Smile When You Call Me a Hillbilly: Country Music's Struggle for Respectability, 1939-1954
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.27 (794 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0820326232 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 336 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-09-24 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Lange is sensitive to issues of race, class, and gender, and he provides a solid historical context for the forces that shaped country music's transformation between 1939 and 1954. That struggle, of course, is still very much a part of the country music scene today. Smile When You Call Me a Hillbilly is a very good summation of country music's history during the crucial years from 1939 to 1954. (Bill C. (American Studies)Smile When You Call Me a Hillbilly ranks as the single most in-depth and detailed study of country music during World W
Lange currently teaches history at the University of St. . Jeffrey J. Francis in Joliet, Illinois
As he analyzes the recordings and comments of each of the subgenre’s most significant artists, including Roy Acuff, Bob Wills, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, and Red Foley, he traces the many paths the musical form took on its road to respectability.Lange shows how along the way the music and its audience became more sophisticated, how the subgenres blended with one another and with American popular music, and how Nashville emerged as the country music hub. Dividing country music into six subgenres (progressive country, western swing, postwar traditional, honky-tonk, country pop, and country blues), Lange discusses the music’s expanding appeal. Sixty years ago, however, it was primarily the music of rural, working-class whites living in the South and was perceived by many Americans as “hillbilly music.” In Smile When You Call Me a Hillbilly,
Excellent history of country and western music Diane Diekman I purchased this book as research material to help me in writing Faron Young's biography. Author Lange divided the sub-genres of country music into six categories: Progressive (pre-WWII), Western Swing, Postwar Traditional (includes bluegrass), Honky-tonk, Country Pop, and Country Blues. I enjoyed learning about the origins and variations, as well as reminiscing about the singers and songs familiar to me. Faron Young, correctly so, appeared in the honky-tonk category.As a lifelong follower of country-western music, I consider the author knowledgeable and a