by Pat Jacobs

Created on: February 19, 2010

One of today's popular genres of music is Country, which in the 1960s was still referred to as Country and Western.

There were a few big crossovers (Glen Campbell, Patsy Cline, Roger Miller) and some performers had one or two hits on the pop charts (Skeeter Davis, Bobbie Gentry), but overall, if you wanted to hear most country artists, you had to find a strictly country station.

"And to many people during this decade, country WASN'T cool", recalled Pamela Foster, a '60s music fan. "My home town only had one station at the time that played this music, and that was late at night. I told my family about some of the great music I heard, and they all fell out laughing; they thought it was a joke! I mentioned the music and station to my friends and they became very upset; to them, country was totally 'racist, redneck music'. I ended secretly listening to and enjoying this on my own (I also enjoyed other music genres. At least I was open to expanding my musical horizons!)".

"Now of course, it's a whole different story; some of these same family members are big fans of Rascal Flatts and Shania Twain."

Some of the decade's biggest rock stars had country roots, like The Everly Brothers and of course, Elvis (who was also influenced by early R + B ).

The genre's roots are directly descended from the folk songs, ballads, and popular tunes of the English, Scottish, and Irish settlers of the U.S. southeastern seaboard. It also has connections to other ethnic music in America (Have you ever listened to a country song and thought, "This would make a good R + B or pop record"? Or vice versa? Remember "I Swear" by John Michael Montgomery? Or "If Loving You Is Wrong" by Barbara Mandrell? These were ALSO successful R + B/pop hits by All 4 One and Luther Ingram. Different arrangements, but didn't these songs work quite well in both genres?).

Country and western music is actually a combination of two area sounds: The Southeast (country music) and the Southwest/West (western music; The two sounds combined in the early 1920s when record companies traveled across the rural areas of the U.S. (basically the South) to record music from various cultural groups (including blues and R + B ). There was further combination when musicians from different sections met and mixed during World War II. The primary traditional difference between the two styles is that country is a simpler form, using fewer instruments, basically just guitar, fiddle, banjo, and harmonica. Southwest/West music leans

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