In the 1920s, in order to cater to the tastes of rural audiences, some radio stations began to broadcast mountain music, such as "National Barn Dance" in Chicago (1924) and "Grand old Opry" in Nashville (1925), which were very popular. This practice encourages musicians in mountain areas to record on the radio, and also encourages record companies to find talents and record records everywhere. From then on, mountain music began to merge into the mainstream of American pop music, and the earliest country singers emerged, such as James Rodgers and "Carter Family" singing group.
James Rodgers (1897 ~1933) is regarded as the pioneer of country music, and has been named as the "king of country music" because of his combination of blues, Yodels and Folk. His singing is calm and carefree, and he has developed a unique mountain folk singing method: "blue yodel". Although he suffered from lung disease all his life, he never gave up his attachment to country music. From 1929 to 1933, Rogers * * * recorded one hundred and ten songs. 1933 On May 26th, James Rodgers, who was in his prime of life just two days after recording, died due to the deterioration of his condition.
"The Carter family" (composed of Alvin Carter,1891~1960, his wife and brother-in-law) won the audience's love with a comfortable and harmonious style and a focus on themes such as home, God and faith. For artists like the Carter family, singing is just an amateur way to make a living. But in the initial stage of country music, they did make great contributions to the development of country music, and also left valuable recording materials for early country music.
Second, the western swing
In 1930s, due to the economic depression in the southeastern part of the United States, record sales dropped sharply, and country music could only maintain its audience through a large number of radio programs. At this time, there is a phenomenon that the original singing group is gradually replaced by individual singing. For example, Roy Acuff, Gene Autry and others became the focus at this time. In this context, Bob Wills from Texas blended a lot of cowboy songs (a romantic love song from the countryside) and swing music into country music, creating a style of Westen Swing similar to the lineup of "big bands". 1933, Bob Wells successfully introduced this new style, which combines dance rhythm, violin timbre, big band lineup, jazz singing, drum set and distorted guitar, to the market, thus winning the title of "King of West Swing".
Third, bluegrass music
In the 1940s, another branch of country music called Bluegrass Music appeared in the mountains of Kentucky. On the basis of country music, it absorbed banjo music and violin music from the local ancient corn threshing party, as well as narrative songs from southern mountainous areas.
The singing of bluegrass music is generally multi-voice. In addition to the main melody, a harmony part is often superimposed on the top with falsetto, and sometimes one or two bass parts are added below the main melody. Its accompaniment instruments are unique with banjo and violin, and sometimes folk instruments such as mandolin and double bass are used. The feature that traditional country music has no drum set has also been preserved in bluegrass music. The speed of bluegrass music is generally faster, about 160-330 beats per minute.
Bluegrass music is influenced by jazz in the development process, and there are often gorgeous improvisations in instrumental passages. In the 1970s, when electro-acoustic instruments were widely used in other country music, they still played traditional instruments. The famous bluegrass musicians and bands are: "Bluegrass Boys" led by Bill Monroe (191~), Osborne Brothers, "The Johnson Mountain Boys", and.
Fourth, the voice of Nashville
In 1950s, Nashville became a concentration camp for country music, and most of the famous country musicians came from here. Therefore, "Nashville Sound" has also become synonymous with country music.
Before World War II, although country music had been widely spread, on the whole, it was still a regional music. Because of the war, the population movement has been accelerated, and people from different cultural backgrounds have had more contacts, especially many young people from rural areas in the south, who moved to cities in the north and the east and west. As a result, the influence of country music has further expanded and become a popular music form with national influence, and it has been officially called country music (there has been no specific name for country music before), and sometimes it is also called Country and western music.
Many country musicians have made contributions to bringing country music out of the south or the midwest, among which hank williams has made the greatest contribution.
Hank Hank williams (1923 ~1953) and1923 were born in Alabama. Stylistically, he is neither like the harmony style in the southeast nor close to the western swing style popular in the west. He created a depressed but firm singing style. Hank williams's position in the country music industry in the 1940s was just like that of James Rodgers in the 1920s, even higher.
Williams 1946 began to record, and he launched a series of songs that hit the pop music market. Such as Lovesick Blues, There will be no teardrops tonight, Your cheatin' heart and You win again, among which Jambalaya (for example) is the most famous representative work. Williams also kept some old religious elements in his music and made some powerful traditional gospel songs.
1953 On New Year's Day, Williams died in the back seat of his car because of drug overdose. Almost all the country singers of his generation were influenced by him, and his works in the collection of country songs may be more than anyone else.
Since the end of World War II, the prosperity of American society has made country music develop rapidly. For example, at this time, the radio program of "Old-fashioned Grand Theatre" had 10 million listeners, and the program of "National Barn Dance" was more and more loved by people. The Voice of Nashville began to spread all over the country.
Fifth, the rebellious era of country music
The 1960s was the most brilliant decade in the history of country music, during which top country musicians such as George Jones, Johny Cash and Patsy Cline appeared. However, due to the popularity of country music, Nashville's position as the center of country music has been challenged. For example, Backsfield in California and Austin in Texas have also become one of the country music centers in the future because of the emergence of famous singers. By the 1970s, country music had become senile, so a "rebel movement" changed the traditional mode of country music. The original way of selecting songs and arranging the production of tracks by producers has been strongly opposed by many people. They demand that they choose songs and produce them themselves, so as to reflect their way of thinking and safeguard their publishing rights. Willie Nelson led this "rebellion movement".
1968, producers in Nashville strongly rejected Nelson's fresh personalized music, so William Nelson left Nashville and went to Austin, Texas. There he started the annual concert and attracted a group of young people with the same hobbies. Their simple and rooted style and personalized expression make country music present a more complicated situation.
When new concepts are mixed together, a debate arises, "What is country music?"
Kenny Rogers, a famous country singer, answered this question: "Country music is all the music that country people buy." A simple answer perfectly explains the voice of all rural musicians, that is, what is country music is not important, but how to make rural listeners feel different, fresh and familiar country life experiences.
In view of the complicated situation of country music, here are three different styles of country music for your reference.
Country blues is the combination of country music and blues music. Representative figures include Charlie Rich and Roy Rogers.
Pop country music, that is, mixing more pop music elements into country music, makes it easier to be accepted and loved by people. Representative figures are Kenny Rogers, Reba McIntire and so on.
Country rock, that is, the combination of country music and rock music (see the rock music section for details).
Sixth, country singers
As we mentioned earlier, country music has developed continuously, showing a situation far more complicated than mountain music, and the integration of various styles has promoted the prosperity of country music. After 1970s, country music showed a more active atmosphere, so it was more difficult to classify from the style. However, as "national pop music" in the United States, it retains the traditional style of mountain music, such as: simple tune, steady rhythm, narrative and strong local flavor; More nasal sounds are used in singing, and sometimes various singing techniques such as sliding sound are used; The accompaniment is unique with traditional banjo and violin. It is with these distinctive personalities that country music has achieved great success in business. Next, introduce several country singers who have made great achievements in business.
John Denver (John Denver)
John denver, 1943 1 February 31was born in New Mexico, southwestern United States. He loved music since childhood. When he was 8 years old, his grandmother gave him a guitar and began to learn music. When he was young, he majored in architectural design. In197/kloc-0, he gave up his studies and devoted himself to writing and singing country songs. At that time, country Road (for example 13), which praised the beautiful scenery of Virginia's mountains, became famous at one fell swoop. 1972 entered the TV screen with a song "Loki High" and became the host of ABC's "Midnight Special Program".
Denver is familiar with rural life and loves nature. Most of his songs praise nature and praise human friendship and good feelings. Because of his simple and beautiful tunes, fresh and uplifting contents and poetic and philosophical lyrics, he enjoys the reputation of "Poet Laureate" in the area of Lolado. His guitar playing and singing is even more famous in the world.
1997 10 In October, Denver was killed at the age of 54 while flying his own private jet.
John denver's representative works are: Country Road (197 1), Rocky Mountain High (1972) and Annie's song (1972).
Kenny Kenny Rogers.
Kenny rogers,1August 2, 938 was born in Houston, Texas. When he was in high school, he learned the guitar and violin and played in a mountain rock band called The scholars. 1966, he formed a name by himself? quot; The band of the First Edition was dissolved in 1972. 1976, Rogers turned from a hippie style to a stable country music road and became an innovator of country music. He integrated a large number of pop music elements into country music, so that the two were perfectly combined. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Rogers was busy with charity, concerts, TV programs, movies, photography and his fast food chain.
Kenny rogers has a rich voice and a free and easy expression. He likes to sing songs with a light and free rhythm and a little narrative, and sometimes he combines country music with urban moderate rock. Representative works include: Lucille (1977), Lady (1980), Crazy (1983, for example 14) and so on.
George strait
George Skeeter was born in Poteet, Texas on1May 8, 952. He was one of the most influential country singers in the 1980s.
Scott grew up on his father's ranch, and sometimes he helped his father to pass fences and release animals. As a teenager, he began to play music. 197 1 year, Scott was drafted into the army, and 1973 was stationed in Hawaii. The commander of the base wanted to set up an army country band, which attracted Scott. He bought a cheap guitar and began to imitate hank williams's records. He named the band "Rambling Country" and often performed outside the camp.
1975 He returned to his hometown, and in order to meet his father's expectations, he entered the Southwest Texas Comprehensive University? quot; (Sounthwest Tesxas university), while studying for a degree in agronomy, he organized a band. 1979, he recorded his first album at MCA Records. Since then, Scott has occupied a high position on the ranking list for a long time, ranking first for nearly 30 times. By the 1990s, many singers (including Garth Brooks) regarded him as an example. Scott didn't want to show up, which was much less than other famous singers' interviews. However, in 1992, he participated in the performance of the film Pure Country, and four songs in this film made Scott stand at the forefront of the country music scene.
Scott became the focus of country music. His career is still developing, but now he only spends half a year recording records and touring, and the rest of the time he lives in seclusion in Antshu, Texas. 锫怼 (1) Lang Jian (5) Tu Yisi catches the basket lemon?
Vince Gill
Vince Kiel,1April, 957 12, was born in Norman, Oklahoma, and was originally named Vince Grant Gill. His father is a federal judge and can play banjo. Kiel/Kloc-began to learn guitar at the age of 0/0, and joined a local country rock band called Mountain Smoke when he was in middle school. After graduating from high school, he won a golfer's scholarship and went to college in Louisville, Kentucky, and soon joined a band called Southern Alliance. At this time, he can play not only guitar, but also mandolin, violin and banjo.
1979, Kiel came to Nashville and soon became the star of the music festival. 1984, his songs first entered the top 40 country song charts. Since then, his songs have continuously achieved good results in the charts.
In the 1990s, Kiel left a brilliant footprint. Besides recording records, he was one of the top ten stars in concerts and won the Best Artist Award of the Country Music Association twice. He said, "I hope someone will remember me. I once cared about the integrity of country music. I also like to be an actor, a composer and a career. Similarly, I care about history, where it started and where it is going. "
Vince Kiel's representative albums are: "I still worship you"; 1988 signed a contract with Capitol Records. At the end of the year, his first album was completed and published in 1989.
Brooks set foot on the music scene for two years, and then he became a famous country singer. At the 25th country music awards conference in 199 1, he won four awards. Then he was awarded the best country singer in 1992 and the best pop singer in "Crossing the Border", and the singers who won these two awards at the same time were unprecedented.
Garth Brooks' representative albums are Garth Brooks (1989), No fences (1990), In vain (Ropin' The chase, 199 1). 1992), pieces (In Pieces, 1993), selected works (The Hits, 1994), and new horses (Fresh horses, 1995).
Shania Twain (Shania Twain)
Shania twain,1born in Ontario, Canada on August 28th, 965, is the most popular representative singer of modern country music after Garth Brooks in the mid-1990s. Dawn studied guitar, writing and singing since she was a child. In her early days, she performed in bars and clubs all over the country and occasionally appeared on local radio stations. 1993 released her first album "shania twain", and 1996 won the Grammy Award for Best Country Female Singer with a song "Any man of mine".
Although Dunn has made outstanding achievements, she is often coldly criticized by critics because of the hard rock style in her music and her bold and sexy exit in MTV. As a country singer, Dunn was the first model to succeed with sexiness.