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

by Robert E. Price

Overview

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, and 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, The Bakersfield Sound immerses us in the unique cultural convergence that gave rise to a visceral and distinctly California country music.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781597144155
Publisher:	Heyday
Publication date:	03/01/2018
Pages:	296
Sales rank:	1,038,827
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Robert E. Price, the award-winning executive editor of the Bakersfield Californian, has written and spoken extensively about the Bakersfield Sound for more than twenty years.

Table of Contents

Foreword Marty Stuart vii

Preface to the Heyday Edition xiii

Preface xix

Introduction xxi

Chapter 1 The Great Convergence 1

Chapter 2 Toward Eden 16

Snapshot: Otherness 28

Chapter 3 Honky-Tonk Paradise 31

Snapshot: It's That Kid! 52

Chapter 4 Vegas of the Valley 54

Chapter 5 What's on TV? 63

Snapshot: The Mosrite 81

Chapter 6 Buck Owens 86

Chapter 7 Merle Haggard 103

Snapshot: The Man in Black Needs Cash 129

Chapter 8 The Two Defining Songs 132

Chapter 9 The A & R Man 141

Chapter 10 The Mentor, the Muse, and the Protégé 148

Snapshot: Millennium Eve 167

Chapter 11 The Next Wave 169

Afterword 180

Appendixes 182

Acknowledgments 237

Notes 239

Selected Bibliography 259

Editorial Reviews

2016-01-05
This debut nonfiction work traces the history, development, and legacy of the Californian country-music subgenre known as the "Bakersfield sound." Price, the executive editor of the Bakersfield Californian newspaper, weaves a savvy blend of personal anecdotes and broader historical narrative in this work. The result firmly defines the Bakersfield sound as a gritty, visceral style of music about personal struggle, as opposed to the more formulaic and melodically elegant material produced by the mainstream Nashville-based music industry. The sound's story begins with the Oklahoman migration to California in the wake of the Dust Bowl, but Price argues that the style, heard in the music of country icons such as Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, is more deeply rooted in the communities that sprung up on the West Coast during World War II. It was born, he says, in blue-collar bars and dimly lit honky-tonks where men brawled and drank whiskey whenever they were off-shift. Price captures that atmosphere well thanks to his extensive interviews (and, readers may imagine, long-standing relationships) with small-business owners and other assorted characters who still live in the Bakersfield area. Indeed, the book's greatest asset is this local flavor; the author excels when describing barkeeps, backing musicians, and the relationships between them. He also draws attention to the fact that many of the groups on popular records shared players with one another, which accounted for the consistent, unique style that emerged. Price infuses two minibiographies of Owens and Haggard with the passion of a lifelong fan, and they're among the most engaging chapters in the book. On the other hand, the book addresses some subjects, such as the factors that influenced the popularity of the Bakersfield sound and its competition and partial appropriation by the mainstream, in a way that makes them feel more like asides than subjects in their own rights. That said, this book thrives on the personalities of its people. An informative read that's well-suited to readers interested in country music and its history.

Kirkus Reviews