| Western music | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Western United States |
| Derivative forms | |
| Subgenres | |
| Regional scenes | |
Western music is a form ofmusic composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout theWestern United States andWestern Canada. Western music celebrates thelifestyle of thecowboy on the open range, along theRocky Mountains, and among theprairies of Western North America. The genre grew from the mix of cultural influences in theAmerican frontier and what became theSouthwestern United States at the time, it came from thefolk music traditions of those living the region, those being thehillbilly music from those that arrived from theEastern U.S., thecorrido andranchera fromNorthern Mexico, and theNew Mexico andTejano endemic to the Southwest. The music industry of the mid-20th century grouped the western genre with that of similar folk origins, instrumentation and rural themes, to create the banner ofcountry and western music, which was simplified in time tocountry music.
Western music covers an array of styles and experiences that reflect the various communities that were present along the 19th century U.S frontier. Some songs were developed by cowboys working on isolatedcattle ranches. The mundane, lonely life on the ranches gave way to musical expression and cowboys would often make use of repurposed folk and popular songs[1] to further convey their lifestyle through music. In addition to portraying life on the cattle ranches and trails, the genre of western music also encompasses songs about Texas Rangers, pioneers, outlaws, Native Americans, nature, Mexican/American experiences, and miners rushing for gold.[2]
Otto Gray, an early cowboy band leader, stated authentic western music had only three rhythms, all coming from thegaits of thecow pony:walk,trot, andlope. Gray also noted the uniqueness of this spontaneous American song product, and the freedom of expression of the singers.[3]
The choruses of cowboy songs often contained various cries, whoops, and yells that were infused with lyrics.[1] These calls reflected the solitude of cowboys on the ranch and were said to have a calming effect on the restless cattle under their watch; songs with this vocal characteristic were referred to as "dogie songs."[1]
In addition to taking rhythmic inspiration from the movement of horses, multiple cowboy songs like "Home on the Range" and "The Strawberry Roan" made use of a three-quarter time signature.[4] The morewaltz-like nature of these songs differs from the actual rhythms found in cowboy life, and instead, works to embellish the sentimental, humorous, and mythologized nature of popular frontier stories.[4] Oftentimes, such influences derived from older European folk songs and traditions.
Accordions brought to North America by German and Bohemian immigrants were utilized by Mexican musicians to adapt waltzes andpolkas into a style of dance music associated with theOld West.[2] Other instruments that would have been used on the frontier and incorporated into western music include thefiddle,harmonica,banjo,guitar, andmandolin.[5]
Western music is said to be influenced by the folk music traditions ofEngland,Wales,Scotland, andIreland, and cowboy songs sung around campfires in the 19th century, such as "Streets of Laredo", can be traced back to European folk songs.[6]
Additionally, western music was impacted by theBlues, among other African-American folk traditions. Cowboy songs and the rural, early iteration of the Blues emerged around the same time and influenced each other as they developed. A significant figure who characterized the convergence of both musical traditions wasHuddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, born in 1888[7] along the Texas/Louisiana border. Conventionally described as a songwriter who wrote the Blues and Western music, Leadbelly was associated with the African-American cowboys in easternTexas.[7] They impacted the genre by introducing a three chord ballad[7] song structure, as well as their individualized experiences, which were reflected in the bluesy content of their lyrics.
Reflecting the realities of the open range and ranch houses where the music originated, and the earliest cowboy bands were oftenstring bands supplemented occasionally with a handheldfree reed aerophone.[5] Theharmonica, invented in the early 19th century in central Europe, arrived in North America shortly before theAmerican Civil War; its small size and portability made it a favorite among the American public and the flood of pioneers heading westward,[8] whilesqueezeboxes (such as theconcertina andaccordion) also enjoyed popularity in the Old West, moreso than guitars according to folk singerPeter Bellamy.[9]
In 1908, N. Howard "Jack" Thorp published the first book of western music, titledSongs of the Cowboys. Containing only lyrics and no musical notation, the book was very popular west of theMississippi River. Most of these cowboy songs are of unknown authorship, but among the best known is "Little Joe the Wrangler" written by Thorp himself.[10][11]
In 1910,John Lomax, in his bookCowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads,[12] first gained national attention for western music. His book contained some of the same songs as Thorp's book, although in variant versions (most had been collected before Thorp's book was published). Lomax's compilation included many musical scores. Lomax published a second collection in 1919 titledSongs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp.[13]
The first successful cowboy band to tour the East wasOtto Gray's Oklahoma Cowboys, put together by William McGinty, anOklahomapioneer and formerRough Rider. The band appeared on radio and toured the vaudeville circuit from 1924 through 1936. They recorded few songs, however, so are overlooked by many scholars of western music.[14]
Various musicians recorded western songs in the 1920s and early 1930s, includingCarl T. Sprague,John I. White,Jules Verne Allen,Harry McClintock,Tex Owens, andWilf Carter alias Montana Slim. Many of these early western singers had grown up on ranches and farms or had experience working as cowboys. They typically performed simple arrangements with rustic vocal performances and a simple guitar or fiddle accompaniment.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, western music became widely popular through the romanticization of the cowboy and idealized depictions of the west inHollywood films.Singing cowboys, such asGene Autry andRoy Rogers, sang cowboy songs in their films and became popular throughout the United States. Film producers began incorporating fully orchestrated four-part harmonies and sophisticated musical arrangements into their motion pictures.Bing Crosby, the most popular singer of that time, recorded numerous cowboy and western songs and starred in the western musical filmRhythm on the Range (1936). During this era, the most popular recordings and musical radio shows included western music.Western swing also developed during this time.
TheWestern Writers of America was formed in 1953 to promote excellence in western-style writing, including songwriting. In the late 1950s,Frankie Laine recorded TV drama Theme "Rawhide".[15]
In 1964, the Country & Western Music Academy was formed in an effort to promote western music. The Academy was formed in response to the Nashville-orientedCountry Music Association that had formed in 1958. The Academy's first awards were largely dominated by Bakersfield-based artists such asBuck Owens.[16] Over time, the Academy evolved into theAcademy of Country Music and its mission is no longer distinguished from other country music organizations.
By the 1960s, the popularity of western music was in decline. Thoughwestern television series were at an all-time peak in popularity,[17] other than a handful of theme songs, this did not buoy the western music genre as a whole. Popular western recording artists sold fewer albums and attracted smaller audiences.Rock and roll dominated music sales and Hollywood recording studios dropped most of their western artists (a few artists did successfully cross between the two, most prominentlyJohnny Cash, whose breakthrough hit "Folsom Prison Blues" (1955, live in 1968) combined a western theme with a rock-and-roll arrangement).[18] In addition, theNashville sound, based more on pop ballads than on folk music, came to dominate thecountry and western commercial sales; except for the label, much of the music was indistinguishable from rock and roll or popular classes of music. Country and western were among many genres whose popularity was drowned out by theBritish Invasion.[19]
The resulting backlash from western music purists led to the development of country music styles much more influenced by western music, including theBakersfield sound andoutlaw country. The seminal compilation albumWanted! The Outlaws carried a Western theme and songs sung byWillie Nelson,Waylon Jennings, Jennings's wifeJessi Colter, andTompall Glaser, revitalizing the image of western themes in popular music.[20]
Authors such asBarry Mazor,Richard Carlin andJohn T. Davis have used the term cowboy pop to describe the music of cowboy singers inwestern films.[21][22]Jimmy Wakely, for example, was described by Mazor as a cowboy pop singer, and he has written that "when singing cowboy movies ruled, Hollywood hardly made a distinction between the sounds of cowboy pop balladeers and another sound entirely, born in Texas, in whichJimmie Rodgers had a formative role."[23][24] Several writers have emphasized that historically country music and cowboy music were not considered the same genre; for example, in her essay "Cowboy Songs", Anne Dingus wrote that "cowboy music is not country music, though the two are often lumped together as 'country and western'."[25] In 1910,John Avery Lomax anthologized over a hundred cowboy songs in his collectionCowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads.[26]
Older western music is widely streamed on major platforms, with music byMarty Robbins andAl Hurricane being more easily accessible. Newer takes on western music are constantly written and recorded and performed all across the American West and Western Canada, thanks to the popularity ofNew Mexico music withinNew Mexico and the success ofMichael Martin Murphey throughout the western scene, they have resurrected the cowboy song genre, promoting western singers, Route 66 rockabilly, and cowboy poets. The style has even seen a popularity resurgence globally, thanks to thewestern genre's new-found popularity onstreaming services andvideo games.[citation needed]
TheWestern Music Association was established in 1989 to preserve and promote western music. Western music in video games can be traced back toThe Oregon Trail series, earlyNintendo titleSheriff/Bandido, and arcade games likeSunset Riders.Fallout: New Vegas relies on an atmospheric western music style, but it also features old mid-20th century popular western musicians such asMarty Robbins along with pop music of the day. Furthermore, theRed Dead series of games heavily features western music, since it takes place in anOld West setting. Bill Elm andWoody Jackson's modern spin on an Old West game would not be complete without their carefully assembled score; what they call their best project to date[27] Independent video gamesSteamWorld andGunman Clive also make use of western music, as do other larger productions such asDillon's Rolling Western.
The contributions ofChris LeDoux were also key in the expanded growth of Western music because of his work in the cowboy song genre in the 1990s and early 2000s. LeDoux was aPRCA World Champion in bareback riding who composed songs about personal experiences in the rodeo and ranch cowboy lifestyles.[28] LeDoux exploded in popularity in 1992 when he dueted with country artistGarth Brooks in their Grammy nominated hit,“Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy”.[29] His newfound popularity allowed LeDoux to introduce millions of newcomers to the Western genre, a style of music that had previously existed for many years before him.
The music ofColter Wall is a part of this revival.[30]
