Big Blog #1- Early Country music

 I am going to be discussing early Country music's origin and what instruments are used as well as what the vocals sound like in the songs. I will also discuss some early country singers that you may or may not have heard of. 
   Country music originated in different rural parts of the South and West in the early 20th century. At one point in history, it was referred to as hillbilly music, but this is seen as a  derogatory term. By 1949 that term was replaced with "Country and western music" but later just called country music. Depending on the accent of the person, the songs in country music might be hard to understand sometimes. According to https://www.britannica.com/art/country-music,  the roots from country music include ballads, dance tunes and folk songs as well as songs from different settlers in the Appalachian Mountains that were English, Scottish, and Irish. The origin also came from blue-collar and working-class Americans. Early Country music shared a lot of similar components with Folk Tales in that both were usually performed live with various instruments. Lots of early songs would tell a story within the lyrics which is how it is like  Folk Tales. Early country music also featured the fiddle and guitar for the main instruments and included the banjo, harmonica, or mandolin for the background. Vocals were usually just one person or harmony. 

    I'm going to go into depth with a few artists, but some early country musicians include Jimmie Rodgers, (father of country music and superstar) Hank Williams, Dave Macon (Banjo player), Jenny Lou Carson (First female artist to write a number one hit) and Patsy Montana (First female country artist to sell 1 million records). (Wikipedia)

Guitar and Fiddle 

The first person who recorded country Fiddle music was singer John Carson from the 1920s. The lyrics recorded were not written about personal feelings and often about various tragedies. John Carson (1868-1949) was born in Georgia and learned to play the Fiddle by using an old violin. In 1923, John Carson was known as the first Country music singer who recorded lyrics. Store owner, Polk Brockman watched a video of John Carson playing the fiddle because he was needing to get someone to record a song for a record company. According to, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlin%27_John_Carson, He recorded three songs called ""The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" and "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going To Crow." During Carson's career, he recorded 150 songs but dealt with a lot of copyright issues. Here is a video of an old recording of him singing "The Little Old Log Cabin in The Lane". In the background of the song, you can hear him playing the fiddle. The lyrics can be found here to the song. As you can hear, the song tells a story as it is being sung which was a pretty common form of music in those days. 

  

Gid Tanner 

  Another important early country singer was Gid Tanner. He like his rival John Carson played the fiddle and was one of the first Country music singers in the business. Gid Tanner had his own band from the 1920s-1930s called the Skillet Lickers. Tanner and Carson would participate in Fiddle competitions and most of the time when one of them would not win, the other one would. According to Wikipedia, Gid Tanner's first recording was from 1926 in Atlanta called "Hand Me Down my Walking Cane". Altogether, the group recorded more 100 songs released by Columbia and Bluebird record companies. A lot of the songs that the band recorded are still very popular now in present day. Some of the songs include Old Joe Clark, Down Yonder and Bite Them Cabbage Down. Here is a video recording of Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers singing Shortening Bread. Like in the previous video, you can hear the fiddle all throughout and the song sounds like a folk tale. 

    My two previous examples were examples of two very early musicians from the 1920s that started Country music. My last example is going to be about the Carter Family. They had impact on a variety of musical genres including country, southern gospel, and bluegrass. The original group was made up of members Sara Carter, her husband A.P. Carter and sister-in-law Maybelle. They were around for many years and were a family involved group. They sang a lot of Appalachian folk songs and recorded them. The folk songs that had been around for generations soon became known as Carter songs. Allmusic.com says, Maybelle played a Gibson-L5 guitar with brass strings. Sara usually played a second guitar or a harp and A.P sung baritone. Some of their songs are: "Wabash Cannonball, I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes, John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man, Wildwood Flower, and Keep on the Sunny Side." Because of the Great Depression, they had trouble booking gigs to play. The marriage between Sara and A.P. begin to suffer as well but they still recorded songs together. Over the years, Sara and A.P. were on and off romantically but still performed and recorded for Victor, Decca, Columbia, and a few other labels. They disbanded the group twice and performed with their grown children at a concert in 1952. 

Here is a recording of "Keep on the Sunny Side". This song is about looking at the positives in life even though you may have trouble. Darkness will eventually go away and it helps make your day better by looking at the positives in life. This song has some harmony, and you can hear the guitars very prominently in the song. The women sing this song mainly as opposed to A.P being the leader. Some parts of the song are particularly hard to understand because of the country accents so I attached a lyric video below. 

Finally, for my last example of the Carter Family, here is their song performed live "Can The Circle Be Unbroken" featuring Johnny Cash who married June Carter. I loved that the audience sang along, it shows how loved The Carter Family was. I love how they all were in harmony and I love the guitar in it.  The meaning of the song talks about how great it will be to be in Heaven with a loved one but also missing them. 

Here is that same song but a recorded version so you can hear it sung live and recorded. I hope you enjoyed my blog and learned something new. 

Britannica. “Country Music.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/art/country-music. 

“The Carter Family: Biography & History.” AllMusic, www.allmusic.com/artist/the-carter-family-mn0000051910/biography. 

“Fiddlin' John Carson.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlin%27_John_Carson.

“Gid Tanner.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gid_Tanner.

“List of Country Performers by Era.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_performers_by_era.  

“Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane.” Bluegrass Lyrics, 16AD, https://www.bluegrasslyrics.com/song/little-old-log-cabin-in-the-lane/