Country Music Trivia: Oldest radio broadcast
Bristol, Tennessee was recognized by congress in 1998 as the birthplace of country music.
The first commercial country music recordings were made in Tennessee by Ralph Peer of Victor Records.
In the 1920s, country songs were known as “Old Familiar Tunes.” As the listening audience expanded, the songs became known as “Old-Time Melodies of the Sunny South” or “Hill Country Songs and Ballads.”
In the beginning, country music’s sound was founded on the fiddle, the accordion, the banjo, and the autoharp.
Appalachian-based bluegrass traditionally included use of the zither and the mandolin.
A jug band contained the bass or bull fiddle and a washboard. The harmonica (or mouth organ) was also a part of the jug band because its compact size made it easy to transport, and its popularity grew with soldiers and cowboys in rural locations.
“Harmonica Wizard”, DeFord Bailey was the first African-American performer on the Grand Ole Opry. On a Saturday night in 1927, DeFord stepped up to the microphone to play “Pan American Blues” to open a show followed by an hour of opera and symphonic music. The announcer of the show was George Hay who declared after the show “For the past hour we have been listening to music taken largely from grand opera; from now on we will present `The Grand Ole Opry.’ “ Thus giving a name to this legendary radio program.
The Grand Ole Opry is the oldest radio broadcast in US history. The “Opry” played a seminal role in the development of country music.
Popular country music in the 1930s built its sound around the guitar.
The dobro, a precursor to the steel guitar, was modeled after the Hawaiian slack guitar, and found its way into country music too, along with the pedal steel guitar.
The piano was introduced into country music in the 1930s, but today it’s often replaced by the electric piano or synthesizer.
Country music has been slow to recognize the hundreds of African Americans who contributed to the creation and growth of the country music genre, but recent efforts have been made in Nashville to honour this tradition. In 1998 the Country Music Foundation and Warner Bros. Released a 3-CD package exploring African American contributions to the country genre called “From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music.”
Historians acknowledge that country music is derived from a melting pot of cultures. Mountain or hillbilly music, in particular, combines the ballads and folksongs brought to the South by immigrants from the British Isles in the 18th and 19th Centuries and the rhythmic influences of African immigrants.
The banjo, which mimics the banjar played in Africa, was invented by Southern blacks in the late 1690s. Slaves also played the fiddle, which was introduced to them by their white masters.
Nashville, Tennessee is the modern center of country music’s commercial heart. Home to Dolly Parton, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium (the “Mother Church of Country Music”), and the Bluebird Café.
Music Row, also in Nashville, houses the world’s largest country music recording companies and music publishing houses, and recording studios.