"Seems like it used to be called Country and Western"

While this did happen in certain places across the land, the term was never really nationwide. The following are the facts as I recall them:

Back in the 40's there were basically 3 kinds of music that concerns this discussion:

1. Hillbilly

2. Western (which many called "Cowboy")

3. Popular (They abhored both the above, particularly hillbilly music!)

During the late 50's and 60's, the "hillbilly" stigma was simply too much for stars like Eddy Arnold, etc. to deal with. Engagemtents by these stars at places like Carnegie Hall put them in dire straights psychologically.

Also, "cowboy" music was often associated (wrongly IMO) with hillbilly music). This included stars like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, etc. I personally hated this music because most (like the Sons of the Pioneers), rarely used a steel and if they did, it was the ole "pick and slide up one fret" dingy like Gene Autry's player.

So, those in the power, decided to do something about it. There had already been a small insurgence with the coined "Rockabilly" title. As a result of the new kid on the block, "Elvis" debacle. But it really never took off (in name).

When the term "country" was adopted by the mostly Nashville bunch, there was a cry and yell from the "western" folks. Particularly on the west coast. This included the "western swing" group. Because most of these had NOT indeed hailed from the "country". And there has always been some competitivenss between "the Nashville" boys and western swingers.

So, while Country was more or less the unofficial "official" answer to the hillbilly stigma, there was some inroads with the "appeased" phrase "Country and Western".

But it really never become nationwide. So the term Country and Western just more or less faded. It is still used and said by some. But rarely is it ever said in officialdom. In addition, most marketers will tell you that a one word phrase is always preferable to multiple words. IE, coke, Tacos, Beetle (Volksvagen), Emmons', etc, etc.

Or that is my recollection. I stand corrected if any the above is in error.

There may be more money around in 'country music' nowadays, but that's because it's evolved along with all the various media that are exploited in its promotion, and has embraced a broader demographic in the process.

Don't tell me that Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, Merle and all the rest weren't in it for the money - I won't buy that. Guys of my age (60) and older grew up with that stuff, so we love it, and we understandably feel nostalgic about it. I'm pleased there's Dale Watson and Justin Trevino doing the 'retro' music - I love it - but we're not putting it on the charts, are we?

As for the current output, Joe Nichols' 'Brokenheartsville' sounds pretty good to me - he has a pleasing vocal style, he's good-looking (just like all those older guys I mentioned earlier used to be!), and it's played beautifully. Plenty of steel, too - sounds country to me. A little smoother than it used to be, but that's not a crime. I like AJ, too. I admit there aren't many that I'm crazy about, but there weren't many as good as Merle in his day, either, and it's unrealistic to pretend that it was all wonderful music forty or so years ago.

IMHO,
hahahaha.
Melinda

[This message was edited by Melinda Dauley on 07 March 2003 at 05:26 PM.]

Todays country may or may not be crap,but i dont like it so I dont listen to it. I can always find some good music ,on my C D s .

Aint it strange ;;Everyone has his own slant on it, COUNTRY MISIC

My brother, Jake, has long since left this world, but I never see or hear Merle without thinking of him. So, I think of him nearly every day. You talk about a gift that keeps on giving...

I imagine if he were alive today he'd be an Alan Jackson fan too.

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HagFan

There's probably a reference somewhere where the term "Country Music" and "Country and Western" were first used. I've got a feeling it was actually created at some point (probably by some record executive from New York City) in order to separate it from other Pop Music.

In Tenn. when I was growing up as kid in the 50s, everybody called the old music we played with fiddles, mandolins, guitars and banjers hillbilly music or mountain music. "Wildwood Flower" was a standard. I don't remember many people calling any music Bluegrass. That was way up in Kentucky. We considered most of what we heard on the Grand Ole Opry to be hillbilly music even if Bill Monroe was playing it. If Ernest Tubb or Tex Ritter was singing, however, it was cowboy music or western music. Don't forget that there was also Cajun music, which came in on the Louisiana Hayride radio show out of New Orleans or Baton Rouge,

I forget which. Mixed in with all of this in the mid-fifties came rock & roll. That was Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis and the Everly Brothers. Nobody called it rockabilly, although we considered Jerry Lee and Elvis the the Everlys to be fellow hillbillies. They were just doing a hopped up kind of music.