Country music had both a direct and indirect influence from folk music, and it manifesting in several interesting ways. The influence I’d like to investigate today is how it influenced one of the most renowned and celebrated Country Singers of all time, Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash describes his influences as being “Black blues, black gospel and white gospel groups, like the Blackwood Brothers, and the Chuckwagon gang. Or cowboy singers like Gene Autry or Bob Wills.” In going back and listening to these artists, I could immediately recognize the folk influences. I checked out the Blackwood Brothers first, and noticed that their vocal harmony draws a stark comparison to Irish folk music in its use of vocal harmony to fill up the musical space.
Now listen to this Irish folk song “Rocky Road to Dublin” as performed by the High Kings and see how similar the use of voices are.
This next example is from the Chuckwagon Gang, using strophic form as commonly found in Folk Music.
This tune by Gene Autry, Back in the Saddle Again similarly uses strophic form and also uses colloquial melodies found in many folk tunes to fill the song. The use of cultural and colloquial terms such as “back in the saddle” is something commonly found throughout folk music, and characterizes its formation in the communities from which it comes from. This becomes evident in the early Country recording artists in America such as Gene Autry. See if you can hear the melody I’m talking about, and try to remember where else you have heard it.
Bibliography;
Shmoop Editorial Team. “Johnny Cash Influences.” Shmoop. November 11, 2008. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://www.shmoop.com/folsom-prison-blues/influences.html.
Back in the Saddle. Directed by Lew Landers. Performed by Gene Autry. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5F-O_19lSI.
Blackwood Brothers Quartet 1951 – SWING DOWN CHARIOT. Performed by Blackwood Brothers Quartet. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dUo2P2L9dE.
The High Kings, Rocky Road to Dublin. Performed by The High Kings. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QdbeM2JWYE.
Chuck Wagon Gang – I’ll Meet You in the Morning. Performed by Chuck Wagon Gang. March 16, 2009. Accessed June 22, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL91-Q-AYuY.
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