! Cry!” He became more popular and began to make other famous songs which include Ring of fire, Jakson, and I Walk the Line which was his first number one hit song. Elvis Presley made his debut on July 19, 1954 singing ‘That's all Right’. From that point on he made a very big impact on the music industry not just in country, but also in Rock n Roll. His most popular country song was “I forgot to remember to forget.” At the end of his life he had 18 no.1 hits in the United States. As well as getting over 150 gold, and platinum awards. Sadly Elvis passed away from a heart attack at the age of forty two on August 16, 1977 in Memphis, Tennessee.

1960s

The 1960s is what most people believe was the peak of country music. During this time Nashville began to turn country music into a multi million dollar industry. Western music also started to merge with country music. In 1967 was the first CMA awards which stands for Country Music Awards where Eddie Arnold won the first entertainer of the year. Just a year later in 1968, it began to be televised.

It started with the use of music videos making the music more popular. The decade had a new refined style of music which created a lot of diversity. A new generation emerged that would sing pop-like country songs. Like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, and Faith Hill that would be the first to promote the new style of music. For example, ”Arkansas Traveler”, “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”, and Sallie Gooden.” While there were some wanting to evolve the genre others wanted to keep country music to its traditional sound. Which included Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, and George Strait.

21st Century Although country music has evolved for the entire 20th century, it is counting to change as we move on into the 21st century. Many artists that were popular in the 90s and 80s are still singing. As well as songs and albums all the way back from when the new genre was just starting are still being played to this day. With the most popular songs now being, “It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere” by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet, “One More Day” by Diamond Rio, and “Troubadour” by George Strait. Now the industry is getting placed into the new and upcoming artists to help improve and evolve country music.