What to do about that insipid, heartless, watered down version of rock and roll that has taken over country music?
Not much I fear.
Marty Martel has written an essay on the survival of traditional country especially as it relates to the Grand Ole Opry and country radio. I guess a popular DJ at WSM has been sacked and the Opry itself has created ‘one hit wonder’ members who are part of the Nashville soft rock version of country. Martel’s essay was released through the Doug Davis’ County Music Classics email.
Hard to find any acts with a country music sensibility among today’s so called country music stars. Maybe an Emmy Lou Harris, Patty Loveless, and Alan Jackson sometimes have something going, but lets face it George Jones, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard are the last of the late golden age of country music which could broadly be defined from 1945 to sometime in the mid to late 50’s.
And really Little Jimmy Dickens is the only surviving star that I know of from the real heart of that golden age when Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, and Lefty Frizzel, ruled the charts and concert stages. I know I have left out some names, but I’m just mentioning favorites and the first ones that come to mind.
A real good definition of traditional country music or what is a traditional performer is hard to nail down. George Jones, for example, did quite a few pop sounding records in his career. Johnny Cash was pretty traditional but flirted with rock and pop in his early days. Not many remember, ‘Ballad of a Teenage Queen’.
Amplification was certainly part of traditional country, as were drums.
Finding a pure traditional country performer who is not bluegrass or a tribute artist is is pretty tough. You have to stretch the definition of traditional pretty thin to include even the alt country and so called purists who generally use a lot of amplification, drums and heavy rock beats.
I suppose traditional country could be defined as a form of folk music employing string instruments in simple musical forms which often feature a solo composer singer who expresses heartfelt and sincere descriptions in love, religion, life and death, and other philosophic concerns and real life issues.
One of the difficulties I have in the attempting to defend and protect traditional country is that in the case of this blogs subject, Hank Williams, a great deal of his influence on subsequent music history can be found, not in Nashville style country or so called traditional country, but in rock and roll.
Take the style, attitude, rhythms, and words of Hank Williams’ songs such as ‘Mind Your own Business’, ‘Move it on Over’, ‘Honky Tonk Blues’, ‘Baby We’re Really In Love’, and of course ‘Hey Good Lookin’ and trace their influence. Who would you find? Well, for starters, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and a host of other early rock stars.
Take Hank Williams solo ballads by the author or his alter ego Luke the Drifter, trace their influence and who would you find? James Taylor? John Denver? Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson, a musician who refuses labels? Oh yea! Billy Joe Shaver too.
Sure Hank had a tremendous influence on more traditional country stars such as Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Webb Pierce, Stonewall Jackson, but if you want to look where Hank really lives, he lives in rock and roll.
The solitary lonely figure at the centre of a stage, projecting a soliloquy like singing recitation of the deepest feelings and thoughts of a character outside of himself was the creation of Hank Williams and survives today in all musical genres.
The current project to record some Hank Williams’ lyrics is under the direction of Bob Dylan and Jack White. And fittingly so.
So as much as I sympathize with those who bemoan the loss of traditional country music in the modern country music industry, I don’t see it accomplishing much. What we have to do is make people aware of great legacy of not only Hank Williams but a host of other country greats who have passed:Roy Acuff, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carters, Hank Snow, Lefty Frizzel, Marty Robbins, Johnny Horton, Webb Pierce, Ernest Tubb, Stonewall Jackson, Faron Young (a bit of a rocker in the Hank tradition) Patsy Cline, and we could go on and on.
Worrying about who’s on the Opry is a lost cause, and the Hall of Fame pretty much the same, and country radio.. If you wish to direct your attention in a worthwhile direction I would say the museums devoted to country and various artists which seem to do do a pretty good job.
Pop fans aren’t hearing too much Al Jolson, Rudy Vallee, Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters either, so I guess it’s a universal problem.
I’m not expecting a new Hank or Lefty, Bing or Frank on the scene anytime soon.
Austin still holds out. Check out Wayne Hancock and Jessie Lee Miller.
Citizen K
Thanks for the comment. I followed Wayne The Train? a bit on You Tube. I’ll check out Jessie Lee.
I like Billy Joe who is having a bit of trouble these days, but I’ve always been a big fan of his. I guess he is or was the dean of the traveling traditional road warriors out there. He should be in the Hall of Fame even if just for writing Waylon’s Honky Tonk Heroes album, and ‘Willy the Wandering Gypsy’. Oh well.
John W
Hi!
I was going to suggest you lend an ear to Wayne The Train Hancock, but Citizen K beat me to it (by two months), so I’ll just say that I enjoy your blog / journal, and that I stumbled upon it by accident while googling Hank Williams (who my favourite singer / songwriter of all times) in hopes to find good country music blogs. Good job! Keep it on, it’s an interesting read.
Oh, forgot to mention, kudos for mentioning Hank Snow and Billy Joe Shaver. They are great too.
I think My Nova Scotia Home by Hank Snow has to be one of the most beautiful songs ever written. The melody is gorgeous and so are the lyrics. Hank Snow makes me proud to be Canadian.
I have a little draft post about Hank Snow, I haven’t finished yet. His achievment was substantial. Especially having to compete in that golden age in the company of Hank W, Lefty F, Eddy A, and many more.
His life story is one of battling to get to the top, on the road for years with a trained horse, entertaining and singing town to town, as I understand it. No wonder he had quite a big ego when he finally made it.
Of course he had to combat the Rock revolution which overtook Country in the mid fifties. I had an old album called ‘Whe Tragedy Struck’. Some beautiful vocals. Finally, I think a case can be made that his strong rhythmic sense on ‘Moving On’ and others pointed the way to Rock and Roll.
The memory of some super stars just fades totally when they pass on. This has happened to Snow, but I expect a revival of interest to come around in time.
I totally agree that he was kind of pointing the way to rock n’ roll. Other more rhythmic songs of his that I particularly like were Southern Cannonball and Golden Rocket.
I’m looking forward to reading your post on Snow.
Hank Snow had the perfect country voice, as eximplified in his version of Hank Locklin’s, “Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On.” So, I too, am waiting on your Hank Snow blog.
p.s. Like Eve, I stumbled across your blog and enjoy it immensely.