201-537: The Grand Ole Opry is a regular live country-music radio broadcast originating from Nashville , Tennessee , on WSM , held between two and five nights per week, depending on the time of year. It was founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as the WSM Barn Dance , taking its current name in 1927. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a joint venture between NBCUniversal , Atairos and majority shareholder Ryman Hospitality Properties ), it
402-399: A Medley of Scotch Airs , a Medley of Southern Airs , and Thomas Glynn’s West Lawn Polka . Banjo innovation which began in the minstrel age continued, with increased use of metal parts, exotic wood, raised metal frets and a tone-ring that improved the sound. Instruments were designed in a variety of sizes and pitch ranges, to play different parts in banjo orchestras. Examples on display in
603-632: A bangoe . The material for the neck, called ban julo in the Mandinka language, again gives banjul . In this interpretation, banjul became a sort of eponym for the akonting as it crossed the Atlantic. The instrument's name might also derive from the Kimbundu word mbanza , which is a loan word to the Portuguese language resulting in the term banza , which was used by early French travelers in
804-414: A dialectal pronunciation of Portuguese bandore or from an early anglicisation of Spanish bandurria . Contrary evidence shows that the terms bandore and bandurria were used when Europeans encountered the instrument or its kin varieties in use by people of African descent, who used names for the instrument such as banza , as it was called in places such as Haiti , varieties that were built around
1005-411: A gourd body with a wooden plank for the neck. François Richard de Tussac , a former planter from Saint-Domingue , details its construction in the book Le Cri des Colons , published in 1810, stating: As for the guitars, which the negroes call banzas , this is what they consist of: they cut lengthwise, through the middle, a fresh calabash [the fruit of a tree called the callebassier ]. This fruit
1206-487: A string bass provided the rhythm component in country music, and percussion instruments were seldom used. Electric amplification, new in the beginning days of the Opry, was regarded as the province of popular music and jazz in the 1940s. Although the Opry allowed electric guitars and steel guitars by World War II, the restrictions against drums and horns continued, causing a conflict when Bob Wills and Pee Wee King defied
1407-542: A " motherfucker " at one point. In a continuous 40-minute set, Lewis played a mixture of his rock and roll hits and covers of other singers' country songs. It has been said that he was bitter about how he was treated when he first arrived in Nashville in 1955, and he supposedly used his Opry appearance to exact revenge on the Nashville music industry . Country legend Johnny Cash , who made his Opry debut on July 5, 1956, and met his future wife June Carter Cash on that day,
1608-586: A Rainy Night " by Eddie Rabbitt (these two back-to-back at the top in early 1981); and " Islands in the Stream ", a duet by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers in 1983, a pop-country crossover hit written by Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees . Newton's "Queen of Hearts" almost reached No. 1, but was kept out of the spot by the pop ballad juggernaut " Endless Love " by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie . The move of country music toward neotraditional styles led to
1809-755: A central place in Black American traditional music and rural folk culture before entering the mainstream via the minstrel shows of the 19th century. Along with the fiddle , the banjo is a mainstay of American styles of music, such as bluegrass and old-time music . It is also very frequently used in Dixieland jazz , as well as in Caribbean genres like biguine , calypso , mento and troubadour . The modern banjo derives from instruments that have been recorded to be in use in North America and
2010-452: A collection of musicians that came to be known as the outlaw movement revolutionized the genre of country music in the early 1970s. "After I left Nashville (the early 70s), I wanted to relax and play the music that I wanted to play, and just stay around Texas, maybe Oklahoma. Waylon and I had that outlaw image going, and when it caught on at colleges and we started selling records, we were O.K. The whole outlaw thing, it had nothing to do with
2211-530: A commercially fallow period. This subgenre was notable for borrowing from 1950s pop stylings: a prominent and smooth vocal, backed by a string section (violins and other orchestral strings) and vocal chorus. Instrumental soloing was de-emphasized in favor of trademark "licks". Leading artists in this genre included Jim Reeves , Skeeter Davis , Connie Smith , the Browns , Patsy Cline , and Eddy Arnold . The "slip note" piano style of session musician Floyd Cramer
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#17327731008212412-427: A cultural fad had died down after the late 1970s (with Jennings noting in 1978 that it had gotten out of hand and led to real-life legal scrutiny), many western and outlaw country music artists maintained their popularity during the 1980s by forming supergroups , such as The Highwaymen , Texas Tornados , and Bandido . Country pop or soft pop, with roots in the countrypolitan sound, folk music, and soft rock ,
2613-651: A fingerstyle in the Appalachians from musicians who never stopped playing the banjo, he wrote the book, How to Play the Five-String Banjo , which was the only banjo method on the market for years. He was followed by a movement of folk musicians, such as Dave Guard of The Kingston Trio and Erik Darling of the Weavers and Tarriers . Earl Scruggs was seen both as a legend and a "contemporary musical innovator" who gave his name to his style of playing,
2814-534: A full renovation of the Ryman, restoring it to a world-class concert hall that reopened with a broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion on June 4, 1994. On Sunday, October 18, 1998, the Opry held a benefit show at Ryman Auditorium, marking its return to the venue for the first time since its final show on March 15, 1974. Beginning in November 1999, the Opry was held at Ryman Auditorium for three months, partly due to
3015-424: A guitar, has gained popularity. In almost all of its forms, banjo playing is characterized by a fast arpeggiated plucking, though many different playing styles exist. The body, or "pot", of a modern banjo typically consists of a circular rim (generally made of wood, though metal was also common on older banjos) and a tensioned head, similar to a drum head. Traditionally, the head was made from animal skin, but today
3216-590: A less urbanized part of town to provide visitors with a "safer, more controlled, and more enjoyable experience". National Life & Accident purchased farmland owned by a local sausage manufacturer (Rudy's Farm) in the Pennington Bend area of Nashville, nine miles east of downtown and adjacent to the newly constructed Briley Parkway . The new Opry venue was the centerpiece of a grand entertainment complex at that location, which later included Opryland USA Theme Park and Opryland Hotel . The theme park opened to
3417-582: A limited basis in October, and resumed full operations in May 2021. Due to the restrictions, the show did not move to the Ryman Auditorium in November 2020 as was customary. The Winter Ryman residency did not resume in 2021–22, partly due to scheduling conflicts from Ryman concerts postponed during the pandemic closure. The Opry livestreams were celebrated by viewers as something to look forward to during
3618-475: A little bit of that, a little bit of black and a little bit of white ... just loud enough to keep you from thinking too much and to go right on ordering the whiskey." East Texan Al Dexter had a hit with "Honky Tonk Blues", and seven years later " Pistol Packin' Mama ". These "honky tonk" songs were associated with barrooms, and was performed by the likes of Ernest Tubb , Kitty Wells (the first major female country solo singer), Ted Daffan , Floyd Tillman ,
3819-466: A live episode; an induction ceremony happens several weeks later, where the inductee is presented with a trophy and gives an acceptance speech. As the Opry is a running series, membership in the show's cast must be maintained throughout an artist's career, through frequent performances, and expires when the performer dies. Only once has a member been inducted posthumously: Keith Whitley , who was scheduled to be invited three weeks after his death in May 1989,
4020-578: A marked decline in country/pop crossovers in the late 1980s, and only one song in that period— Roy Orbison 's " You Got It ", from 1989—made the top 10 of both the Billboard Hot Country Singles " and Hot 100 charts, due largely to a revival of interest in Orbison after his sudden death. The only song with substantial country airplay to reach number one on the pop charts in the late 1980s was " At This Moment " by Billy Vera and
4221-460: A member. The Byrds were a notable exception. Country rock pioneer Gram Parsons , who was a member of The Byrds at the time, was in Nashville to work on the band's country rock album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo . The band's record label , Columbia Records , had arranged for The Byrds to perform at the Ryman on March 15, 1968, a prospect that thrilled Parsons. However, when the band took the stage
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#17327731008214422-665: A month-long celebration of the Opry, country music, its artists, and its fans. The Grand Ole Opry celebrated its 5,000th Saturday night show on October 30, 2021, with performances by country superstars and Opry members such as Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Darius Rucker, Vince Gill, Chris Young and several others. NBCUniversal and Atairos acquired a combined 30% stake in the Grand Ole Opry and its parent company Opry Entertainment Group in 2022. The crossover allows for NBCUniversal's television outlets, including NBC , to carry several Opry television specials. A memorial concert
4623-515: A part of the Outlaw country movement. Originating in the bars, fiestas, and honky-tonks of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, their music supplemented outlaw country's singer-songwriter tradition as well as 21st-century rock -inspired alternative country and hip hop -inspired country rap artists. Outlaw country was derived from the traditional western, including Red Dirt , New Mexico , Texas country , Tejano , and honky-tonk musical styles of
4824-426: A plectrum rather than with the minstrel-banjo clawhammer stroke or the classic-banjo fingerpicking style. The new banjos were a result of changing musical tastes. New music spurred the creation of "evolutionary variations" of the banjo, from the five-string model current since the 1830s to newer four-string plectrum and tenor banjos . The instruments became ornately decorated in the 1920s to be visually dynamic to
5025-482: A result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres. In the aftermath of the British Invasion , many desired a return to the "old values" of rock n' roll. At the same time there was a lack of enthusiasm in the country sector for Nashville-produced music. What resulted was a crossbred genre known as country rock . Early innovators in this new style of music in the 1960s and 1970s included Bob Dylan , who
5226-529: A role in the larger country music, with western wear , cowboy boots , and cowboy hats continues to be in fashion for country artists. West of the Mississippi River , many of these western genres continue to flourish, including the Red Dirt of Oklahoma , New Mexico music of New Mexico , and both Texas country music and Tejano music of Texas . During the 1950s until the early 1970s,
5427-428: A series of hugely successful songs blending country and folk-rock musical styles. By the mid-1970s, Texas country and Tejano music gained popularity with performers like Freddie Fender . During the early 1980s country artists continued to see their records perform well on the pop charts. In 1980 a style of "neocountry disco music" was popularized. During the mid-1980s a group of new artists began to emerge who rejected
5628-597: A short fifth string about 1831. However, modern scholar Gene Bluestein pointed out in 1964 that Sweeney may not have originated either the 5th string or sound box. This new banjo was at first tuned d'Gdf♯a, though by the 1890s, this had been transposed up to g'cgbd'. Banjos were introduced in Britain by Sweeney's group, the American Virginia Minstrels , in the 1840s, and became very popular in music halls . The instrument grew in popularity during
5829-486: A significant shift in sound from earlier country music. The song was written by actual truckers and contained numerous references to the trucker culture of the time like "ICC" for Interstate Commerce Commission and "little white pills" as a reference to amphetamines . Starday Records in Nashville followed up on Dudley's initial success with the release of Give Me 40 Acres by the Willis Brothers . Rockabilly
6030-519: A sponsor in September 2007, was the presenting sponsor by no later than January 2010, and still holds that top sponsorship level as of May 2023. †Honorary former member; was scheduled to be invited, but died before the invitation was extended Country music Country (also called country and western ) is a music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both
6231-495: A style of "neocountry disco music" was popularized by the film Urban Cowboy . It was during this time that a glut of pop-country crossover artists began appearing on the country charts: former pop stars Bill Medley (of the Righteous Brothers ), "England Dan" Seals (of England Dan and John Ford Coley ), Tom Jones , and Merrill Osmond (both alone and with some of his brothers ; his younger sister Marie Osmond
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6432-406: A theater audience. The instruments were increasingly modified or made in a new style – necks that were shortened to handle the four steel (not fiber as before) strings, strings that were sounded with a pick instead of fingers, four strings instead of five and tuned differently. The changes reflected the nature of post-World-War-I music. The country was turning away from European classics, preferring
6633-464: A year prior shouting a racial slur, and the Opry had previously made stances against racism on social media. In response to the latter, music writer Holly G. founded the Black Opry as a means of raising awareness of black artists in country music. The company has enforced its trademark on the name "Grand Ole Opry", with trademark registrations in the United States and in numerous countries around
6834-499: Is a subgenre that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to adult contemporary music . It started with pop music singers like Glen Campbell , Bobbie Gentry , John Denver , Olivia Newton-John , Anne Murray , B. J. Thomas , the Bellamy Brothers , and Linda Ronstadt having hits on
7035-421: Is a variation on Sweeney's original design. The fifth string is usually the same gauge as the first, but starts from the fifth fret, three-quarters the length of the other strings. This lets the string be tuned to a higher open pitch than possible for the full-length strings. Because of the short fifth string, the five-string banjo uses a reentrant tuning – the string pitches do not proceed lowest to highest across
7236-412: Is also used, and a three-finger version that Earl Scruggs developed into the "Scruggs" style picking was nationally aired in 1945 on the Grand Ole Opry . In this style the instrument is played by plucking individual notes. Modern fingerstyle is usually played using fingerpicks , though early players and some modern players play either with nails or with a technique known as on the flesh. In this style
7437-507: Is broadcast live on WSM-AM at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday nights, changed from a previous time start of 6:30. A similar program, Friday Night Opry , airs live on Friday nights. From February through December, Tuesday Night Opry is also aired live. Wednesday shows are typically presented in the summer months, while an "Opry Country Classics" program sporadically airs on Thursdays, devoted solely to older artists. Additional Christmas-themed shows, entitled Opry Country Christmas , began production during
7638-607: Is included as a "home of" mention on the welcome signs seen by motorists at the Metro Nashville/Davidson County line. Membership in the Opry remains one of country music's crowning achievements. Since 1974, the show has been broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry House east of downtown Nashville, with an annual three-month winter foray back to the Ryman from 1999 to 2020, and again for shorter winter residencies beginning in 2023. In addition to
7839-543: Is often made of various synthetic materials. Most modern banjos also have a metal "tone ring" assembly that helps further clarify and project the sound, but many older banjos do not include a tone ring. The banjo is usually tuned with friction tuning pegs or planetary gear tuners, rather than the worm gear machine head used on guitars. Frets have become standard since the late 19th century, though fretless banjos are still manufactured and played by those wishing to execute glissando , play quarter tones, or otherwise achieve
8040-411: Is primarily rooted in various forms of American folk music , such as old-time music and Appalachian music , many other traditions, including Mexican , Irish , and Hawaiian music , have had a formative influence on the genre. Blues modes from blues music have been used extensively throughout its history as well. Once called " hillbilly music", the term country music gained popularity in
8241-423: Is sometimes eight inches or more in diameter. The stretch across it the skin of a goat, which they attach on the edges with little nails; they put two or three little holes on this surface, and then a kind of plank or piece of wood that is rudely flattened makes the neck of the instrument; they stretch three strings made of pitre [a kind of string taken from the agave plant, commonly known as pitre] across it; and so
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8442-423: Is the longest-running radio broadcast in U.S. history. Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of famous singers and contemporary chart-toppers performing country, bluegrass , Americana , folk , and gospel music as well as comedic performances and skits . It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and millions of radio and internet listeners. In
8643-427: Is usually used in bluegrass music, though resonator banjos are played by players of all styles, and are also used in old-time, sometimes as a substitute for electric amplification when playing in large venues. Open-back banjos generally have a mellower tone and weigh less than resonator banjos. They usually have a different setup than a resonator banjo, often with a higher string action . The modern five-string banjo
8844-567: The xalam of Senegal and the ngoni of the Wassoulou region that includes parts of Mali , Guinea , and Ivory Coast , as well as a larger variation of the ngoni , known as the gimbri , developed in Morocco by sub-Saharan Africans ( Gnawa or Haratin ). Banjo-like instruments seem to have been independently invented in several different places, in addition to the many African instruments mentioned above, since instruments similar to
9045-625: The American South and the Southwest . First produced in the 1920s, country music is primarily focused on singing stories about working-class and blue-collar American life. Country music is known for its ballads and dance tunes (i.e., " honky-tonk music ") with simple form, folk lyrics, and harmonies generally accompanied by instruments such as banjos , fiddles , harmonicas , and many types of guitar (including acoustic , electric , steel , and resonator guitars). Though it
9246-654: The Bakersfield sound . It has the tempo of country rock and the emotion of honky-tonk, and its lyrics focus on a truck driver 's lifestyle. Truck-driving country songs often deal with the profession of trucking and love. Well-known artists who sing truck driving country include Dave Dudley , Red Sovine , Dick Curless , Red Simpson , Del Reeves , the Willis Brothers and Jerry Reed , with C. W. McCall and Cledus Maggard (pseudonyms of Bill Fries and Jay Huguely, respectively) being more humorous entries in
9447-759: The First National Band ), the Grateful Dead , Neil Young , Commander Cody , the Allman Brothers Band , Charlie Daniels , the Marshall Tucker Band , Poco , Buffalo Springfield , Stephen Stills ' band Manassas and Eagles , among many, even the former folk music duo Ian & Sylvia , who formed Great Speckled Bird in 1969. The Eagles would become the most successful of these country rock acts, and their compilation album Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) remains
9648-611: The Grand Ole Opry , the shows there are billed as Opry at the Ryman . From 2002 to 2014, a traveling version of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular took up residence at the Grand Ole Opry House each holiday season while the Opry was away. It was replaced by Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical from 2015 in 2017 and by Cirque Dreams Holidaze in 2018. In May 2010,
9849-795: The Great Depression . However, radio became a popular source of entertainment, and "barn dance" shows featuring country music were started by radio stations all over the South, as far north as Chicago, and as far west as California. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry , aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville and continuing to the present day. Some of the early stars on the Opry were Uncle Dave Macon , Roy Acuff and African American harmonica player DeFord Bailey . WSM's 50,000-watt signal (in 1934) could often be heard across
10050-487: The Maddox Brothers and Rose , Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams ; the music of these artists would later be called "traditional" country. Williams' influence in particular would prove to be enormous, inspiring many of the pioneers of rock and roll, such as Elvis Presley , Jerry Lee Lewis , Chuck Berry and Ike Turner , while providing a framework for emerging honky tonk talents like George Jones . Webb Pierce
10251-595: The Mountain City Fiddlers Convention , held in 1925, helped to inspire modern country music. Before these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a rich musical heritage. The first generation emerged in the 1920s, with Atlanta's music scene playing a major role in launching country's earliest recording artists. James Gideon "Gid" Tanner (1885–1960) was an American old-time fiddler and one of
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#173277310082110452-497: The Opry as its flagship program when it launched in 2020, and former WSM radio sister station WSMV-DT5 is the network's flagship station . Initially simulcasting the radio version, since 2021, the television Opry Live has been pre-recorded live to tape telecasts of recent Opry shows (the show's time slot often coincides with intermission and less demographic-friendly radio segments such as square dancing and audience participation bits). Circle ended its over-the-air operations at
10653-516: The Ozarks . As Webb Pierce put it in 1956, "Once upon a time, it was almost impossible to sell country music in a place like New York City. Nowadays, television takes us everywhere, and country music records and sheet music sell as well in large cities as anywhere else." The Country Music Association was founded in 1958, in part because numerous country musicians were appalled by the increased influence of rock and roll on country music. Beginning in
10854-519: The Scruggs Style . Scruggs played the banjo "with heretofore unheard of speed and dexterity," using a picking technique for the 5-string banjo that he perfected from 2-finger and 3-finger picking techniques in rural North Carolina. His playing reached Americans through the Grand Ole Opry and into the living rooms of Americans who didn't listen to country or bluegrass music, through the theme music of The Beverly Hillbillies TV sitcom . For
11055-552: The music of Hawaii . The U.S. Congress has formally recognized Bristol, Tennessee as the "Birthplace of Country Music", based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Since 2014, the city has been home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum . Historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. In addition,
11256-531: The " I Can't Stop Loving You " single, and recording the landmark album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music . Another subgenre of country music grew out of hardcore honky tonk with elements of western swing and originated 112 miles (180 km) north-northwest of Los Angeles in Bakersfield, California , where many " Okies " and other Dust Bowl migrants had settled. Influenced by one-time West Coast residents Bob Wills and Lefty Frizzell , by 1966 it
11457-653: The "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" as well as the Country Music Association's most coveted award for females, "Female Vocalist of the Year". In response George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Jean Shepard and other traditional Nashville country artists dissatisfied with the new trend formed the short-lived "Association of Country Entertainers" in 1974; the ACE soon unraveled in the wake of Jones and Wynette's bitter divorce and Shepard's realization that most others in
11658-413: The "upbeat and carefree feel" of jazz, and American soldiers returning from the war helped to drive this change. The change in tastes toward dance music and the need for louder instruments began a few years before the war, however, with ragtime. That music encouraged musicians to alter their 5-string banjos to four, add the louder steel strings and use a pick or plectrum, all in an effort to be heard over
11859-500: The 1820s, was Joel Walker Sweeney , a minstrel performer from Appomattox Court House , Virginia . Sweeney has been credited with adding a string to the four-string African-American banjo, and popularizing the five-string banjo. Although Robert McAlpin Williamson is the first documented white banjoist, in the 1830s Sweeney became the first white performer to play the banjo on stage. Sweeney's musical performances occurred at
12060-623: The 1840s after Sweeney began his traveling minstrel show. By the end of the 1840s the instrument had expanded from Caribbean possession to take root in places across America and across the Atlantic in England. It was estimated in 1866 that there were probably 10,000 banjos in New York City, up from only a handful in 1844. People were exposed to banjos not only at minstrel shows, but also medicine shows, Wild-West shows, variety shows, and traveling vaudeville shows. The banjo's popularity also
12261-544: The 1850s than there had been in the 1840s. There were also instruction manuals and, for those who could read it, printed music in the manuals. The first book of notated music was The Complete Preceptor by Elias Howe, published under the pseudonym Gumbo Chaff , consisting mainly of Christy's Minstrels tunes. The first banjo method was the Briggs' Banjo instructor (1855) by Tom Briggs. Other methods included Howe's New American Banjo School (1857), and Phil Rice's Method for
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#173277310082112462-611: The 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Some of the popular singing cowboys from the era were Gene Autry , the Sons of the Pioneers , and Roy Rogers . Country music and western music were frequently played together on the same radio stations, hence the term country and western music, despite country and western being two distinct genres. Cowgirls contributed to the sound in various family groups. Patsy Montana opened
12663-559: The 1930s, the show began hiring professionals and expanded to four hours. Broadcasting by then at 50,000 watts , WSM made the program a Saturday night musical tradition in nearly 30 states. In 1939, it debuted nationally on NBC Radio . The Opry moved to its most famous former home, the Ryman Auditorium , in 1943. As it developed in importance, so did the city of Nashville, which became America's "country music capital". The Grand Ole Opry holds such significance in Nashville that it
12864-405: The 1940s. The genre came to encompass western music , which evolved parallel to hillbilly music from similar roots, in the mid-20th century. Contemporary styles of western music include Texas country , red dirt , and Hispano- and Mexican American -led Tejano and New Mexico music , which still exists alongside longstanding indigenous traditions . In 2009, in the United States, country music
13065-473: The 1950s to the mid-1960s, western singer-songwriters such as Marty Robbins rose in prominence as did others, throughout western music traditions, like New Mexico music 's Al Hurricane . The late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres. In the aftermath of the British Invasion , many desired a return to the "old values" of rock n' roll. At
13266-447: The 1980s. Country music propelled Kenny Rogers’ career, making him a three-time Grammy Award winner and six-time Country Music Association Awards winner. Having sold more than 50 million albums in the US, one of his Song "The Gambler," inspired several TV films, with Rogers as the main character. Artists like Crystal Gayle , Ronnie Milsap and Barbara Mandrell would also find success on
13467-518: The 2021 holiday season. The Opry provides a fourteen-piece house band for performers should they not have a band of their own. The Opry can also be heard live on Willie's Roadhouse on channel 59 on Sirius XM Satellite Radio , and the program streams on WSM's website. ABC broadcast the Grand Ole Opry as a monthly series from 1955 to 1956, and PBS televised annual live performances from 1978 to 1981. In 1985, The Nashville Network , co-owned by Gaylord, began airing an edited half-hour version of
13668-499: The 5th (short) string to fill in around the melody notes [typically eighth notes]. These techniques are both idiomatic to the banjo in all styles, and their sound is characteristic of bluegrass. Historically, the banjo was played in the claw-hammer style by the Africans who brought their version of the banjo with them. Several other styles of play were developed from this. Clawhammer consists of downward striking of one or more of
13869-533: The Americas. Its earliest recorded use was in 1678 by the Sovereign Council of Martinique which reinstated a 1654 decree that placed prohibitions and restrictions on "dances and assemblies of negroes" deemed to be kalenda , which was defined as the gathering of enslaved Africans who danced to the sound of a drum and an instrument called the banza. The OED claims that the term banjo comes from
14070-640: The Banjo, With or Without a Master (1858). These books taught the "stroke style" or "banjo style", similar to modern "frailing" or " clawhammer " styles. By 1868, music for the banjo was available printed in a magazine, when J. K. Buckley wrote and arranged popular music for Buckley's Monthly Banjoist . Frank B. Converse also published his entire collection of compositions in The Complete Banjoist in 1868, which included "polkas, waltzes, marches, and clog hornpipes." Opportunities to work included
14271-579: The Beaters, an R&B song with slide guitar embellishment that appeared at number 42 on the country charts from minor crossover airplay. The record-setting, multi-platinum group Alabama was named Artist of the Decade for the 1980s by the Academy of Country Music. Country rock is a genre that started in the 1960s but became prominent in the 1970s. The late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as
14472-464: The Boston Herald in November 1884. He was supported by another former blackface performer, Samuel Swaim Stewart, in his corporate magazine that popularized highly talented professionals. As the "raucous" imitations of plantation life decreased in minstrelsy, the banjo became more acceptable as an instrument of fashionable society, even to be accepted into women's parlors. Part of that change
14673-567: The Caribbean since the 17th century by enslaved people taken from West and Central Africa. Their African-style instruments were crafted from split gourds with animal skins stretched across them. Strings, from gut or vegetable fibers, were attached to a wooden neck. Written references to the banjo in North America and the Caribbean appear in the 17th and 18th centuries. The earliest written indication of an instrument akin to
14874-508: The Carters recorded some 300 old-time ballads, traditional tunes, country songs and gospel hymns, all representative of America's southeastern folklore and heritage. Maybelle Carter went on to continue the family tradition with her daughters as The Carter Sisters ; her daughter June would marry (in succession) Carl Smith , Rip Nix and Johnny Cash , having children with each who would also become country singers. Record sales declined during
15075-775: The Dixie Tabernacle in East Nashville on June 13, 1936. The Opry then moved to the War Memorial Auditorium , a downtown venue adjacent to the State Capitol , and a 25-cent admission fee was charged to try to curb the large crowds, but to no avail. In June 1943, the Opry moved to Ryman Auditorium . One hour of the Opry was nationally broadcast by the NBC Red Network from 1939 to 1956, and for much of its run, it aired one hour after
15276-529: The Grand Ole Opry. That was the ordination of bluegrass music and how Bill Monroe came to be known as the "Father of Bluegrass." Gospel music , too, remained a popular component of bluegrass and other sorts of country music. Red Foley , the biggest country star following World War II, had one of the first million-selling gospel hits (" Peace in the Valley ") and also sang boogie, blues and rockabilly. In
15477-464: The Judds . Banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, in modern forms usually made of plastic, originally of animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashioned by African Americans and had African antecedents. In the 19th century, interest in the instrument was spread across
15678-698: The Lane " for Okeh Records on June 14, 1923. Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nationwide hit in May 1924 with " Wreck of the Old 97 ". The flip side of the record was "Lonesome Road Blues", which also became very popular. In April 1924, "Aunt" Samantha Bumgarner and Eva Davis became the first female musicians to record and release country songs. The record 129-D produced by Columbia features Samantha playing fiddle and singing Big-Eyed Rabbit while Eva Davis plays banjo. The other side features Eva Davis playing banjo while singing Wild Bill Jones. Many of
15879-693: The Opry House was flooded, along with much of Nashville, when the Cumberland River overflowed its banks . Repairs were made, and the Opry itself remained uninterrupted. Over the course of the summer of 2010, the broadcast temporarily originated from alternate venues in Nashville, with Ryman Auditorium hosting the majority of the shows. Other venues included TPAC War Memorial Auditorium , another former Opry home; TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall ; Nashville Municipal Auditorium ; Allen Arena at Lipscomb University ; and Two Rivers Baptist Church. Much of
16080-536: The Opry and collaborated on the 1989 album Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two . Another artist that ran afoul of the Opry's stringent standards was Jerry Lee Lewis , who made his first appearance on the show on January 20, 1973, after several years of success on the country charts. Lewis was given two conditions for his appearance – no rock and roll and no profanity – and he proceeded to disregard both, even referring to himself as
16281-407: The Opry management in 2007 alleging that manager Pete Fisher was trying to purge older members of the Opry from its membership and committing age discrimination . Jackson settled the lawsuit in 2008 and resumed appearing on the program until retiring in 2012. In early 2022, Morgan Wallen performed on the Grand Ole Opry alongside Ernest . This move was criticized, as Wallen had been taped less than
16482-403: The Opry were going to have a dress code, it should enforce it upon the audience as well, and that she was only wearing what most young women of the time were wearing. Seely's actions effectively caused the fall of a "gingham curtain" . Despite her disputes with the dress code, Seely would remain loyal to the Opry, setting the record for most appearances on the program over 55 years (and ongoing) as
16683-489: The Opry would go on. It took years after that before drums became commonly accepted at the Opry; as late as 1967, an item in Billboard claimed that "[a] full set of drums was used on the 'Grand Ole Opry' for the first time in history when Jerry Reed performed last week. Jerry's drummer, Willie Akerman, was allowed to use the entire set during his guest performance there." Stonewall Jackson , an Opry member since 1956, sued
16884-450: The South, as far north as Chicago, and as far west as California. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry , aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville and continuing to the present day. During the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood, many featuring Gene Autry , who was known as king of the "singing cowboys," and Hank Williams . Bob Wills
17085-694: The Southwestern United States, it was the Rocky Mountains , American frontier , and Rio Grande that acted as a similar backdrop for Native American , Mexican , and cowboy ballads, which resulted in New Mexico music and the development of western music , and it is directly related to Red Dirt, Texas country, and Tejano music styles. In the Asia-Pacific , the steel guitar sound of country music has its provenance in
17286-532: The Straw " by fiddlers Henry Gilliland & A.C. (Eck) Robertson on June 30, 1922, for Victor Records and released in April 1923. Columbia Records began issuing records with "hillbilly" music (series 15000D "Old Familiar Tunes") as early as 1924. The first commercial recording of what is widely considered to be the first country song featuring vocals and lyrics was Fiddlin' John Carson with " Little Log Cabin in
17487-654: The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board granted summary judgment that the term "Opry" is a generic term (and thus no more protected than the words "Grand" or "Ole"), but the Federal Circuit court reversed this decision. As recently as 2009, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board granted judgment against Texas Opry House, LLC, which had filed a trademark application for TEXAS OPRY HOUSE. In 2004, the Grand Ole Opry sold naming rights to its first "presenting sponsor", Cracker Barrel . Insurance company Humana became
17688-407: The United States and United Kingdom by traveling shows of the 19th-century minstrel show fad, followed by mass-production and mail-order sales, including instruction method books. The inexpensive or home-made banjo remained part of rural folk culture, but 5-string and 4-string banjos also became popular for home parlor music entertainment, college music clubs, and early 20th century jazz bands. By
17889-597: The West Coast. Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family are widely considered to be important early country musicians. From Scott County, Virginia , the Carters had learned sight reading of hymnals and sheet music using solfege . Their songs were first captured at a historic recording session in Bristol, Tennessee , on August 1, 1927, where Ralph Peer was the talent scout and sound recordist. A scene in
18090-433: The absence of performances, the building remained a tourist attraction throughout the remainder of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1991 and 1992, Emmylou Harris performed a series of concerts there and released some of the recordings as an album entitled At the Ryman . The concert and album's high acclaim renewed interest in reviving Ryman Auditorium as an active venue. Beginning in September 1993, Gaylord Entertainment initiated
18291-423: The appeal of the Nashville sound, many traditional country artists emerged during this period and dominated the genre: Loretta Lynn , Merle Haggard , Buck Owens , Porter Wagoner , George Jones , and Sonny James among them. In 1962, Ray Charles surprised the pop world by turning his attention to country and western music, topping the charts and rating number three for the year on Billboard's pop chart with
18492-570: The audience's response was immediately hostile, resulting in derisive heckling, booing, and mocking calls of "tweet, tweet" and "cut your hair" The Byrds further outraged the Opry establishment by ignoring accepted protocol when they performed Parsons' song " Hickory Wind " instead of the Merle Haggard song "Life in Prison", as had been announced by Tompall Glaser . Two decades later, long after Parsons' death, members of The Byrds reconciled with
18693-449: The auditorium's main floor seating, the backstage areas, and the entire stage—including the six foot inlaid circle of wood from Ryman's stage—was underwater during the flood. While the Grand Ole Opry House's stage was replaced, the Ryman circle was restored and again placed at center stage in the Grand Ole Opry House before shows resumed. The renovations following the flood also resulted in an updated and much-expanded backstage area, including
18894-813: The bands regularly on the show during its early days included Bill Monroe , the Possum Hunters (with Humphrey Bate ), the Fruit Jar Drinkers with Uncle Dave Macon , the Crook Brothers, the Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers , Sid Harkreader , DeFord Bailey , Fiddlin' Arthur Smith , and the Gully Jumpers . Judge Hay liked the Fruit Jar Drinkers and asked them to appear last on each show because he wanted to always close each segment with "red hot fiddle playing". They were
19095-731: The banjo are known from a diverse array of distant countries. For example, the Chinese sanxian , the Japanese shamisen , the Persian tar , and the Moroccan sintir . Banjos with fingerboards and tuning pegs are known from the Caribbean as early as the 17th century. Some 18th- and early 19th-century writers transcribed the name of these instruments variously as bangie , banza , bonjaw , banjer and banjar . The instrument became increasingly available commercially from around
19296-532: The banjo is in the 17th century: Richard Jobson (1621) in describing The Gambia , wrote about an instrument like the banjo, which he called a bandore . The term banjo has several etymological claims, one being from the Mandinka language which gives the name of Banjul , capital of The Gambia. Another claim is a connection to the West African akonting : it is made with a long bamboo neck called
19497-572: The basic ensemble consisted of classical guitar , bass guitar , dobro or steel guitar, though some larger ensembles featured electric guitars , trumpets , keyboards (especially the honky-tonk piano, a type of tack piano ), banjos , and drums . By the early 1950s it blended with rock and roll , becoming the rockabilly sound produced by Sam Phillips , Norman Petty , and Bob Keane . Musicians like Elvis Presley , Buddy Holly , Jerry Lee Lewis , Ritchie Valens , Carl Perkins , Roy Orbison , and Johnny Cash emerged as enduring representatives of
19698-419: The beginning of the minstrel era, as banjos shifted away from being exclusively homemade folk instruments to instruments of a more modern style. Sweeney participated in this transition by encouraging drum maker William Boucher of Baltimore to make banjos commercially for him to sell. According to Arthur Woodward in 1949, Sweeney replaced the gourd with a sound box made of wood and covered with skin, and added
19899-516: The brass and reed instruments that were current in dance-halls. The four string plectrum and tenor banjos did not eliminate the five-string variety. They were products of their times and musical purposes—ragtime and jazz dance music and theater music. The Great Depression is a visible line to mark the end of the Jazz Age . The economic downturn cut into the sales of both four- and five-stringed banjos, and by World War 2, banjos were in sharp decline,
20100-698: The construction of more dressing rooms and a performer's lounge. The Opry returned to the Grand Ole Opry House on September 28, 2010, in a special edition of the Opry entitled Country Comes Home that was televised live on Great American Country . The Opry closed its doors to spectators and trimmed its staff in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee but continued to air weekly episodes on radio and television, relying on advertising revenue to remain solvent. The Opry resumed allowing spectators on
20301-468: The country charts. Between 1972 and 1975, singer/guitarist John Denver released a series of hugely successful songs blending country and folk-rock musical styles (" Rocky Mountain High ", " Sunshine on My Shoulders ", " Annie's Song ", " Thank God I'm a Country Boy ", and " I'm Sorry "), and was named Country Music Entertainer of the Year in 1975. The year before, Olivia Newton-John, an Australian pop singer, won
20502-409: The country music genre and country music fans. On behalf of all of us at the Grand Ole Opry and Opry Entertainment, I'd like to thank the artist community, industry and music lovers around the world for their continued support". After seven months of performing without a live audience, in October 2020, the Opry kicked off its 95th anniversary by welcoming back 500 guests to the Opry House – and so began
20703-465: The country. Many musicians performed and recorded songs in any number of styles. Moon Mullican , for example, played western swing but also recorded songs that can be called rockabilly . Between 1947 and 1949, country crooner Eddy Arnold placed eight songs in the top 10. From 1945 to 1955 Jenny Lou Carson was one of the most prolific songwriters in country music. In the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or western music, which had been recorded since
20904-776: The cowboy ballads, New Mexico , Texas country and Tejano music rhythms of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico , reached its peak in popularity in the late 1950s, most notably with the song " El Paso ", first recorded by Marty Robbins in September 1959. Western music's influence would continue to grow within the country music sphere, western musicians like Michael Martin Murphey , New Mexico music artists Al Hurricane and Antonia Apodaca , Tejano music performer Little Joe , and even folk revivalist John Denver , all first rose to prominence during this time. This western music influence largely kept
21105-411: The departure of the Opry, Ryman Auditorium sat mostly vacant and decaying for 20 years. An initial effort by National Life & Accident to tear down the Ryman and use its bricks to build a chapel at Opryland USA was met with resounding resistance from the public, including many influential musicians of the time. The plans were abandoned, and the building remained standing with an uncertain future. Despite
21306-839: The door for female artists with her history-making song "I Want To Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart". This would begin a movement toward opportunities for women to have successful solo careers. Bob Wills was another country musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a " hot string band ," and who also appeared in Hollywood westerns . His mix of country and jazz , which started out as dance hall music, would become known as western swing . Cliff Bruner , Moon Mullican , Milton Brown and Adolph Hofner were other early western swing pioneers. Spade Cooley and Tex Williams also had very popular bands and appeared in films. At its height, western swing rivaled
21507-671: The earliest stars of what would come to be known as country music. His band, the Skillet Lickers , was one of the most innovative and influential string bands of the 1920s and 1930s. Its most notable members were Clayton McMichen (fiddle and vocal), Dan Hornsby (vocals), Riley Puckett (guitar and vocal) and Robert Lee Sweat (guitar). New York City record label Okeh Records began issuing hillbilly music records by Fiddlin' John Carson as early as 1923, followed by Columbia Records (series 15000D "Old Familiar Tunes") ( Samantha Bumgarner ) in 1924, and RCA Victor Records in 1927 with
21708-408: The early 1960s, however, it was rare for a country band not to have a drummer. Bob Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. A decade later (1948) Arthur Smith achieved top 10 US country chart success with his MGM Records recording of " Guitar Boogie ", which crossed over to the US pop chart, introducing many people to the potential of
21909-531: The early 21st century, the banjo was most frequently associated with folk , bluegrass and country music , but was also used in some rock , pop and even hip-hop music. Among rock bands, the Eagles , Led Zeppelin , and the Grateful Dead have used the five-string banjo in some of their songs. Some famous pickers of the banjo are Ralph Stanley and Earl Scruggs . Historically, the banjo occupied
22110-630: The early country musicians, such as the yodeler Cliff Carlisle , recorded blues songs into the 1930s. Other important early recording artists were Riley Puckett , Don Richardson , Fiddlin' John Carson , Uncle Dave Macon , Al Hopkins , Ernest V. Stoneman , Blind Alfred Reed , Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers and the Skillet Lickers . The steel guitar entered country music as early as 1922, when Jimmie Tarlton met famed Hawaiian guitarist Frank Ferera on
22311-585: The early eighties: Nelson charted " Always on My Mind " (#5, 1982) and " To All the Girls I've Loved Before " (#5, 1984, a duet with Julio Iglesias ), and Newton achieved success with " Queen of Hearts " (#2, 1981) and " Angel of the Morning " (#4, 1981). Four country songs topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s: " Lady " by Kenny Rogers , from the late fall of 1980; " 9 to 5 " by Dolly Parton , " I Love
22512-528: The electric guitar. For several decades Nashville session players preferred the warm tones of the Gibson and Gretsch archtop electrics, but a "hot" Fender style, using guitars which became available beginning in the early 1950s, eventually prevailed as the signature guitar sound of country. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had been played at Carnegie Hall , when Johnny Barfield recorded "Boogie Woogie". The trickle of what
22713-481: The end of World War II with "mountaineer" string band music known as bluegrass , which emerged when Bill Monroe , along with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs , were introduced by Roy Acuff at the Grand Ole Opry. Gospel music remained a popular component of country music. The Native American , Hispano, and American frontier music of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico , became popular among poor communities in New Mexico , Oklahoma , and Texas ;
22914-485: The end of 2023, with Opry Live being moved to syndication . RFD-TV carries reruns of Opry telecasts under the title Opry Encore . Sky Arts simulcasts Opry Live in the United Kingdom . Regular performers at the Grand Ole Opry can be inducted into the organization as a member. Opry management, when it decides to induct a new member, directs an existing member to publicly ask them to join, usually during
23115-492: The fingerboard. Instead, the fourth string is lowest, then third, second, first, and the fifth string is highest. The short fifth string presents special problems for a capo . For small changes (going up or down one or two semitones, for example), simply retuning the fifth string is possible. Otherwise, various devices called "fifth-string capos" effectively shorten the vibrating part of the string. Many banjo players use model-railroad spikes or titanium spikes (usually installed at
23316-456: The fingerpicking bluegrass banjo styles, such as the Scruggs style and Keith style . The Briggs Banjo Method , considered to be the first banjo method and which taught the stroke style of playing, also mentioned the existence of another way of playing, the guitar style. Alternatively known as "finger style", the new way of playing the banjo displaced the stroke method, until by 1870 it
23517-529: The first all-country radio station was established in Lubbock, Texas . The music of the 1960s and 1970s targeted the American working class, and truckers in particular. As country radio became more popular, trucking songs like the 1963 hit song Six Days on the Road by Dave Dudley began to make up their own subgenre of country. These revamped songs sought to portray American truckers as a "new folk hero", marking
23718-406: The first famous pioneers of the genre Jimmie Rodgers , who is widely considered the "Father of Country Music", and the first family of country music the Carter Family . Many "hillbilly" musicians recorded blues songs throughout the 1920s. During the second generation (1930s–1940s), radio became a popular source of entertainment, and "barn dance" shows featuring country music were started all over
23919-594: The first major updates to the set in over two decades – in February 2023. Opry NextStage, a program that spotlights a select number of up-and-coming country artists each year, began bringing younger and more diverse acts to the Opry stage in 2019. Artists from more genres like Folk, Americana, Gospel, Blues, and Southern Rock frequently appear on the show. And in 2022, Opry management invited two new comedians – Henry Cho (the Opry's first Asian American member) and Gary Mule Deer – to become Opry members. The Grand Ole Opry
24120-461: The first-ever member of the Opry inducted for his songwriting and not as a performer, having begun regular appearances only after Travis's incapacitation, performing songs he had written for Travis and for non-Opry member Kenny Rogers . The Opry also has a history of inviting comedians to join the cast, though none were invited to join between Jerry Clower 's induction in 1973 and when Henry Cho and Gary Mule Deer became members in 2023. Following
24321-454: The former crossing over to the US pop charts. Other country boogie artists included Moon Mullican , Merrill Moore and Tennessee Ernie Ford . The hillbilly boogie period lasted into the 1950s and remains one of many subgenres of country into the 21st century. By the end of World War II , "mountaineer" string band music known as bluegrass had emerged when Bill Monroe joined with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs , introduced by Roy Acuff at
24522-423: The four main strings with the index, middle or both fingers while the drone or fifth string is played with a 'lifting' (as opposed to downward pluck) motion of the thumb. The notes typically sounded by the thumb in this fashion are, usually, on the off beat. Melodies can be quite intricate adding techniques such as double thumbing and drop thumb. In old time Appalachian Mountain music, a style called two-finger up-pick
24723-724: The guitar style of Banjo-playing...the little finger of the right hand is rested upon the head near the bridge...[and] serves as a rest to the hand and a resistance to the movement of picking the strings...In the beginning it is best to acquire a knowledge of picking the strings with the use of the first and second fingers and thumb only, allowing the third finger to remain idle until the other fingers have become thoroughly accustomed to their work...the three fingers are almost invariably used in playing chords and accompaniments to songs." The banjo, although popular, carried low-class associations from its role in blackface minstrel shows, medicine shows, tent shows, and variety shows or vaudeville. There
24924-400: The hospital the third time I broke my nose." Cash was accepted back in 1968, after the success of his At Folsom Prison album and his recovery from addiction. Ryman Auditorium was home to the Opry until 1974. By the late 1960s, National Life & Accident desired a new, larger, more modern home for the long-running radio show. Already 51 years old at the time the Opry moved there, the Ryman
25125-588: The induction of Jon Pardi —the only Opry member to hail from the state of California—in October 2023, there are 71 active Opry members, plus the Opry Square Dancers, who enjoy sui generis membership status and open every Saturday show. In April 1963, Opry management mandated that members had to perform no less than 26 shows a year in order to maintain their membership. WSM decreased the number of those required performances to 20 in January 1964, and
25326-411: The industry lacked her passion for the movement. During the mid-1970s, Dolly Parton , a successful mainstream country artist since the late 1960s, mounted a high-profile campaign to cross over to pop music, culminating in her 1977 hit " Here You Come Again ", which topped the U.S. country singles chart, and also reached No. 3 on the pop singles charts. Parton's male counterpart, Kenny Rogers , came from
25527-549: The initial blending of the two polar opposite genres, other offspring soon resulted, including Southern rock , heartland rock and in more recent years, alternative country . In the decades that followed, artists such as Juice Newton , Alabama , Hank Williams, Jr. (and, to an even greater extent, Hank Williams III ), Gary Allan , Shania Twain , Brooks & Dunn , Faith Hill , Garth Brooks , Dwight Yoakam , Steve Earle , Dolly Parton , Rosanne Cash and Linda Ronstadt moved country further towards rock influence. In 1980,
25728-432: The instrument is built. On this instrument they play airs composed of three or four notes, which they repeat constantly. Michel Étienne Descourtilz , a naturalist who visited Haiti in the early 1800s, described it as banzas , a Negro instrument, that the natives prepare by sawing one of the calabashes or a large gourd lengthwise, to which they attach a neck and sonorous strings made from the filament" of aloe plants. It
25929-648: The last one hundred years, the tenor banjo has become an intrinsic part of the world of Irish traditional music. It is a relative newcomer to the genre. The banjo has also been used more recently in the hardcore punk scene, most notably by Show Me the Body on their debut album, Body War . Two techniques closely associated with the five-string banjo are rolls and drones . Rolls are right hand accompanimental fingering patterns that consist of eight (eighth) notes that subdivide each measure . Drone notes are quick little notes [typically eighth notes], usually played on
26130-406: The late 1950s and 1960s. Songs such as the 1963 Johnny Cash popularized " Ring of Fire " show clear influences from the likes of Al Hurricane and Little Joe , this influence just happened to culminate with artists such as Ray Price (whose band, the "Cherokee Cowboys", included Willie Nelson and Roger Miller ) and mixed with the anger of an alienated subculture of the nation during the period,
26331-407: The late 2000s and early 2010s. Most of the best-selling country songs of this era were those by Lady A , Florida Georgia Line , Carrie Underwood , and Taylor Swift . Hip hop also made its mark on country music with the emergence of country rap . The first commercial recordings of what was considered instrumental music in the traditional country style were " Arkansas Traveler " and " Turkey in
26532-604: The latter part of the western heyday in country music, many of these genres featured popular artists that continue to influence both their distinctive genres and larger country music. Red Dirt featured Bob Childers and Steve Ripley ; for New Mexico music Al Hurricane , Al Hurricane Jr. , and Antonia Apodaca ; and within the Texas scenes Willie Nelson , Freddie Fender , Johnny Rodriguez , and Little Joe . As Outlaw country music emerged as subgenre in its own right, Red Dirt, New Mexico, Texas country, and Tejano grew in popularity as
26733-469: The live show increased, National Life & Accident Insurance's radio venue became too small to accommodate the hordes of fans. They built a larger studio, but it was still not large enough. After several months with no audiences, National Life decided to allow the show to move outside its home offices. In October 1934, the Opry moved into then- suburban Hillsboro Theatre (now the Belcourt) before moving to
26934-450: The market for them dead. In the years after World War II, the banjo experienced a resurgence, played by music stars such as Earl Scruggs (bluegrass), Bela Fleck (jazz, rock, world music), Gerry O'Connor (Celtic and Irish music), Perry Bechtel (jazz, big band), Pete Seeger (folk), and Otis Taylor (African-American roots, blues, jazz). Pete Seeger "was a major force behind a new national interest in folk music." Learning to play
27135-417: The mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the Nashville sound turned country music into a multimillion-dollar industry centered in Nashville, Tennessee . Under the direction of producers such as Chet Atkins , Bill Porter , Paul Cohen , Owen Bradley , Bob Ferguson , and later Billy Sherrill , the sound brought country music to a diverse audience and helped revive country as it emerged from
27336-418: The minimum number was 12 in 2000. Although the minimum number of performances has been reduced over the years, artists offered membership are expected to display their dedication to the Opry with frequent attendance. Another controversy raged for years over permissible instrumentation, especially the use of drums and electrically amplified instruments. Some purists were appalled at the prospect; traditionally,
27537-416: The minstrel companies and circuses present in the 1840s, but also floating theaters and variety theaters, forerunners of the variety show and vaudeville. The term classic banjo is used today to talk about a bare-finger "guitar style" that was widely in use among banjo players of the late 19th to early 20th century. It is still used by banjoists today. The term also differentiates that style of playing from
27738-585: The more polished country-pop sound that had been prominent on radio and the charts in favor of more traditional "back-to-basics" production. During the fifth generation (the 1990s), neotraditionalists and stadium country acts prospered. The sixth generation (2000s–present) has seen a certain amount of diversification in regard to country music styles. It has also, however, seen a shift into patriotism and conservative politics since 9/11 , though such themes are less prevalent in more modern trends. The influence of rock music in country has become more overt during
27939-400: The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? depicts a similar occurrence in the same timeframe. Rodgers fused hillbilly country, gospel, jazz, blues, pop, cowboy, and folk, and many of his best songs were his compositions, including " Blue Yodel ", which sold over a million records and established Rodgers as the premier singer of early country music. Beginning in 1927, and for the next 17 years,
28140-446: The museum include banjorines and piccolo banjos. New styles of playing, a new look, instruments in a variety of pitch ranges to take the place of different sections in an orchestra – all helped to separate the instrument from the rough minstrel image of the previous 50–60 years. The instrument was modern now, a bright new thing, with polished metal sides. In the early 1900s, new banjos began to spread, four-string models, played with
28341-493: The music of the folk revival and folk rock from influencing the country music genre much, despite the similarity in instrumentation and origins (see, for instance, the Byrds ' negative reception during their appearance on the Grand Ole Opry ). The main concern was largely political: most folk revival was largely driven by progressive activists, a stark contrast to the culturally conservative audiences of country music. John Denver
28542-419: The music, it was something that got written in an article, and the young people said, 'Well, that's pretty cool.' And started listening." (Willie Nelson) The term outlaw country is traditionally associated with Willie Nelson , Jerry Jeff Walker , Hank Williams, Jr. , Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Joe Ely . It was encapsulated in the 1976 album Wanted! The Outlaws . Though the outlaw movement as
28743-539: The necks do not possess a Western-style fingerboard and tuning pegs; instead they have stick necks, with strings attached to the neck with loops for tuning. Another likely relative of the banjo is the aforementioned akonting , a spike folk lute which is constructed using a gourd body, a long wooden neck, and three strings played by the Jola tribe of Senegambia , and the ubaw-akwala of the Igbo . Similar instruments include
28944-615: The new fifth-floor radio studio of the National Life & Accident Insurance Company in downtown Nashville on November 28, 1925. On October 17, 1925, management began a program featuring "Dr. Humphrey Bate and his string quartet of old-time musicians." On November 2, WSM hired long-time announcer and program director George D. Hay , an enterprising pioneer from the National Barn Dance program at WLS in Chicago, who
29145-424: The ongoing construction of Opry Mills. The Opry returned to the Ryman for the three winter months every year until 2019–20, allowing the show to acknowledge its roots while also taking advantage of a smaller venue during an off-peak season for tourism. Following a COVID-19 pandemic -related hiatus after the 2020 season, the show has returned to The Ryman for shorter winter residencies since 2023. While still officially
29346-565: The opposite direction, aiming his music at the country charts, after a successful career in pop, rock and folk music with the First Edition , achieving success the same year with " Lucille ", which topped the country charts and reached No. 5 on the U.S. pop singles charts, as well as reaching Number 1 on the British all-genre chart. Parton and Rogers would both continue to have success on both country and pop charts simultaneously, well into
29547-413: The pandemic, with the majority of viewers being under lockdown. According to Pollstar , Opry Live was the number one most-watched livestream series in 2020 across all genres and received more than fifty million viewers from over fifty countries throughout the year, with two individual episodes ( Vince Gill / Reba McEntire and Brad Paisley / Carrie Underwood ) placing at numbers nine and ten respectively in
29748-605: The pop charts with their records. In 1975, author Paul Hemphill stated in the Saturday Evening Post , "Country music isn't really country anymore; it is a hybrid of nearly every form of popular music in America." During the early 1980s, country artists continued to see their records perform well on the pop charts. Willie Nelson and Juice Newton each had two songs in the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 in
29949-626: The popularity of big band swing music. Drums were scorned by early country musicians as being "too loud" and "not pure", but by 1935 western swing big band leader Bob Wills had added drums to the Texas Playboys . In the mid-1940s, the Grand Ole Opry did not want the Playboys' drummer to appear on stage. Although drums were commonly used by rockabilly groups by 1955, the less-conservative-than-the-Grand-Ole-Opry Louisiana Hayride kept its infrequently used drummer backstage as late as 1956. By
30150-438: The post-war period, country music was called "folk" in the trades, and "hillbilly" within the industry. In 1944, Billboard replaced the term "hillbilly" with "folk songs and blues," and switched to "country and western" in 1949. Another type of stripped-down and raw music with a variety of moods and a basic ensemble of guitar, bass, dobro or steel guitar (and later) drums became popular, especially among rural residents in
30351-547: The program as Grand Ole Opry Live. The show moved to Country Music Television , also owned by Gaylord, where it expanded to an hour, and then to the Great American Country (GAC) cable network, which no longer televised its Opry Live show after both networks channel drifted towards generic Southern lifestyle programming. Circle , a new over-the-air digital subchannel network operated by Gray Television and Ryman Hospitality Properties, resumed telecasting
30552-411: The program that had inspired it, National Barn Dance . The NBC segment, originally known by the name of its sponsor, The Prince Albert Show , was first hosted by Acuff, who was succeeded by Red Foley from 1946 to 1954. From October 15, 1955, to September 1956, ABC-TV aired a live, hour-long television version once a month on Saturday nights (sponsored by Ralston-Purina) that pre-empted one hour of
30753-436: The pseudonym "Thumper Jones", wanting to capitalize on the popularity of rockabilly without alienating his traditional country base. Cash and Presley placed songs in the top 5 in 1958 with No. 3 "Guess Things Happen That Way/Come In, Stranger" by Cash, and No. 5 by Presley "Don't/I Beg of You." Presley acknowledged the influence of rhythm and blues artists and his style, saying "The colored folk been singin' and playin' it just
30954-416: The public on June 30, 1972, well ahead of the 4,000-seat Opry House, which debuted nearly two years later, on Saturday, March 16, 1974. The last show of the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium was held on March 15, 1974. Opening night was attended by sitting U.S. President Richard Nixon , who played a few songs on the piano. To carry on the tradition of the show's run at the Ryman, a six-foot circle of oak
31155-410: The radio programs, performances have been sporadically televised over the years. Video compilations of previous Opry performances are distributed digitally every Saturday evening on FAST network Circle Country as well as the Opry ' s YouTube and Facebook outlets, and syndicated to a number of television stations across North America. The Grand Ole Opry started as the WSM Barn Dance in
31356-408: The same time there was a lack of enthusiasm in the country sector for Nashville-produced music. What resulted was a crossbred genre known as country rock . Fourth generation (1970s–1980s) music included outlaw country with roots in the Bakersfield sound , and country pop with roots in the countrypolitan , folk music and soft rock . Between 1972 and 1975 singer/guitarist John Denver released
31557-417: The second band accepted on Barn Dance , with the Crook Brothers being the first. When the Opry began having square dancers on the show, the Fruit Jar Drinkers always played for them. In 1926, Uncle Dave Macon, a Tennessee banjo player who had recorded several songs and toured on the vaudeville circuit, became its first real star. The phrase "Grand Ole Opry" was first uttered on radio on December 10, 1927. At
31758-555: The second quarter of the 19th century due to minstrel show performances. In the antebellum South , many enslaved Africans played the banjo, spreading it to the rest of the population. In his memoir With Sabre and Scalpel: The Autobiography of a Soldier and Surgeon , the Confederate veteran and surgeon John Allan Wyeth recalls learning to play the banjo as a child from an enslaved person on his family plantation. Another man who learned to play from African-Americans, probably in
31959-410: The second-best-selling album in the US with 29 million copies sold. The Rolling Stones also got into the act with songs like " Dead Flowers "; the original recording of " Honky Tonk Women " was performed in a country style, but it was subsequently re-recorded in a hard rock style for the single version, and the band's preferred country version was later released on the album Let It Bleed , under
32160-486: The show that the singer's style did not suit the program. In the 1960s, as the hippie counterculture movement spread, the Opry maintained a strait-laced, conservative image with "longhairs" not being featured on the show. Artists were expected to dress conservatively, with women regularly wearing gingham country dresses; Jeannie Seely , upon joining the Opry in 1967, fought management to wear more contemporary attire such as miniskirts and go-go boots , arguing that if
32361-477: The show's ban on drums. Wills openly flouted the rule. King, who performed at the Ryman in 1945 after Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death, did not technically defy the ban. He did not use his drums on the Opry, but this particular Saturday night, the Opry was cancelled due to FDR's death. He and his band were asked to perform their theater show (with their drummer) because a number of fans showed up assuming
32562-461: The society of the most charming girls." Some of those entertainers, such as Alfred A. Farland , specialized in classical music. However, musicians who wanted to entertain their audiences, and make a living, mixed it in with the popular music that audiences wanted. Farland's pupil Frederick J. Bacon was one of these. A former medicine show entertainer, Bacon performed classical music along with popular songs such as Massa's in de cold, cold ground ,
32763-443: The sound and feeling of early playing styles. Modern banjos are typically strung with metal strings. Usually, the fourth string is wound with either steel or bronze-phosphor alloy. Some players may string their banjos with nylon or gut strings to achieve a more mellow, old-time tone. Some banjos have a separate resonator plate on the back of the pot to project the sound forward and give the instrument more volume. This type of banjo
32964-548: The strings are played directly with the fingers, rather than any pick or intermediary. While five-string banjos are traditionally played with either fingerpicks or the fingers themselves, tenor banjos and plectrum banjos are played with a pick, either to strum full chords, or most commonly in Irish traditional music , play single-note melodies. The modern banjo comes in a variety of forms, including four- and five-string versions. A six-string version, tuned and played similarly to
33165-404: The style. Beginning in the mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the Nashville sound turned country music into a multimillion-dollar industry centered in Nashville, Tennessee ; Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves were two of the most broadly popular Nashville sound artists, and their deaths in separate plane crashes in the early 1960s were a factor in the genre's decline. Starting in
33366-659: The subgenre. Dudley is known as the father of truck driving country. During the mid-1980s, a group of new artists began to emerge who rejected the more polished country-pop sound that had been prominent on radio and the charts, in favor of more, traditional, "back-to-basics" production. Many of the artists during the latter half of the 1980s drew on traditional honky-tonk, bluegrass, folk and western swing. Artists who typified this sound included Travis Tritt , Reba McEntire , George Strait , Keith Whitley , Alan Jackson , John Anderson , Patty Loveless , Kathy Mattea , Randy Travis , Dwight Yoakam , Clint Black , Ricky Skaggs , and
33567-455: The term 'Opry', standing alone as defendant has used it, is constantly used in country and western music circles in referring to plaintiff's 'Grand Ole Opry'". The court also stated "the defendant has appropriated, at its peril, the dominant or salient term in the plaintiff's mark, a term which identified the 'Grand Ole Opry' in the mind of the public many years before the inception of 'Opry Records'—the name adopted by defendant". In another case,
33768-521: The then-90-minute Ozark Jubilee . From 1955 to 1957, Al Gannaway owned and produced both The Country Show and Stars of the Grand Ole Opry, both filmed programs syndicated by Flamingo Films. Gannaway's Stars of the Grand Ole Opry was the first television show shot in color. On October 2, 1954, a teenage Elvis Presley had his only Opry performance. Although the audience reacted politely to his revolutionary brand of rockabilly music , Opry manager Jim Denny told Presley's producer Sam Phillips after
33969-474: The three states of Texhomex , those being Tex as , Okla ho ma , and New Mex ico . It became known as honky tonk and had its roots in western swing and the ranchera music of Mexico and the border states, particularly New Mexico and Texas, together with the blues of the American South. Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys personified this music which has been described as "a little bit of this, and
34170-511: The time, the NBC Red Network's Music Appreciation Hour , a program with classical music and selections from grand opera , was followed by Hay's Barn Dance . That evening, as he was introducing DeFord Bailey, the show's first performer of the night, George Hay said the following words: For the past hour, we have been listening to music largely from Grand Opera, but from now on, we will present 'The Grand Ole Opry'. As audiences for
34371-481: The title "Country Honk". Described by AllMusic as the "father of country-rock", Gram Parsons' work in the early 1970s was acclaimed for its purity and for his appreciation for aspects of traditional country music. Though his career was cut tragically short by his 1973 death, his legacy was carried on by his protégé and duet partner Emmylou Harris ; Harris would release her debut solo in 1975, an amalgamation of country, rock and roll, folk, blues and pop. Subsequent to
34572-453: The top ten. President of Opry Entertainment Scott Bailey explained that "as the stewards of the Grand Ole Opry, it was never a question of if the Opry would play on, but how could it provide a safe and much-needed source of comfort during what has been an extraordinary year around the world. We are proud of this tremendous result and the numbers of viewers who have tuned in, not only for what it has meant for Circle, but also for what it says about
34773-437: The trucking song subgenre following the success of Six Days on the Road and asked Red Simpson to record an album of trucking songs. Haggard's White Line Fever was also part of the trucking subgenre. The country music scene of the 1940s until the 1970s was largely dominated by western music influences, so much so that the genre began to be called "country and western". Even today, cowboy and frontier values continue to play
34974-405: The way I'm doin' it now, man for more years than I know." Within a few years, many rockabilly musicians returned to a more mainstream style or had defined their own unique style. Country music gained national television exposure through Ozark Jubilee on ABC-TV and radio from 1955 to 1960 from Springfield, Missouri . The program showcased top stars including several rockabilly artists, some from
35175-490: The world. It has taken court action to limit use of the word "Opry"—not directly trademarked—to members of the Opry and products associated with or licensed by it and to discourage use of the word in ways that would imply a connection to the Grand Ole Opry. In late 1968, for instance, WSM sued Opry Records, a record label that was independent of WSM, and the court decided that "the record is replete with newspaper and magazine articles and clippings which demonstrate conclusively that
35376-477: The year of rockabilly in country music. Rockabilly was an early form of rock and roll , an upbeat combination of blues and country music. The number two, three and four songs on Billboard's charts for that year were Elvis Presley , " Heartbreak Hotel "; Johnny Cash , " I Walk the Line "; and Carl Perkins , " Blue Suede Shoes ". Reflecting this success, George Jones released a rockabilly record that year under
35577-604: Was "introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon." Migration into the southern Appalachian Mountains , of the Southeastern United States , brought the folk music and instruments of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin along with it for nearly 300 years, which developed into Appalachian music . As the country expanded westward, the Mississippi River and Louisiana became a crossroads for country music, giving rise to Cajun music . In
35778-442: Was a push in the 19th century to bring the instrument into "respectability." Musicians such as William A. Huntley made an effort to "elevate" the instrument or make it more "artistic," by "bringing it to a more sophisticated level of technique and repertoire based on European standards." Huntley may have been the first white performer to successfully make the transition from performing in blackface to being himself on stage, noted by
35979-405: Was a switch from the stroke style to the guitar playing style. An 1888 newspaper said, "All the maidens and a good many of the women also strum the instrument, banjo classes abound on every side and banjo recitals are among the newest diversions of fashion...Youths and elderly men too have caught the fever...the star strummers among men are in demand at the smartest parties and have the choosing of
36180-438: Was already an established country star) all recorded significant country hits in the early 1980s. Sales in record stores rocketed to $ 250 million in 1981; by 1984, 900 radio stations began programming country or neocountry pop full-time. As with most sudden trends, however, by 1984 sales had dropped below 1979 figures. Truck-driving country music is a genre of country music and is a fusion of honky-tonk , country rock and
36381-473: Was also named the most popular radio announcer in America as a result of his radio work with both WLS and WMC in Memphis, Tennessee. Though only 29 when he was hired by WSM and turned 30 a week later, Hay (known as the "Solemn Old Judge") launched the WSM Barn Dance with 77-year-old fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson on November 28, 1925, and that date is celebrated as the day the Grand Ole Opry began. Some of
36582-640: Was also the home of the Country Music Association Awards from 1974 to 2004, and hosted three weeks of tapings for the long-running game show Wheel of Fortune in 2003. The venue has also been the site of the GMA Dove Awards on multiple occasions. On December 21, 2018, the backstage band room was officially named the Jimmy Capps Music Room in honor of Capps's 60th anniversary on the Opry . Following
36783-563: Was an important component of this style. The Nashville Sound collapsed in mainstream popularity in 1964, a victim of both the British Invasion and the deaths of Reeves and Cline in separate airplane crashes. By the mid-1960s, the genre had developed into countrypolitan . Countrypolitan was aimed straight at mainstream markets, and it sold well throughout the later 1960s into the early 1970s. Top artists included Tammy Wynette , Lynn Anderson and Charlie Rich , as well as such former "hard country" artists as Ray Price and Marty Robbins . Despite
36984-593: Was another country musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a " hot string band ," and who also appeared in Hollywood westerns . His mix of country and jazz , which started out as dance hall music, would become known as western swing . Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had been played at Carnegie Hall , when Johnny Barfield recorded "Boogie Woogie". The third generation (1950s–1960s) started at
37185-401: Was banned from the program in 1965 after drunkenly smashing the stage lights with the microphone stand. Cash commented on the incident years later: "I don't know how much they wanted me in the first place," he says, "but the night I broke all the stage lights with the microphone stand, they said they couldn't use me anymore. So I went out and used it as an excuse to really get wild and ended up in
37386-460: Was beginning to suffer from disrepair as the downtown neighborhood around it fell victim to increasing urban decay . Despite these shortcomings, the show's popularity continued to increase, and its weekly crowds were outgrowing the 2,362-seat venue. The Opry's operators wanted to build a new air-conditioned theater, with greater seating capacity, ample parking, and the ability to serve as a television production facility. Their ideal location would be in
37587-460: Was cut from the corner of the Ryman's stage and inlaid into center stage at the new venue. Artists on stage usually stood on the circle as they performed, and most modern performers still follow this tradition. The theme park was closed and demolished following the 1997 season, but the Grand Ole Opry House remains in use. The immediate area around it was left intact, even throughout the construction of Opry Mills , which opened in May 2000. The outside
37788-618: Was decorated with the commemorative plaques of country music Grammy winners, formerly of Opryland's StarWalk , until the display was retired, reconfigured, and moved downtown to become the Music City Walk of Fame in 2006. The Grand Ole Opry continues to be performed every Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and occasionally Wednesday and Sunday at the Grand Ole Opry House. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 27, 2015. The Grand Ole Opry House
37989-554: Was given a boost by the Civil War, as servicemen on both sides in the Army or Navy were exposed to the banjo played in minstrel shows and by other servicemen. A popular movement of aspiring banjoists began as early as 1861. The enthusiasm for the instrument was labeled a "banjo craze" or "banjo mania." By the 1850s, aspiring banjo players had options to help them learn their instrument. There were more teachers teaching banjo basics in
38190-405: Was granted similar accommodation from 2017 until her 2022 death. The Opry maintains a wall of fame listing every member of the Opry in the show's history. Receiving Opry membership is considered an honor that is similar in prestige to a Hall of Fame induction, with the caveat that a number of prominent country musicians never received it. When Don Schlitz was inducted on August 30, 2022, he became
38391-431: Was held for longtime member Loretta Lynn a few weeks after Lynn's death in October 2023; the concert featured performances by George Strait (who himself has only appeared once, in 1982, on the Opry radio show), Tanya Tucker, Wynonna, and several other artists. Thousands of Lynn's friends, family, and fans were in attendance at the Opry House. The Opry unveiled a new, upgraded stage with all-new, advanced audio technology –
38592-476: Was initially called hillbilly boogie, or okie boogie (later to be renamed country boogie), became a flood beginning in late 1945. One notable release from this period was the Delmore Brothers ' "Freight Train Boogie", considered to be part of the combined evolution of country music and blues towards rockabilly . In 1948, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith achieved top ten US country chart success with his MGM Records recordings of " Guitar Boogie " and "Banjo Boogie", with
38793-582: Was known as the Bakersfield sound . It relied on electric instruments and amplification, in particular the Telecaster electric guitar, more than other subgenres of the country music of the era, and it can be described as having a sharp, hard, driving, no-frills, edgy flavor—hard guitars and honky-tonk harmonies. Leading practitioners of this style were Buck Owens , Merle Haggard , Tommy Collins , Dwight Yoakam , Gary Allan , and Wynn Stewart , each of whom had his own style. Ken Nelson , who had produced Owens and Haggard and Rose Maddox became interested in
38994-440: Was most popular with country fans in the 1950s; one of the first rock and roll superstars was former western yodeler Bill Haley , who repurposed his Four Aces of Western Swing into a rock and roll band in the early 1950s and renamed it the Comets . Bill Haley & His Comets are credited with two of the first successful rock and roll records, " Crazy Man, Crazy " of 1953 and " Rock Around the Clock " in 1954. 1956 could be called
39195-413: Was perhaps the only musician to have major success in both the country and folk revival genres throughout his career, later only a handful of artists like Burl Ives and Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot successfully made the crossover to country after folk revival fell out of fashion. During the mid-1950s a new style of country music became popular, eventually to be referred to as rockabilly. In 1953,
39396-519: Was played during any occasion, from boredom to joyous parties and calendas to funeral ceremonies. It was the custom to also combine this sound with the more noisy bamboula , a type of drum made from a stick of bamboo covered on both sides with a skin that was played with fingers and knuckles while sitting astride. Various instruments in Africa, chief among them the kora , feature a skin drumhead and gourd (or similar shell) body. These instruments differ from early African-American banjos in that
39597-529: Was retroactively classified as a member in October 2023. Duos and groups remain members until all members have died; following the death of a member, the others maintain Opry membership. More recent protocols have allowed performers who are incapacitated or retired (such as Barbara Mandrell , Jeanne Pruett , Stu Phillips and Ricky Van Shelton ) to maintain Opry membership until they die. Randy Travis has maintained his Opry membership largely through non-singing appearances since his 2013 stroke, while Loretta Lynn
39798-408: Was the dominant style. Although mentioned by Briggs, it wasn't taught. The first banjo method to teach the technique was Frank B. Converse's New and Complete Method for the Banjo with or without a Master , published in 1865. To play in guitar style, players use the thumb and two or three fingers on their right hand to pick the notes. Samuel Swaim Stewart summarized the style in 1888, saying, In
39999-410: Was the first to revert to country music with his 1967 album John Wesley Harding (and even more so with that album's follow-up, Nashville Skyline ), followed by Gene Clark , Clark's former band the Byrds (with Gram Parsons on Sweetheart of the Rodeo ) and its spin-off the Flying Burrito Brothers (also featuring Gram Parsons), guitarist Clarence White , Michael Nesmith ( the Monkees and
40200-462: Was the most-listened-to rush-hour radio genre during the evening commute, and second-most popular in the morning commute. The main components of the modern country music style date back to music traditions throughout the Southern United States and Southwestern United States , while its place in American popular music was established in the 1920s during the early days of music recording. According to country historian Bill C. Malone , country music
40401-452: Was the top-charting country artist of the 1950s, with 13 of his singles spending 113 weeks at number one. He charted 48 singles during the decade; 31 reached the top ten and 26 reached the top four. By the early 1950s, a blend of western swing, country boogie, and honky tonk was played by most country bands, a mixture which followed in the footsteps of Gene Autry , Lydia Mendoza , Roy Rogers , and Patsy Montana . Western music, influenced by
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