Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity"In this engrossing account, Richard Peterson traces the institutionalization of country music from the early days with Fiddlin' John Carson in Atlanta - which he shows could have become the center of country music production - using experiences from the lives and work of many of the genre's most influential performers, including the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Gene Autry, Bill Monroe, the Delmore Brothers, Roy Acuff, Patsy Montana, the Girls of the Golden West, Ernest Tubb, and of course Hank Williams. The story, set in the era of the Roaring 1920s, the Great Depression, World War II, and postwar prosperity, takes us from Atlanta and Bristol, Tennessee, through Charlotte, Chicago, Tulsa, and on to Hollywood, New York, and Nashville. Peterson captures the free-wheeling entrepreneurial spirit of the era, detailing the activities of the key promoters who sculpted the emerging country music - Polk Brockman, Ralph Peer, George Hay, J. L. Frank and Fred Rose. Along the way the influence of car-maker Henry Ford and politician Joseph R. McCarthy are also noted. Vintage photographs of this cast of characters complement the lively narrative." "More than just a history of the genre, Creating Country Music is the first exploration of authenticity in popular culture. After discussing the meaning of the term, Peterson uses the ironic phrase "fabricating authenticity" to highlight the fact that, for fans, authenticity does not refer to some clear standard from the past, but is a reconstruction of selected elements from the past crafted to meet the needs of the present. With this conception in mind, Peterson concludes by showing the conditions necessary for the continuation of country music in the twenty-first century." --Book Jacket. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
advertisers appeared Atlanta audience authenticity barnstorming became Bill Billboard Billies blues Bradley Kincaid broadcast Carter Family chapter commercial country music commercial music country music country music artists Country Music Foundation decades Delmore Brothers DiMaggio early Eddy Arnold entertainment Ernest Tubb example fans fiddler Fiddlin George Hay Grand Ole Opry guitar Hank Williams hard core hard-core hillbilly honky-tonk jazz Jimmie Rodgers John Carson jukebox live Malone Mountain movie music industry musicians Nashville National Barn Dance old-time outfits Peer's Peterson phonograph records Photo courtesy played Polk Brockman popular music Press promoters publishing radio stations Ralph Peer record companies record sales Rodgers's Roy Acuff sang singer singing cowboy soft shell soft-shell songbooks songs songwriters sound Southern story string bands studio style success Tennessee touring tradition Uncle Dave Macon Vagabonds vaudeville Vernon Dalhart western swing Williams's Wolfe York