Notes on 'In the Country of Country' Prologue
Book Overview
Title: In the Country of Country: People and Places in American Music
Author: Nicholas Dawidoff
Publisher: Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
First Vintage Books Edition: May 1998.
Copyright: © 1997 by Nicholas Dawidoff.
Original Hardcover Publication: Pantheon Books, 1997.
Previously Published Portions: Adapted from articles in The New Republic, The New York Times, and The New York Times Magazine.
Key Themes: Country music history and criticism, country musicians in the United States.
ISBN (Vintage):
Jimmie Rodgers: The Father of Country Music
Early Life and Meridian's Influence
Birth: Pines Springs, Mississippi, in . He spent time there with his spinster aunt Dora after his mother's death.
Hometown Claim: Rodgers considered Meridian, Mississippi, his hometown, despite his rural birth.
Meridian's Historical Context: In the early century, Meridian was a vibrant hub due to its location at the crossroads of north-south and east-west railroad lines.
Civil War Impact: Razed by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman in . His wire to the War Department famously stated: "Meridian… no longer exists."
Rebirth and Growth: The city rapidly rebuilt, reaching nearly residents by Rodgers' youth.
Floating Population: Daily passenger trains and thousands of boxcars brought ticketed travelers, train crews, and hobos, contributing to a diverse environment.
Childhood and Aspirations: Rodgers was a streetwise Meridian kid with a deep fascination for trains and an early appreciation for wayfaring people and their transient lifestyle, which became a central motif in his life and music.
Father's Occupation: Aaron Rodgers was a section foreman on the Mobile and Ohio line.
Jimmie sometimes joined him, bringing water to black work crews (known as "gandy dancers") who repaired tracks, cleared brush, and shoveled ballast.
Gandy Dancer Culture: These men worked in unison, coordinating their movements (tamping picks, spike mauls) through rhythmic singing.
The "Caller": A foreman's command was translated into cadences by a caller. "Sexy calls," sometimes describing women's lingerie, were used to motivate crews and shift tracks effectively.
Misunderstood Persona: While other children in Pine Springs perceived Rodgers as "stuck-up" (wearing shoes in warm weather, not playing baseball), he was genuinely a cheerful sort who embraced "rough and rowdy ways."
Musical Influences and Development
Railroad Career: Rodgers worked as a brakeman (earning the nickname "The Singing Brakeman"), flagman, and baggage handler.
Urban Exposure (Meridian):
Biographer Nolan Porterfield highlighted Rodgers' frequent visits to barbershops, billiard halls, the opera house, vaudeville theaters, and hotel lobbies, where he encountered jazz and parlor music.
He also absorbed the blues in "lowdown joints on Fifth Street" and around black work gangs and railroad employees.
Conversational Themes: Rodgers keenly observed and absorbed the "railroad man's three favorite conversational topics": whiskey, women, and back pay. These themes significantly influenced his bluesy lyrics (e.g., "I'm a do-right papa and got a home everywhere I go," and "Hey little waterboy, bring that water 'round/If you don't like your job, set yo' water bucket down.").
Broad Repertoire: His recordings encompassed plantation melodies, old river ballads, sentimental weepers, novelty numbers, Dixieland-style "jazz junk," and, crucially, country blues.
Racial Influence: He learned "the rich variety of popular music" that informed his own work from the town's diverse musical landscape. His music deeply absorbed the "lively and plaintive rhythms of black popular music." Listeners sometimes described him as "a white man gone black" or "a busboy in a roadside café singing nigger blues."
The Hybrid Nature of Country Music's Origins
Dispelling Fiction: The persistent notion of country music having pure white, Southern, rural origins is inaccurate.
Commercial Beginnings: From its inception, country music was a hybrid form that blended existing popular and religious music styles with individual innovations.
Rodgers set a precedent by creating a "truly American music" that drew from a full spectrum of influences.
Black Musical Mentors: Many influential country figures, including A.P. Carter, Bill Monroe, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Brenda Lee, and Buck Owens, had black musical mentors.
Elvis Presley's Connection: In the , Elvis Presley embraced the blues he heard in Tupelo, Mississippi's juke joints, transforming it into rock 'n' roll.
Social Function: For a time, country music enabled poor Southern white people to engage with strains of black working-man's music while maintaining a social distance from working-class blacks.
Influence Across Races: The appeal worked both ways.
Many black individuals, like Ray Charles, listened to the Grand Ole Opry (Nashville, Ryman Auditorium), which claimed the largest listening audience in the world in the late . Charles later recorded "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music," offering R&B-informed interpretations of classic country songs.
Earlean Garry, a black woman from Meridian, expressed her enduring love for Jimmie Rodgers' music.
The First Country Stars and Rodgers' Unique Style
First Country Record: Produced in .
Bristol Sessions (1927): Ralph Peer, a New York businessman for Victor Talking Machine Company, scouted talent in Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia.
He set up equipment in a furniture store and offered fees.
Discoveries: The sessions yielded The Carter Family (A.P., Sara, and Maybelle from Maces Springs, Virginia) and Jimmie Rodgers (lured from North Carolina).
They became "America's first great country music recording stars."
Rodgers vs. The Carter Family:
Both sang sincere, relatable songs about common people.
Carter Family: Focused on wistful, melodic portraits of family, faith, home, and heart, tending towards a more narrow and pastoral scope.
Rodgers: While capable of poignant sentiment (e.g., "Treasures Untold," "Miss the Mississippi and You"), he also sang about drinking, jailhouses, dice throwers, and women's "drop-stitch stockings," showcasing a grittier and more risqué sensibility.
The Yodel: Rodgers' distinctive yodel was his primary "instrument" due to his modest guitar skills.
Its falsetto delivery provided an "accent" to his singing and was unique (sui generis), earning him the moniker "America's Blue Yodeler" (except perhaps for Emmett Miller).
Speculation: Some believed his yodeling prowess was a byproduct of the tuberculosis that was slowly killing him.
Legacy and Impact
Commercial Success: Rodgers sold millions of records starting in , notably during the Great Depression. A popular anecdote described a shopping list of the era as "a pound of butter, a slab of bacon, a sack of flour, and the new Jimmie Rodgers record."
Vocal and Writing Prowess: Beyond his acrobatic yodel, Rodgers was a gifted singer and writer.
Vocal Style: Possessed a "wonderful drawling tenor" that could be tender or swaggering. He skillfully wrung feeling from lyrics, lingering on words and syllables—a stylized approach that influenced later artists like Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, and Merle Haggard.
Songwriting Range: His compositions ranged from pathos ("T.B. Blues": "When it rained down sorrow, it rained all over me") to humor (first "Blue Yodel": "T for Texas, T for Tennessee/T for Thelma, the girl that made a wreck out of me").
"T.B. Blues": A particularly moving recording, sung beautifully about the illness that choked his lungs with blood. Audiences would shout, "Spit 'er up, Jimmie, and sing some more." Its universal message: "I'm fighting like a lion, looks like I'm going to lose/'Cause there ain't nobody ever whipped the T.B. blues." These songs resonated with common people everywhere.
Death and Mourning: Rodgers died in at the Taft Hotel in New York, shortly after his final recording session. His death prompted widespread national mourning, as evidenced by his sister-in-law Mildred Pollard's account of hearing his music everywhere in Washington D.C.
The Evolution of Country Music: From Authenticity to "Real Country"
1990s Popularity and Homogenization
Resurgence: By the mid-, country music reached unprecedented popularity.
Record sales quadrupled to over annually.
million listeners tuned into country radio, surpassing other forms of music.
Expanded Demographics: It became fashionable in non-traditional country markets (New York City, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Seattle) and appealed to new audiences (well-educated professionals, teenagers), challenging old stereotypes.
Rise of "The Hat Acts": Country charts were dominated by handsome, video-friendly young singers known as "the hat acts" (due to their Stetsons, boots, and snug jeans).
"Real Country" / "Hot Country": This new style blended "down-home lyrics with fusillades of rock 'n' roll guitar" and became a homogenized sound.
It attracted crossover customers with "quaint lines about boots, hound dogs, and achy-breaky hearts."
Voices (e.g., Tracy Byrd, Tracy Lawrence) were clear, smoothly drawling tenors and baritones—often pleasant but "decidedly lacking in character" and referred to as "ear candy."
This "slick stuff" sold well, reflecting "the American way," but proved ephemeral due to its lack of "passion and authentic feeling."
Garth Brooks: A Case Study of "Real Country"
Background: Grew up in suburban Oklahoma City, influenced by glam-rock bands like Kiss and Queen.
Education and Marketing: Studied marketing and advertising at Oklahoma State, which he applied to his elaborate, choreographed stage shows featuring multiple guitarists, lights, smoke machines, rope ladders, and swings.
Music Critique: His songs (e.g., "American Honky Tonk Bar Association," "Friends in Low Places") have anthemic titles and choruses that seem "carefully assembled from a series of generic boxes stamped 'Country Lyrics'." The author quotes Poeta nascitur, non fit (a poet is born, not made).
Vocal Delivery: His voice is pleasant but has a limited range and lacks distinctiveness.
Lack of Authenticity: His music often lacks the "rough edges and the feel for pressing experience" found in artists like George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Johnny Cash, whose hardships were genuinely reflected in their singing. Brooks is perceived as "aping something he saw somebody else try."
Stage Persona: His act of smashing a guitar is seen as a contrived rock 'n' roll gesture, unlike similar acts by Ira Louvin or Johnny Cash, which were "spasms of misery" reflecting tortured souls.
Conclusion: Brooks is described as "a pop star masquerading as a country singer, a yuppie with a lariat."
Commercial Success: Despite criticism, Brooks achieved immense success.
His albums No Fences and Ropin' the Wind sold a combined million copies, becoming the two best-selling country records in history.
At , he had outsold Michael Jackson and all other American popular singers (only The Beatles had sold more in the US).
Fan Loyalty: His fans are intensely loyal, exemplified by an Iowa dairy farmer's wife sculpting a life-size butter replica of him from pounds of butter at the Iowa State Fair.
Fan Fair Experience: At Fan Fair (the industry's annual "lovefest"), Brooks' booth featured his signature Stetson, shirt, and boots, along with a life-size cardboard cutout of himself. Fans could wear his authentic clothing for photos and record video messages for him.
The Crisis of Authenticity in Modern Country Radio
Radio's Influence: The primary reason for "Real Country's" success is its exclusive airplay on country radio, which relies on standardized playlists distributed nationally.
Suppression of "True" Country: Disc jockeys are often prevented from playing music outside these playlists; Iris DeMent's single was rejected for being "too country."
Marginalization of Veterans: Artists like Merle Haggard, whose release was critically acclaimed, are excluded from radio play due to their age and perceived lack of modern appeal. This means new listeners are "not exposed to the best of it."
Fan Discontent: Older country fans lament the shift in the music:
Jim Dennis (Newsweek letter): Criticized "young soap-opera look-alikes singing pop-oriented radio fluff," praising Merle Haggard's "genuineness" derived from lived experience.
William D. Gibson (Newsweek letter): Declared "Country ain't country no more," defining true country as storytelling, emotionally resonant music that "rips at your heart, brings tears to your eyes, and buoys your spirit." He dismissed the "new stuff" as having "crummy lyrics and even worse sound," sung by "wimp wanna-bes" who are not truly country.
The Authentic Experience: Roots and Resonance
Geographic and Economic Roots
Migration Parallel: The history of country music mirrors the extended migration of people from northern England, Ireland, and Scotland starting in the late century.
These migrants initially faced a "cool welcome" in American port cities (e.g., Philadelphia).
They moved westward into the hills of Virginia and North Carolina, then further south and west (Arkansas, Missouri, Texas) during periods like the Dust Bowl, eventually reaching New Mexico and California.
This migration explains why North Carolina and Alabama accents are still audible in some Texas and California country singers.
Socio-Economic Dislocation: For many poor farmers struggling with debt, drought, declining cotton prices, greedy landowners, expensive new machinery, and insect infestations, migration often led to urban centers.
Country music reflected the dislocation and rural nostalgia felt by working-class Southern Americans who moved to booming industrial cities (Memphis, Nashville, Birmingham, Atlanta, Charleston, Norfolk, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles) for jobs.
Erskine Caldwell's Tobacco Road is cited, where Lov Bensey speaks of his father-in-law, Jeeter Lester, who refuses to leave his failing farm for a city mill job, highlighting the deep connection to the land.
Universal Struggle: The importance of country music stemmed not solely from its Southern origin but from its resonance with an audience who viewed life as a "struggle."
Chet Atkins noted that "hard times" were not exclusive to the South.
Hank Williams asserted that "the hillbilly was raised rougher than most entertainers," leading to more sincere singing.
The Author's Journey and Definition of Country
Research Scope: The author traveled across the United States for several years, interviewing country singers, musicians, and songwriters he admired, with ages ranging from Bill Monroe (born in ) to Iris DeMent (born years later).
Historical Context: The text offers a "loose sort" of history of the recorded genre, acknowledging it is not a formal or comprehensive study and couldn't include every fine living performer (e.g., Hank Snow, Jimmy Martin, Dolly Parton, Eddy Arnold, Ray Price).
Influence and Legacy: Musicians are deeply aware of their place in history and often discuss their influences, including past greats like "Uncle" Dave Macon, Maybelle Carter, Bob Wills, Patsy Montana, Roy Acuff, Alton Delmore, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, Lester Flatt, Lefty Frizzell, Faron Young, and Jimmie Rodgers.
Pride Amidst Derision: Many musicians started when country music was derided as "hillbilly" music. They continued out of pride, using it to express frustration at social exclusion and foster solidarity among marginalized people.
Displacement and "Feeling": These artists now feel "displaced by tricked-up imitations of their own music."
Commercialism vs. Authenticity: They don't dismiss "Real Country" for being commercial (country has always been commercial). Instead, they argue it lacks "sincerity" as prescribed by Hank Williams, and the "spirit of Jimmie Rodgers is suddenly missing."
George Jones's View: "They've taken the heart and soul out of country music."
The Essence of "Feeling": Almost universally, country musicians assert that the music "has to be played with feeling." When asked to define this elusive "feeling," their responses echo Fats Waller's famous reply about jazz: "If you don't know by now, I can't tell you." The author hopes to convey this "feeling for the feeling" in the notes that follow.