| Lesson One: Different Types of Country | |
The Roots of Country Music
The roots of country music originated in the folk traditions of the British Isles. In the new world these roots were mixed up with other ethnic musics and those of African slaves. The music was played on fiddles and homemade banjos.
The first country recordings were from The Carter Family. The Carter Family developed a style of guitar playing known as "Carter picking," which was a dominant technique for decades. The Carter Family was comprised of A.P. Carter, his wife Sara and their cousin Maybelle. They sang a pure simple harmony that influenced many family groups of the 30s and 40s as well as other folk, bluegrass and rock musicians.
The Father of Country Music
Jimmie Rodgers was born on September 8, 1897 in Meridian, Mississippi, the youngest of three sons. His mother died when he was a very young boy, and Rodgers spent the next few years living with various relatives in southeast Mississippi and southwest Alabama. He eventually returned home to live with his father, Aaron Rodgers, a Maintenance of Way Foreman on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, who had settled with a new wife in Meridian.
In 1927, after hearing of Ralph Peer, a representative of Victor Talking Machine Company was going to be going to Bristol to audition and record musicians, he traveled there to be part of it. On Wednesday, August 4, Jimmie Rodgers completed his first session for Victor. It lasted from 2:00 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. and yielded two songs: "Sleep, Baby, Sleep" and "The Soldier's Sweetheart." For the test recordings, Rodgers received $100.
The recordings were released a few months later and became modestly successful, and he headed to New York City to again find Peer and record once more. These sessions turned out "Ben Dewberry's Final Run"; "Mother Was A Lady"; "Away Out on the Mountain"; and "T for Texas." In the next two years, the acetate that contained "T for Texas" (released as "Blue Yodel") and "Away Out on the Mountain" sold nearly half a million copies, which was impressive enough to rocket Rodgers into stardom. After this, he got to determine when Peer and Victor would record him, and he sold out shows whenever and wherever he played.
Jimmie Rodgers career was unfortunately short, due to tuberculosis, which he had contracted back in 1924. He passed away in 1933.
Early Country Music Suggestions:
Carter Family:
Jimmie Rodgers
