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Episode Description
Tracey Laird joins host Adam Camac to discuss the history and cultural significance of country music, key figures and themes in country music history, and how country music has changed and grown over the decades. Tracey is Harry L., Corinne Bryant, and Cottie Beverly Slade Professor of Music in the Creative Arts Department at Agnes Scott College. She is an author or editor of six books, including most recently Dolly Parton: 100 Remarkable Moments in an Extraordinary Life. Her perspective on the twenty-first century concluded the Fourth and Fiftieth Anniversary editions of Bill Malone’s Country Music USA. She is also the author of Louisiana Hayride: Radio and Roots Music Along the Red River and Austin City Limits: A History.
1:31 – What is country music? When and where did it start?
5:28 – What influenced early country music, types of music that influenced early country music
7:54 – Where country music started, places that played a key role in the early history of country music
12:39 – How other types of music have influenced country music, country music and purity
14:07 – Where the term country music comes from, why this type of music is called country
15:57 – Key artists, figures, and performers from the earliest period of country music, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, and Jimmie Davis
18:58 – The intersection of country music and politics
21:45 – The significance of the Grand Ole Opry and the Louisiana Hayride, the role of radio during the early days of country music, Elvis Presley and the Louisiana Hayride
29:12 – The role of television in spreading and promoting country music, Glen Campbell and Johnny Cash and their television shows
32:21 – Comparing the sounds and characteristics of the music and cultures of Nashville and Bakersfield, the significance of Nashville and Bakersfield to country music, the roles of Shreveport and Austin in country music
36:46 – Willie Nelson and outlaw country/progressive country, the Austin City Limits television show
40:37 – The singing cowboys of the 1930s and the 1940s, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Bob Wills
44:44 – Bluegrass music and Bill Monroe, honkey-tonk country and Hank Williams
48:36 – How the development of rock and roll influenced country music
55:26 – How the tragic plane crash deaths of prominent country music figures, such as Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves, shaped the country music world
57:13 – Prominent female country music artists, including Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, and Loretta Lynn, using country music to address controversial topics
1:02:27 – Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard
1:05:08 – Neotraditional country music and George Strait, Garth Brooks and the rise of stadium country, the influence of hip-hop, rap, and newer pop music on country music
1:12:16 – Final thoughts on the history of country music
1:15:06 – The guest’s work on Dolly Parton, Austin City Limits, and the Louisiana Hayride
Guest’s Books
Dolly Parton: 100 Remarkable Moments in an Extraordinary Life by Tracey Laird
Country Music USA: 50th Anniversary Edition by Bill Malone and Tracey Laird
Louisiana Hayride: Radio and Roots Music Along the Red River by Tracey Laird
Austin City Limits: A History by Tracey Laird
Austin City Limits: A Monument to Music by Tracey Laird with photographs by Scott Newton
Shreveport Sounds in Black and White edited by Tracey Laird and Kip Lornell
Songs Discussed or Referenced
The Ballad of Ira Hayes by Johnny Cash
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Gene Autry
Blue Moon of Kentucky by Bill Monroe
I Saw the Light by Hank Williams
Jolene by Dolly Parton
The Pill by Loretta Lynn
Stand by Your Man by Tammy Wynette
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