h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Update: A292501 - Country Music - A87998495
Author: Dmitri Gheorgheni - Not Banned in China - U1590784

Update: A292501 - Country Music by Alaska U107501
Editor: Asteroid Lil U81931

I decided this one needed an update and some more context about the background of country music. And it needed to mention the Austin Lounge Lizards and Jimmie Rodgers.

If anything's unclear, let me know.

ALSO: We could probably use a new illustration...

Big improvement, thanks.
And yes, I absolutely agree about the picture.

Thank you

One sentence I wasn't clear about: "Armed Forces Radio included the weekly radio broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry and National Barn Dance to their repertoire." - *added* them to their repertoire?

Excellent concluding paragraph

Yeah, or 'included in'. Sorry, I didn't catch that before. I'll go change it.

Thanks!

So what, if any, differences are there between County, Country & Western and Western music? Not to mention other genres like Americana and Bluegrass?

<BB<

I've never heard of 'Americana'. What the...? Oh, okay, I looked it up. Apparently, it's a term of art, according to Wikipedia. But I have never heard it used. By anybody. Weird. Looks like a catch-all for anything remotely country or American folk-related. People in this country don't even admit they collect Americana (which IS a Thing), even when they give it to me for Christmas and I now have it on my wall...

Country & Western is just what they used to call country music in the 'industry'. They aren't real distinctions. I've never heard anybody say 'Western' by itself. In the 30s, 40s, and early 50s, there was 'cowboy music', shudder... terrible stuff like 'I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande'. It had the line, 'I know all the songs that the cowboys know, 'cause I learned them all on the radio, Yippee-tay-oh-tay-ay...' So they said 'Country and Western' to include the cowboy yodelers, who should all have been buried out on the lone prairie, as far as I'm concerned...

Bluegrass is whole different thing - and it has its own entry A11285075

I added the link. Thanks for the reminder! That entry is called 'Bluegrass, the First Generation', so someday somebody should do a more current one. You can 'bluegrass' anything - all you do is play it on a 'banjer' - and they have. The heavy metal covers are a delight.

For example, the Finnish bluegrass band Steve'n'Seagulls playing AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Ao-iNPPUc

In the 1960s, a lot of groups called themselves 'jug bands'. They usually (but not always) included traditional 'instruments' such as jugs, spoons, and washboards, which is where jug bands came from - improvised musical instruments from around the cabin...

Here's the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band demonstrating excellent jug technique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2Ntl1uIHVc

As far as updating the entry goes, I think we shouldn't get too bogged down, as the subject is already too broad and shouldn't wander into ephemeral genre discussions which nobody would agree on, anyway.

Otherwise, we'll end up with duelling musicologists, who are worse than duelling banjos.

I keep reading in different places words to the effect that 'The Weight' by The Band is the most successful example of the Americana genre, which I assumed is a thing. To be fair that description would still apply if the Americana genre was limited to that song and its B-side... But I can imagine that it is a good idea to avoid getting bogged down in genre that only a few people believe exist anyway - for example there are those who claim there is a difference between Garage and House and a load of random 'EE ee' noises...

<BB<

That sounds to me like a difficult distinction to make, too!

Not to put any of this in the entry update, but just FYI and for our own amusement:

Wikipedia says, 'The inspiration for and influences affecting the composition of "The Weight" came from the music of the American South, the life experiences of band members, particularly Levon Helm, and movies of filmmakers Ingmar Bergman and Luis Buñuel.' Which is pretty hoity-toity for something that sounds a lot like 'O, Lord, Stuck in Lodi Again'.

Of course, that wouldn't be the only country song influenced by Luis Bunuel. The Austin Lounge Lizards' 'The Illusion Travels by Stock Car' springs to mind... (They also do the '1984 Blues'.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v8Vuu325nU

It seems that some radio station started calling the stuff it played 'Americana', even though 'Americana' has been used since 1841 to mean cultural and folk traditions from the US, its ephemera, folk arts, tchotckes, etc.

I also notice that some people are distinguishing 'Americana' from 'Canadiana', meaning 'Canadians who sing country music', I guess...

I wonder what they would call Japanese cowboy singers?

So with a group like 'The Band' which involved both Canadian and American musicians, how does the distinction work? I've heard the song and believe the singer changes between verses (but wouldn't be able to tell you who was singing which) so potentially the nationality of the singer swaps, so would that mean that some verses of the song are Americana and others Canadiana? How would this affect the vocal harmonies?

I don't think they've thought this through.

<BB<

Neither do I.

Congratulations! The update has been applied today

Thank you!

And I just found out that there's an Isle of Wight Country Music singer who is doing quite well - presumably that would be Vectisana? http://www.islandecho.co.uk/local-country-music-singer-has-song-featured-in-christmas-hollywood-film/

<BB<

I looked him up. Very workmanlike instrumentals, kind of retro feel.