American country music originated primarily with immigrants from the British Isles, the same people who gave the world whiskey in its various forms, appropriately enough! Country music has been called the white man’s blues, the music of the common man, and three chords and the truth. Waylon Jennings said something to the effect that the difference between country music, gospel, and rock’n’roll is that they are about one beat apart from one another.
A number of excellent books address this musical genre. In my opinion, the best and most comprehensive is “Country Music USA” from the University of Texas Press. Bill C. Malone wrote the original version as his doctoral dissertation, then published it as a book in 1968. He updated it in 1984. I used that new version at that time to create a 12-hour history of country music on the radio during my borderline-illustrious and lowly-lucrative broadcasting career.
Now retired from his long career as a history professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, La., Malone left it to Jocelyn R. Neal to supplement the next quarter-century for the 2010 updated version of the book. It is well worth the cover price.
Are you a country music fan? See how you fare on this country music history trivia quiz…
Questions of the Week
- Who is the “Father of Country Music”?
- What is the “First Family of Country Music”?
- Leonard Slye of The Sons of the Pioneers achieved greater fame as a solo singing cowboy actor under what alliterative silver screen name?
- In the 1930s, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys mixed cowboy music with the jazz music then popular. What was the two-word name for this blend of music called? (Either of two answers is acceptable.)
- Bill Monroe became the Father of Bluegrass, forming his own band in 1938. However, this pioneer of the three-finger banjo solidified the definition of bluegrass, joining the Blue Grass Boys in1945.
- What is the two-word name for the style of barroom country music emerging in the 1940s, with themes of drinking and divorce enhanced by fiddle and steel guitar?
- This much-admired and often-imitated singer wore rhinestone suits and placed four hit songs in country music’s top ten at the same time in the 1950s. Who is he?
- Which decade is the only one that Billboard used the term “Country and Western” for all ten years?
- This combination of rhythm and blues and hillbilly music took the world by storm in the mid-1950s. What was its unique name?
- In answer to rock’n’roll’s tremendous popularity, the country music industry watered itself down to the country-pop “Nashville Sound.” Its acknowledged founder was this long-time head of RCA Records’ Nashville Division.
Answers of the Week
1. Jimmie Rodgers, 2. Carter, 3. Roy Rogers, 4. Western Swing or Texas Swing, 5. Earl Scruggs, 6. Honky tonk, 7. Lefty Frizzell, 8. The 1950s, 9. Rockabilly, 10. Chet Atkins