The Bakersfield sound
Subtitle: how a generation of displaced Okies revolutionized American music
By: Robert E. Price ; foreword by Marty Stuart
Edition: First Heyday edition.
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 265
ISBN-13: 9781597144155
Subjects: Country musicians; Homes and haunts; Country music; History and criticism; History; Honky-tonk music
Description: The aesthetic known as the Bakersfield Sound transformed country music, its hard edge a stark contrast to Nashville's stringed orchestras. It turned displaced Okies like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard into household names, and in the process created a widely felt influence on style, instrumentation, and attitude in American music. Even so, a half century after its emergence, the Bakersfield Sound's significance is underappreciated except among hardcore fans and music historians. Few recognize how this California country music not only countered a Nashville hit-seeking machine that had gone adrift but also portended a cultural shift that touched mainstream America. In this study, author Robert E. Price traces its roots from the depths of the Great Depression and World War Ii through the heyday of Owens, Haggard, and Hee Haw, and into the twenty-first century.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-265).