The Bakersfield Sound: How a Generation of Displaced Okies

The Bakersfield Sound: How a Generation of Displaced Okies Revolutionized American Music

In California's Central Valley, two thousand miles away from country music's hit machine, the hard edge of the Bakersfield Sound transformed American music in the latter half of the twentieth century. It turned displaced Oklahomans like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard into household names, and it aggressively pushed style, instrumentation, and attitude that countered the orchestral country pop churned out from Nashville. In this compelling book, Robert E. Price traces the Sound's roots from the Dust Bowl and World War II migrations through the heyday of Owens, Haggard, andÂ Hee Haw, and into the twenty-first century. Outlaw country demands good storytelling, and Price obliges: to fully understand the Sound and its musicians we dip into honky-tonks, dives, and radio stations playing the songs of sun-parched days spent on oil rigs and in cotton fields, the melodies of hardship and kinship, a soundtrack for dancing and brawling. In other words,Â The Bakersfield SoundÂ immerses us in the unique cultural convergence that gave rise to a visceral and distinctly California country music.
Country USA
Brand Heyday
Manufacturer Heyday
Binding Paperback
UnitCount 1
Format Unabridged
EANs 9781597144155
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

The Bakersfield Sound: How a Generation of Displaced Okies Revolutionized American Music