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Nashville Sound

 
 

Description of Nashville Sound

 
When Rockabilly stole away much of country music's youth audience in the mid-1950s, Nashville started to aim for a more adult market. Studio executives Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley took their cues from the pop music world, cutting out the sharp edges of fiddle and banjo and adding smoother, lusher tones with string sections and background choruses. This became known as the Nashville Sound, which dominated country music from the '50s through the '70s. Crooners like Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, and Patsy Cline were the early stars. The style peaked with the work of producer Billy Sherrill, who created a sound that was fuller and lusher than ever with such artists as one-time Memphis Rockabilly-soul singer Charlie Rich, Honky-Tonker Johnny Paycheck, and even Mr. Country Music himself, George Jones.
 

Filed Under

 
Country  >  Nashville Sound
 

Nashville Sound Key Artists

 
Bobby Bare

With a meaty and masculine
voice, Bobby Bare dressed
up narrative-laden
honky-tonk songs with
Nashville's finest producti...

Brenda Lee

Although her country voice
drew comparisons to Patsy
Cline (this was during the
'50s), Lee fared better as a
'60s pop singer. Though B...

Charley Pride

Discovered as a teen by Red
Sovine, Charley Pride's
silky-smooth baritone ruled
the country airwaves in the
'60s and '70s. Pride was a...

Charlie Rich

Charlie Rich's velvety
singing voice was as buttery
as that of country crooner
George Jones. Dubbed "The
Silver Fox" by his contem...

Chet Atkins

Hugely influential country
music persona who brought
the Nashville sound to the
pop charts in the '50s and
'60s. The Chet Atkins sign...

Don Gibson

Don Gibson balanced
backwoods country songs
with radio-friendly
production to win over a
huge audience in the late...

Dottie West

Juxtaposing sad and soulful
singing against slick,
orchestrated production,
Dottie West personified the
Nashville sound. West was...

Eddy Arnold

Eddy Arnold took hillbilly
music from the backwoods
to the big city and was
rewarded with
twenty-eight No. 1 singles...

Jim Reeves

The smooth, satin voice of
Jim Reeves floated over
hushed orchestration to
provide the epitome of the
Nashville sound. Jim Reev...

Kitty Wells

Wells' proto-feminist
persona and Honky-Tonk
songwriting paved the way
for artists such as Loretta
Lynn and Tammy Wynette...

Lynn Anderson

Lynn Anderson's
Nashville-polished
countrypolitan sound was
supported by her soulful
and melancholic singing v...

Patsy Cline

Country singer Patsy Cline's
deeply romantic songs and
honeyed voice helped
inspire and influence
women musicians everyw...

Porter Wagoner

Porter Wagoner walked a
tightrope between soulful
country music and campy
twang. He is famous for
discovering Dolly Parton....

Ray Price

Price was a honky-tonk
hero with a taste for a 4/4
shuffle and weepy
beer-joint songs dressed up
with countrypolitan string...

Rex Allen, Jr.

Rex Allen, Jr. is one of the
only country artists to
intertwine cowboy
campfire songs with the
lush production of Nashvil...

Roger Miller

Although he hit with
country humor songs like
"You Can't Rollerskate in a
Buffalo Herd," Miller was a
honkey-tonk singer. Roge...

Skeeter Davis

Skeeter Davis' buttery
smooth voice sounds like it
was born to sit sidesaddle
on Nashville's lush 1950s
production machine. Afte...

Tammy Wynette

Tammy Wynette fused the
grit of honky-tonk with
pristine Nashville
production to create her
signature sound. Once ma...

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