Country Music
and the Myth of
the American West
| Preface | |
| Medieval | |
| Immigrant's Music | |
| Early Country Music | |
| Commercialization | |
| Genres |
Preface
Country
music, this special kind of music so many people, not only in the United
States but all over the world, love and so many people hate or assign to
would-be cowboys and shabby truckers drinking cheap beer and smoking Marlboro
cigarettes. Indeed many people I asked for what they think of country music
think of cowboys, lassos, wild horses, square dance and lots of other more
or less stereotypes connected to the old American West.
My
Oxford Dictionary is more precise and points to "country and western"(1)
at the headword country music. This is great, because the title of this
essay also includes the term "west". This is what the dictionary says under
the headword "country and western": "rural or cowboy songs originating
in the US, and usu. accompanied by guitar etc"(1).
There they are: the main phrases concerning country music: the cowboy,
the guitar and - of course - the country, paraphrased as "rural".
But
what are these phrases or what do they stand for? Where do they come from?
Is it only stereotypes, or is this really the basic structure of this special
kind of music? These are only a few questions I will try to find an answer
to with this essay. I also will try to figure out what the country music-cowboy
has in common with the real cowboy who lived centuries ago and nowadays
is a main part of the myth of the American West. I will try to present
a historical development of this kind of music from the earliest possible
point of time, and will also try to point out the influences from the past.
To
shorten this a little, the main questions of this essay are: What, if at
all, does country music has to do not only with the concepts and ideals
of the myth, but also with the real American West? Which are real influences
from former times and which only stereotypes used to create an image? Because
of this the by far biggest chapter will be "Development",
which is divided in several subcategories.
For
an introduction I think it would be good to point out what the main concepts
and images of the myth of the American West basically are, since I am going
to compare them with the ones of country music later on.
First
of all I have to say there is no, and in my opinion there cannot be a clear
definition of what is part of the myth of the American West and what not,
because it is more than just a set of stories, icons or persons. It rather
is a concept of ideas and opinions carried on within culture, and somehow
the whole history, society and ideology of the US is connnected and related
to it and also bases on it. This, for example, is expressed by former American
presidents using the image of the Frontier for their campaigns, like J.F.Kennedy
did, or Ronald Reagan, who in the case of important decisions identified
himself with John Wayne, a famous Western movie actor.(6)
When
people think about the American West or the "Wild West", they think of
cowboys, they think of indians fighting against cowboys, they might also
think of the Frontier in general, the railroad, the wagon trails of the
settlers or famous icons like Daniel Boone.
All
these figures and icons are more or less created by the phantasy of writers
like James Fenimore Cooper or painters like Frederic Remington, who created
them much later than they actually lived or happened. They were not "on
location" and thus had to rely on stories and tellings of others.
But
they had the force to present their images to a broad audience. These images
of the West underwent a process of transformation and they were influenced
by persononal opinions and ideological concepts of society (see:"What
is a Myth?" on this topic). Nevertheless these images and icons have
influenced the opinion of most people about the American West, they are
widely accepted and of course they have also influenced people who created
and developed country music.
Unfortunately
country music, as it is today, is said to have begun in the early 1920s,
with the first country music records, like the two-song record by "Fiddlin'
John Carson" in 1923(2). Too late to have been influenced
by the old American West, one might think. But this is a mistake, because
1923 is, if at all, only the beginning of commercial country music, since
it was the first time a country music record had become a hit. This leads
to an important question: What is country music? Is it only the 'new' form,
which is defined and created by labels of the record industry, or the traditional
music which was played by regular, mostly rural people in the past? I think
we have to look at this as a whole. In the end commercial country music
developed out of traditional music, it just has been shaped more clearly
due to commercial needs of marketing and categorization.
It
is a difficult, if not impossible task to point out the beginning of something
like country music, because music exists as long as mankind. Music in general
has developed within countless centuries. Interesting herein is the beginning
of country music in America, especially the United States, and as most
of American history and culture does, music was brought there by the immigrants
from overseas, especially from the British Isles.
Medieval
In
medieval Great Britain, and Europe in general, there was the profession
of the bard, who acted as an entertainer as well as a historian by going
from town to town singing and telling news and stories. There are similarities
not only between the rhyme schemes of the bard's songs and country music
today, but also between the content of the songs, which in both cases concentrate
on love, death, heart-ache and so on. A similar concept in the American
South was the so called "event song", "a ballad chronicling the major news
stories of the day"(3). With the upcoming of the
minstrel in the 17th century a new concept of music was created, which
was an important requirement for country music: the idea to use "music
as a form of recreation and release"(3), one of
the main ideas of country music nowadays.
A
paragraph found in (3) describes this very good:
"...the songs primary purpose was to elict an emotional response. The singer's
intention was to move those listening, release them from their troubles
and ease their anguish by taking them out of themselfes. Some might say
not much has changed in 400 years." I think this is true: although specific
subjects of the songs might have changed, the main intention is still the
same.
Immigrant's
Music
In
the late 18th century many people had emigrated from Europe to America.
In the Appalachians the concentration of immigrants from the British Isles,
especially of Scotch and Irish origin, was very high. Appalachia can be
seen as the cradle of country music, because the immigrant's music was
the music
The
immigrants had brought not only their music with them, but also their instruments
like the fiddle.
The
fiddle became the instrument of choice in the 19th century, especially
during the settler's movement westwards, because it was just easy to carry
and it was possible to express different moods from melancholy to exuberance
with it. Later on the guitar was preferred among the musicians, who liked
this instrument even more, because it was not as high pitched as the fiddle
and thus more suitable for accompanying singers. With the guitar, which
became popular not until mass production had lowered the prices and thus
made it possible for rural people to afford it, it was also very easy to
play rhytmic tunes, "... a possibility which would move the music closer
to the sound and feel that characterizes what we today know to be country
music"(3).
Early
Country Music
Since
the middle of the 18th century in America there were traveling shows. These
shows, for example minstrel or medicine shows, always featured music, which
was a mixture of the popular American music by this time. These shows brought
new songs and ideas to the rural parts of the land, especially the South,
and influenced musicians in the way they played their music. Musicians
were also influenced by religious music which, again mainly in the South,
was developed in so called "tent revival circuits". Preachers went across
the land "spreading the word of the Savior and whipping crowds into a frenzy
[...] combinig charismatic sermonizing with emotionally urgent hymns."(4)
These hymns' main theme was of course the end of the world and people living
in sin. These themes were reflected by the lyrics of country music by that
time, which mainly featured the tragedies of live and other, mostly Christian
themes.
All
these influences were of course not separated from each other, so there
were mixtures and variations of music across America. Especially in the
rural South music developed more and more towards the country music, we
know today. During the 19th century the so called "sting bands" emerged,
music groups which combined all sorts of instruments that were played by
this time: the guitar of course, banjo, fiddle, mandolin and other string
instruments. The srting bands were very important for the development of
country music because of two reasons: it was the first time the traditional
music was transformed into something new, and the music they played was
the first to be broadcasted live in a new media called radio in the early
1920s. Because of its origins this string band music was called "mountain"
or "hillbilly music"(4).
Commercialization
Radio
stations in the 1920s were hungry for live performances of country singers
and string bands, because their popularity grew. Popularity of West-related
themes in general increased, for example in movies, where a new genre,
the "Western" attracted more and more people. Radio stations arranged so
called "barn dance" shows. The most famous of these shows was the "Grand
Ole Opry", which nowadays is still celebrated and has become one of the
most important country music concerts. Thanks to the radio, country music
became one of the most listened music during the following years and "people
came literally out of the hills to audition"(4)
concerts of country musicians. The said to be most important recordings
of this era were made in Bristol during the so called "Bristol Sessions"(4).
Some of the most famous figures of country music, for example Jimmie Rodgers
and the Carter Family, started their career there.
Genres
The
music which was created and recorded during the beginning of commercial
country music was very much influenced by the traditional music which was
brought there by the immigrants in former times and which was still played
in the rural South. It featured the same instruments, like the fiddle,
as well as the same lyrics. With the start of commercialization different
genres of country music developed, which seems logical to me, because the
recording industry of course wanted to satisfy different tastes of customers
and thus supported different styles and movements in country music. This
chapter is to show only some important genres, which more or less are related
to the American West.
Cowboy
One
of the first genres of country music which developed was Cowboy.
In the 1920s there theme of the Wild West was very much exploited - especially
in movies and on records. People were fascinated by the ideal of the lonesome
cowboy, riding across the prairie and sitting - and of course singing -
around the campfire. "The sons of the Pioneers", Roy Rodgers and Gene Autry
were very famous contributors of this genre. Due to the popularity of the
Wild West theme country music in general grew in popularity as well.
Western
Swing
Country
music was of course not separated from other genres of music and so it
was influenced by them. For example by jazz music, which happened mostly
in Texas and Oklahoma. Western Swing bands like "The Texas Playboys"
or the "Musical Brownies" profited of the improvisational abilities of
their members - which is a main feature of jazz music. Also the band's
formation was closely related to jazz. The bands consisted of more than
the usual amount of members and were similar to Big Bands. Although the
name is Western Swing this genre has yet very few in common with
the American West, but more with swing.
Bluegrass
The
already mentioned string bands also had their successor - Bluegrass.
This genre was a purely instrumental one. The emotional melodies also try
to support the theme of lonelyness - similar to Cowboy. The name
is derived from a famous band of the genre "Blue Grass Boys" who created
this style. Bluegrass music is still very popular and movies like "Bonnie
& Clyde" feature theme songs of this genre, which again displays that
the images and themes of the American West - even if they were transformed
and idealized during time, such as the lonely cowboy theme - still are
very important to the public.
Other genres like Honky-Tonk, Rockabilly, Nashville Sound, Country Rock, Outlaw, New Traditionalism and Alternative Country developed later on and were influenced by very different things. An important fact to mention here is that during time country music developed more and more towards commercial music and away from the "real" rural music, sung by hard working people and more or less real cowboys. During its development the themes and ideals of the American West appear sporadically and in a very superficial way - clothing for example - and occure less during time. These themes also were used mostly for commercial needs and not because the artist came right out of the Wild West, or as Curtis Ellison says: "Western music has been profitable for cowboys who show they can not only dress the part but also ride and sing (and sell records and movie tickets)..."(5).
"Home
means a lot to the American South"(7). This meaning
of home goes as far as showing confederate flags on concerts and lyrics
as: "I hope Neil Young will remember/The Southern Man don't need him around."(7)
in the song "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd which was a reaction
on Neil Young's protest at the treatment of Afro-Americans in the South.
Maybe this is an extreme example - some people do not even count Lynyrd
Skynyrd to country music and of course there are also less provocative
country music bands. But most country group's songs embody this "powerful
sense of home"(7), Gram Parson for example sings:
"'20 thousand roads', but they all lead 'straight back home to you'"(7).
Not only in this way country music can be compared to german "Volksmusik"
which also features huge amounts of home-glorification and which by the
way has some other characteristics similar to country music.
What
do country music fans think of their music? Alex Hawkes(7)
to me obviously is a fan and although he is aware of the fact that country
music is pretty much "folk myth"(7) in his opinion
the "sense of home [...] is really indispensable" because "it strucures
our minds. It defines us so that we know how to differ"(7).
This of course is a very subjective opinion, but to me it seems very typical
for country music lovers. In his opinion "There's an enormous depth and
feeling in the music, and a creatively consistent approach to live"(7).
So country music by its fans is really seen as a way of live rather than
mere entertainment - a phenomenon, which appeares in nearly all music genres.
Talking about country music, one has to determine what kind of country music is talked about. Is it the country music, which was sung in rural areas, mostly in the Southern parts of the country, by farmers, ranchers and other members of the population, or is it the "Country and Western" music produced by the recording industry, sung by artists, dressed like the typical image of a cowboy? In the end, this "newer" country music seems to me as something which developed out of a myth and thus cannot be very closely related to the real American West. The artists know it - they are "aware of their lineage"(5). For example Randy Travis who sang he grew up "with cowboys [he] watched on TV"(in 5). In my opinion this is nothing unusual, because the myth of the American West exists not as something determined, or strictly defined, but as an idea in peoples heads, transformed during the centuries, exploited and misinterpreted, but also omnipresent and connected to the same images and themes in different people's thoughts. Real influences from the American west are very rare in country music. The main influences from the past surely are the instruments and the themes of the songs, inherited from the immigrant's music and depending on the genre more or less present even until today.
- 1: Della Thompson ed., The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, Clarendon Press Oxford, 1998
- 2: "Country Music Genres" on country.com [Accessed Tues Jan 23, 2001]
- 3: "The Birth of Country Music" on country.com [Accessed Tues Jan 23, 2001]
- 4: "From The British Isles to the Hills of the Appalachians: The Origins of Country Music" on country.com [Accessed Tues Jan 23, 2001] (from January 10, 2001)
- 5 : Ellison, Curtis W., Country Music Culture: From Hard Times to Heaven. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press , 1995
- 6: Slotkin, Richard, Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992
- 7: Alex Hawkes, "Play that country music" on Varsity Online [Accessed Tues Jan 23, 2001]