1.
Country music
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Country music is a genre of United States popular music that originated in the southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the genre of United States, such as folk music. Blues modes have been used throughout its recorded history. The term country music is used today to many styles and subgenres. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, immigrants to the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of Europe and Africa along with them for nearly 300 years. Country music was introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon, Bristol, Tennessee, has been formally recognized by the U. S. Congress as the Birthplace of Country Music, based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Since 2014, the city has been home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. Prior to these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a musical heritage. The first generation emerged in the early 1920s, with Atlantas music scene playing a role in launching countrys earliest recording artists. Okeh Records began issuing hillbilly music records by Fiddlin John Carson as early as 1923, followed by Columbia Records in 1924, many hillbilly musicians, such as Cliff Carlisle, recorded blues songs throughout the 1920s. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville, during the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Bob Wills was another musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a hot string band. His mix of country and jazz, which started out as dance hall music, Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had played at Carnegie Hall. Gospel music remained a component of country music. It became known as honky tonk, and had its roots in Western swing and the music of Mexico. By the early 1950s a blend of Western swing, country boogie, rockabilly was most popular with country fans in the 1950s, and 1956 could be called the year of rockabilly in country music. Beginning in the mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres
2.
Okeh Records
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Okeh Records was a record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. Since 1926, it has been a subsidiary of Columbia Records, today, Okeh is an imprint of Sony Masterworks, a specialty label of Columbia. Okeh was founded by Otto K. E. Heinemann, a German-American manager for the U. S. branch of German-owned Odeon Records, Heinemann formed the name of the record label from his initials, on early disc labels, the name is spelled OkeH. The first discs were vertical cut, in 1919, Okeh switched to the lateral-cut method of sound recording, more commony used for disc records. In that year the parent company was renamed the General Phonograph Corporation. The common 10-inch discs retailed for 75 cents each, the 12-inch discs for $1.25, the companys musical director was Fred Hager, who was also credited under the pseudonym Milo Rega. Okeh produced lines of recordings in German, Czech, Polish, Swedish, some were pressed from masters leased from European labels, others were recorded by Okeh in New York. In 1920, Ralph Peers recordings of the African-American blues singer Mamie Smith were a smash hit for Okeh. The company perceived the significant, little-tapped market for blues and jazz by African-American artists, in 1922, Okeh hired Clarence Williams as director of race recordings for Okehs New York studios, in addition to making recordings under his own name. Okeh then opened a studio in Chicago, the center of jazz in the 1920s. Many classic jazz performances by prominent artists as King Oliver, Lucille Bogan, Sidney Bechet, Hattie McDaniel, Louis Armstrong. As part of the Carl Lindstrom Company, Okeh recordings were distributed by other Lindstrom labels, King Oliver and Bennie Moten recorded for Okeh before moving on to other labels. The 8000 race series is highly prized by collectors, partly because Okeh recorded many blues, in 1926, Okeh was sold to Columbia Records. Columbia and its subsequent parent companies have controlled Okeh since then, the original Mamie Smith recording was in 1920, of Crazy Blues. General Phonograph Corp, Okehs manufacturer, used Smith’s success as the press to cultivate the new found market. Okeh had further prominence in the demographic, as African-American artists such as Sara Martin, Eva Taylor, Shelton Brooks, Esther Bigeou, Okeh started a special 8000 series devoted exclusively to race artists. The success of this series led Okeh to start recording where the music was being performed, the 8000 series, which began in 1921, lasted until late 1934, the final number being 8966. Okeh Records pioneered the practice of recording in 1922
3.
Ukulele
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The ukulele, sometimes abbreviated to uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments, it generally employs four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings. Some strings may be paired in courses, giving the instrument a total of six or eight strings and it gained great popularity elsewhere in the United States during the early 20th century and from there spread internationally. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and construction, ukuleles commonly come in four sizes, soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. The ukulele is commonly associated with music from Hawaii where the name translates as jumping flea. Legend attributes it to the nickname of the Englishman Edward William Purvis, one of King Kalākauas officers, because of his size, fidgety manner. According to Queen Liliʻuokalani, the last Hawaiian monarch, the means the gift that came here, from the Hawaiian words uku. Three immigrants in particular, Madeiran cabinet makers Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito Santo, one of the most important factors in establishing the ukulele in Hawaiian music and culture was the ardent support and promotion of the instrument by King Kalākaua. A patron of the arts, he incorporated it into performances at royal gatherings,50,000 schoolchildren and adults learned ukulele through the Doane program at its peak. Today, a program created by James Hill and J. Chalmers Doane continues to be a staple of music education in Canada. The ukulele came to Japan in 1929 after Hawaiian-born Yukihiko Haida returned to the country upon his fathers death, Haida and his brother Katsuhiko formed the Moana Glee Club, enjoying rapid success in an environment of growing enthusiasm for Western popular music, particularly Hawaiian and jazz. During World War II, authorities banned most Western music, but fans and players kept it alive in secret, in 1959, Haida founded the Nihon Ukulele Association. Today, Japan is considered a home for Hawaiian musicians. Demand surged in the new century because of its simplicity and portability. The ukulele was popularized for an audience during the Panama Pacific International Exposition. The Hawaiian Pavilion featured a guitar and ukulele ensemble, George E. K. Awai and his Royal Hawaiian Quartet, the popularity of the ensemble with visitors launched a fad for Hawaiian-themed songs among Tin Pan Alley songwriters. The ensemble also introduced both the lap steel guitar and the ukulele into U. S. mainland popular music, where it was taken up by vaudeville performers such as Roy Smeck and Cliff Ukulele Ike Edwards. On April 15,1923 at the Rivoli Theater in New York City, Smeck appeared, playing the ukulele, in Stringed Harmony, a short film made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. On August 6,1926, Smeck appeared playing the ukulele in a short film His Pastimes, made in the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process, the ukulele soon became an icon of the Jazz Age
4.
Gennett Records
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Gennett was an American record company and label in Richmond, Indiana, which flourished in the 1920s. Gennett produced some of the earliest recordings of Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke and its roster also included Jelly Roll Morton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Gene Autry. Gennett Records was founded in Richmond, Indiana, by the Starr Piano Company and it released its first records in October 1917. The company took its name from its top managers, Harry, Fred, earlier, the company had produced recordings under the Starr Records label. Gennett set up recording studios in New York City and later, in 1921, the sides recorded in New York are generally of about typical audio fidelity for a minor label of the time, and some masters were leased from other New York area firms. Many early religious recordings were made by Homer Rodeheaver, early shape note singers and others, Gennett issued a few early electrically recorded masters recorded in the Autograph studios of Chicago in 1925. These recordings were crude, and like many other Autograph issues are easily mistaken for acoustic masters by the casual listener. Gennett began serious electrical recording in March 1926, using a process licensed from General Electric, at this time the company also introduced an improved record biscuit which was adequate to the demands imposed by the electric recording process. The improved records were identified by a newly designed black label touting the New Electrobeam process, from 1925 to 1934, Gennett released recordings by hundreds of old-time music artists, precursors to country music, including such artists as Doc Roberts and Gene Autry. By the late 1920s, Gennett was pressing records for more than 25 labels worldwide, in 1926, Fred Gennett created Champion Records as a budget label for tunes previously released on Gennett. The Gennett Company was hit severely by the Great Depression in 1930 and it cut back on record recording and production until it was halted altogether in 1934. At this time the only product Gennett Records produced under its own name was a series of recorded sound effects for use by radio stations, in 1935 the Starr Piano Company sold some Gennett masters, and the Gennett and Champion trademarks to Decca Records. Kapp also attempted to revive the Gennett and Champion labels between 1935 and 1937 as specialists in bargain pressings of race and old-time music with but little success. The Starr record plant soldiered on under the supervision of Harry Gennett through the remainder of the decade by offering contract pressing services. For a time the Starr Piano Company was the manufacturer of Decca records. In the years remaining before World War II, Gennett did contract pressing for a number of New York-based jazz and folk music labels, including Joe Davis, Keynote and Asch. With the coming of the Second World War, the War Production Board in March 1942 declared shellac a rationed commodity, newly organized record labels were forced to purchase their shellac allocations from existing companies. Joe Davis purchased the Gennett shellac allocation, some of which he used for his own labels, brunswick Records acquired the old Gennett pressing plant for Decca
5.
Eddy Arnold
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Richard Edward Eddy Arnold was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s and he sold more than 85 million records. A member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, Arnold was born on May 15,1918, on a farm near Henderson, Tennessee. His father, a sharecropper, played the fiddle, while his mother played guitar, Arnolds father died when he was just 11, forcing him to leave school and begin helping on the family farm. This led to him later gaining his nickname—the Tennessee Plowboy, one of his brothers, PFC John Hendrix Arnold, fought in World War II and died in the Normandy landings. Arnold attended Pinson High School in Pinson, Tennessee, where he played guitar for school functions and he quit before graduation to help with the farm work, but continued performing, often arriving on a mule with his guitar hung on his back. Arnold also worked part-time as an assistant at a mortuary, in 1934, at age 16, Arnold debuted musically on WTJS-AM in Jackson, Tennessee, and obtained a job there during 1937. He performed at nightclubs and was a permanent performer for the station. During 1938, he was hired by WMPS-AM in Memphis, Tennessee and he soon quit for KWK-AM in St. Louis, Missouri, followed by a brief stint at WHAS-AM in Louisville, Kentucky. He performed for WSM on the Grand Ole Opry during 1943 as a solo artist, in 1944, Arnold signed a contract with RCA Victor, with manager Colonel Tom Parker, who later managed Elvis Presley. Arnolds first single was noticed, but the next, Each Minute Seems a Million Years. Its success began a decade of unprecedented chart performance, Arnolds next 57 singles all ranked in the top 10, in 1946, Arnold scored his first major success with Thats How Much I Love You. In 1948, he had five songs on the charts simultaneously. That year, he had nine songs in the top 10, five of these were number one, with Parkers management, Arnold continued to dominate, with 13 of the 20 best-scoring country music songs of 1947–1948. He became the host of Mutual Radios Purina-sponsored segment of the Opry and of Mutuals Checkerboard Jamboree, recorded radio programs increased Arnolds popularity, as did the CBS Radio series Hometown Reunion with the Duke of Paducah. Arnold quit the Opry during 1948, and his Hometown Reunion briefly broadcast in competition with the Opry on Saturday nights, in 1949 and 1950, he performed in the Columbia movies Feudin’ Rhythm and Hoedown. Arnold began working for television in the early 1950s, hosting The Eddy Arnold Show, the summer program was broadcast successively by all three television networks, replacing the Perry Como and Dinah Shore programs. He also performed as a guest and a guest host on the ABC-TV show Ozark Jubilee from 1955–60, Arnold featured in the syndicated Eddy Arnold Time from 1955 to 1957
6.
Eddie Fisher (singer)
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Edwin John Eddie Fisher was an American singer and actor. He was the most successful pop singles artist during the first half of the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. Fisher divorced his first wife, actress Debbie Reynolds, to marry Reynolds best friend, actress Elizabeth Taylor, after Taylors husband, the scandalous affair was widely reported, bringing unfavorable publicity to Fisher. Fisher fathered Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher with Reynolds, and Joely Fisher, Fisher was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the fourth of seven children born to Gitte and Joseph Tisch, who were Russian Jewish immigrants. His fathers surname was originally Tisch, but was changed to Fisher by the time of the 1940 census, to his family, Fisher was always called Sonny Boy, a nickname derived from the song of the same name in Al Jolsons film The Singing Fool. Fisher attended Thomas Junior High School, South Philadelphia High School and it was known at an early age that he had talent as a vocalist, and he started singing in numerous amateur contests, which he usually won. He made his debut on WFIL, a local Philadelphia radio station. He also performed on Arthur Godfreys Talent Scouts, a radio show that later moved to television. Because he became a star, Fisher dropped out of high school in the middle of his senior year to pursue his career. By 1946, Fisher was crooning with the bands of Buddy Morrow and he was heard in 1949 by Eddie Cantor at Grossingers Catskill Resort Hotel in the Borscht Belt. Cantors so-called discovery of Fisher was later described as a contrived, manipulated arrangement by Milton Blackstone. After performing on Cantors radio show he was an instant hit and he then signed a recording contract with RCA Victor. Fisher was drafted into the U. S. Army in 1951, sent to Fort Hood, Texas for basic training, and served a year in Korea. From 1952 to 1953, he was the vocal soloist for The United States Army Band. During his active duty period, he made occasional guest television appearances, in uniform. After his discharge, he began to sing in top nightclubs and had a variety television series, Fishers strong and melodious tenor made him a teen idol and one of the most popular singers of the early 1950s. He had 17 songs in the Top 10 on the charts between 1950 and 1956 and 35 in the Top 40. In 1956, Fisher costarred with then-wife Debbie Reynolds in the musical comedy Bundle of Joy and he played a dramatic role in the 1960 drama Butterfield 8 with second wife Elizabeth Taylor
7.
Patsy Cline
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Patsy Cline was an American country music singer. Part of the late 1950s/early 1960s Nashville sound, Cline successfully crossed over to pop music and was one of the most influential, successful and she died at the age of 30 in a multiple-fatality crash of the private plane of her manager, Randy Hughes. Cline was known for her tone, emotionally expressive and bold contralto voice. Along with Kitty Wells, she helped pave the way for women as performers in the genre. Books, movies, documentaries, articles and stage plays document her life, millions of her records have sold since her death. She won awards and accolades, causing many to view her as an icon at the level of Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, in 1973, ten years after her death, she became the first female solo artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1999, she was voted number 11 on VH1s special, The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll, by members, according to her 1973 Country Music Hall of Fame plaque, Her heritage of timeless recordings is testimony to her artistic capacity. She was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8,1932, in Winchester, Virginia and she was the eldest child of seamstress Hilda Virginia and blacksmith Samuel Lawrence Hensley. She soon had a brother and sister, Samuel Jr. They were known in the family as Ginny, John, the family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia, when Patsy was eight. Sam Hensley deserted his family in 1947, but the home was reportedly happy nonetheless. Cline was introduced to music at an age, singing in church with her mother. She liked stars such as Kay Starr, Jo Stafford, Hank Williams, Judy Garland, self-taught, she could not read music. When Patsy was thirteen, she was hospitalized with a throat infection, the fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith. After watching performers through the window at the radio station, she asked WINC disc jockey. Her performance in 1947 was well received, and she was asked back and this led to appearances at local nightclubs, wearing fringed Western outfits her mother made from Patsys designs. Cline performed in variety and talent shows in the Winchester and Tri-State areas, along with this and increasing local radio appearances on local radio, she gained a large following. In 1954 Jimmy Dean, already a young star, heard of her
8.
The Osmonds
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The Osmonds are devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and their religious values have influenced their careers. The Osmond family was not one single act, but a group of several, the Osmond Brothers began as a barbershop quartet consisting of brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay Osmond. Their only sister Marie, who sang with her brothers at that time, launched a successful career in 1973. A revival of the original Osmond Brothers lineup in the 1980s achieved moderate success in music and continues to perform to the present day, as do Donny. Collectively, the family has sold 102 million records worldwide, the siblings older brothers George Virl Osmond, Jr. and Tom Osmond were born deaf and did not originally perform. They made several appearances in later years, most notably on the family Christmas specials in the 1970s. All of the Osmonds were born in Ogden, Utah except the youngest, Jimmy, the Osmond Brothers career began in 1958 when Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay began singing barbershop music for local audiences in and around Ogden. In their made-for-TV movie Inside the Osmonds, they explain that they performed to earn money to support Virl and Tom in buying hearing aids. Despite their young ages and within a few years, the talent and stage presence were strong enough that their father, George Osmond. Welk was unable to meet them, but on the same trip. Tommy Walker, Disneylands Director of Entertainment and Customer Relations from 1955 to 1966, Walker hired the Osmonds to perform on a segment of Disneyland After Dark. This episode aired on 4/15/62 and 7/01/62, while the Osmond Brothers were performing on a televised Disney special, Andy Williamss father saw them and was so impressed he told his son to book them for his television show. Andy did, and the Osmond Brothers were regulars on the show from 1962 to 1969, Donny soon joined them on the show, making the Osmond Brothers a 5-member group. Marie and Jimmy were also introduced on the show as the years went by, during this time, the Osmonds also toured Europe, performing with Swedens most popular singer, Lars Lönndahl, and even releasing a single where they sang a Swedish version of Two Dirty Little Hands. The Osmond Brothers were regulars on the Jerry Lewis Show in 1969 and they continued to tour, but soon the Osmond Brothers decided they wanted to perform popular music and shed their variety-show image. They wanted to become a rock and roll band, the change was a difficult one for their father, who was suspicious of rock and roll. But he was persuaded and the boys began performing as a pop band, to this end, the Osmonds recorded a single, Flower Music, for UNI records in 1967. They achieved only modest success at first, but they found fame in 1971, record producer Mike Curb saw the Osmonds perform as a band and recognized that they combined a rare mix of polished performing style, instrumental skill, and vocal talent
