- Bakersfield sound
The Bakersfield sound was a genre of
country music developed in the mid- to late 1950s in and around Bakersfield,California . Bakersfield country was a reaction against the slickly-produced, string orchestra-ladenNashville Sound , which was becoming popular in the late 1950s.Buck Owens andthe Buckaroos andMerle Haggard and the Strangers are the most successful artists of the original Bakersfield sound era.History
The Bakersfield sound was developed at
honky-tonk bars such as "The Blackboard", and on local television stations in Bakersfield and throughout California in the 1950s and 1960s. The town, known mainly for agriculture and oil production, was the destination for manyDust Bowl migrants and others from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and other parts of the Southwest. The mass migration of "Okies" to California also meant that their music would follow and thrive, finding an audience in California's Central Valley. One of the first groups to make it big on the west coast was theMaddox Brothers and Rose , who were the first to wear outlandish costumes and make a "show" out of their performances.Bakersfield country was a reaction against the slickly-produced, string orchestra-laden
Nashville Sound , which was becoming popular in the late 1950s. Artists likeWynn Stewart used electric instruments and added abackbeat , as well as other stylistic elements borrowed fromrock and roll . In 1954 Bud Hobbs MGM recording artist, recorded "Louisiana Swing" with Buck Owens on lead guitar, Bill Woods on Piano and dual fiddles of Oscar Whittington and Jelly Sanders. "Louisiana Swing" was the first song recorded in the style known today as the legendary "Bakersfield Sound." In the early 1960s,Merle Haggard andBuck Owens and the Buckaroos , among others, brought the Bakersfield sound to mainstream audiences, and it soon became one of the most popular kinds of country music, also influencing later country stars such asDwight Yoakam ,Marty Stuart ,The Mavericks , andThe Derailers .The Bakersfield Sound has such a large influence on the West Coast music scene that many small guitar companies set up shop in Bakersfield in the 1960's. The biggest of significance was the
Mosrite guitar company that still influences rock, country, and jazz music to this day. The famedMosrite company was stationed in Bakersfield until the death of the company's founder, Oildale resident Semie Moseley, in the mid-1990's.Buck Owens
Buck Owens and the Buckaroos developed it further, incorporating different styles of music to fit his music tastes. The music style features a raw set of twin Fender Telecasters with a picking style (as opposed to strumming), a big drum beat, and fiddle, with an occasional "in your face" pedal steel guitar. TheFender Telecaster was originally developed for country musicians to fit in with the Texas/Western Swing style of music that was popular in the Western US followingWorld War II . The music, like Owens, was rebellious for its time and is dependent on a musician's individual talents and spirit, as opposed to the elaborate orchestral production common with Nashville style country music. Bakersfield Sound musicians perform in the studio as they do on stage, with the same instruments and style they use every day, and do not depend on elaborate studio production techniques when recording their music.Buck Owens and the Buckaroos ,Merle Haggard and the Strangers are the most successful artists of the original Bakersfield Sound era. Love of theBakersfield Sound has never died, carried on by artists such asGram Parsons andThe Flying Burrito Brothers in the 1960s-70s,Highway 101 ,The Desert Rose Band , andMarty Stuart in the 1980s and '90s, and Big House,Dwight Yoakam ,Dave Alvin ,The Derailers ,The Mavericks ,Dale Watson ,Brad Paisley , and many more in recently decades. To one degree or another, most of today's successful country acts depend on TheNashville West or Bakersfield Sound revival style for their success. The magazinesNo Depression andBlue Suede News regularly featureBakersfield Sound enthusiasts, while podcasts such asRadio Free Bakersfield carry on the tradition online.One of the last real Bakersfield honky-tonk style bar is
Trout's Nightclub and Saloon inOildale just north of Bakersfield. Trout's recently added a new room addition & stage called "the Blackboard," named after one of Bakersfield's most famous and infamous honky-tonks.Buck Owens Crystal Palace is the largest and most expensive localcountry-western venue, hosting the biggest touring acts.Fishlips has another local stage that hostsBakersfield Sound live music acts.Musicians from Bakersfield's musical golden era who are still playing locally include
Red Simpson andTommy Hays . Newer local artists who are grounded in the old style but addrock and roll androckabilly includeMonty Byrom ,Fattkatt and the Von Zippers ,Hot Taco's Chuck Seaton , andThe Dusk Devils .800 Lb. Gorilla mixes the Bakersfield Sound withcowpunk in the style ofHank III , while traditionalists Bobby Durham play regularly atTrout's .Bakersfield residents (the late) Slim the Drifter, Steve Davis and Stampede, Terry Hanson and Dr. BLT are also part of the new Bakersfield Sound. Continuing supporters of Bakersfield's historical and new-country musical tradition include
Glenn Pogatchnik andBob Timmers ofRockabilly Hall of Fame ,Bakersfield Californian columnist Robert Price, Bakersfield musician and writerMatt Munoz ofBakotopia andMento Buru, Rockwell andAaron Lasky , who promote Bakersfield Sound andTrout's activities, local writerN.L. Belardes, andSharon Marie , daughter of Bakersfield Western singer and entertainerCarolina Cotton. [ [http://www.rockabillyhall.com/bakersfieldechoes.html Echoes of Bakersfield] is an informational archive site.]ee also
*
Buck Owens
*Doyle Holly
*Don Rich
*Jerry Brightman
*The Buckaroos
*Merle Haggard
*Bobby Durham (Country musician) External links
* [http://www.bakotopia.com/home/ViewPost/51451 Original site of Buck Owens Studios to close on 4/1/08]
* [http://www.americanaroots.com Americana Music News, Reviews, Interviews and Podcast Shows]
* [http://www.rockabillyhall.com/bakersfield.html Updated information on Bakersfield roots musicians in Bakersfield and elsewhere]
* [http://www.bakersfield.com/static/FP/baksound/bios.htm comprehensive newspaper series] , written by journalistRobert Price ,The Bakersfield Californian .References
countrymusic
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