Ever experience people who clearly have no grasp of country music by what they say?

In the early 90s there was a magazine with Garth Brooks on the cover that read Led Zeppelin meets Roy Rogers.
I remember thinking come on.
Roy Rogers? What a lazy attempt to just throw out a name of someone who does not represent country music up to that point, but rather was more of the Western part of the old genre title Country & Western.
It was clear the writer just thought of someone with a cowboy hat.
Instead they should have referenced Hank Williams Sr. or George Straight, but it was clear they had no concept of Garth's country influences or the biggest names in the genre prior to Garth.
Similarly on the tv show Wings during the same period, Kriste Alley was making a guest appearance, as was country star Clint Black. When her character is thrown out of his hotel room she says "Who do you think you are, Gene Autry? I don't think so."
Same thing as with the Roy Rogers reference with Garth, totally clueless. They could have had her say do you think your Hank Williams, George Strait or even Garth Brooks. And to the mainstream crowd who hears those references, they were really making them think that country before Garth was completely different than what it was
Garth and Clint's music was nothing like Gene or Roy's but who could hear the Hank and George.

 

My first thought...
Led Zeppelin...!!!????!!!

Please explain that.

 

That was based on his concerts which had a rock n roll type performance and atmosphere.

 

Most people have no grasp of any music genre. Very few if any have a grasp of all music genres. It is not surprising that this would be noticeable to those of us on a music forum.

Also if something is being written for the entertainment of the general public, name recognition may be considered more important than accuracy. Everybody has heard of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Led Zeppelin. Not everyone has heard of George Straight or even Hank Senior.

It's really too much to expect accuracy in entertainment no matter what the subject when we don't even get accuracy in the news.

 

Hank Williams is as recognizable to mainstream as Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, regardless of the era, even if they think you mean Jr.

 

Back in the '90s, I lived in an international student hostel in DC for a few years. It only took a few weeks there to discover that Europeans almost always think folk=country. I did try explaining they were two different genres, but to no avail.

 

Yeah, they once grouped those titles together back in the 40s and 50s in the U.S. I hate the title Country & Western. But I guess it's better than Hillbilly.

 

Unfortunately I think you may be referring to the US only (& these days I would be surprised if HW was recognisable to most people), but most definitely not the UK. And as for Roy Rogers & Gene Autry? I would contend recognition of these 2 are generation dependent; do you think if you were to do a vox pop on say Fifth Avenue NY you would get many young people that recognise them? You'd struggle to get many to recognise George Harrison IMO, never mind long dead country singers.

 

Country music is folk music. It's worth bearing in mind that most of what we commonly think of as popular music genres are not actually distinguished musically, but rather are distinguished for purposes of commercial sale and for radio programming (i.e. for the purposes of record-labels to make money).

 

I dont know.
I once bought an import boxset of Hank Williams from the UK called Hillbilly Hero.
But the tv show Wings was an American show and the magazine was pretty much aimed at the U.S. as well, if featuring a Country star.

 

Those who are genuinely interested in any type of music can have a better understanding by knowing what influences were involved, such as what music the musicians listened to,
where they lived, what was their environment? I got into the Blues in the late 70's, after hearing so much influence in the Rock music I had been listening to. First was to seek out
the Blues artists that influenced the Rock, and then read books about the people. Roots...

 

Yeah, sadly they used to be called race records.

 

No because their exposure & knowledge is based on recent times & how the industry promotes music. The Country Music industry is wrong. Classic Country music is real Country music! My opinion.

 

Well yes, there was some difficulty. The music was great though, and obviously had great impact. Read Howlin' Wolf's bio "Moanin' At Midnight",
a real slice of Life there...

 

Uhh... OK.
“Rock n Roll type performance and atmosphere”..... for audiences that didn’t attend Rock n Roll performances.

I vaguely recall that marketing ploy behind Garth Brooks’ shows.... equating any musician’s music to a top rock band such as Led Zeppelin is a big stretch.
Even for the top country musician of the 1990’s.
That’s still a far cry.

Perhaps one major reason that many bought the comparison is because Led Zeppelin had stopped touring decades prior... thus a fantasy equivalent is harmless.
Pure entertainment.

 

I enjoy some Country music. I prefer the period of time somewhere around the sixties up until about 1980....
I'm not one of those nothing after 1980 interests me guys, I just find that country music suddenly seemed lifeless and generic. There are certainly exceptions, but for the most part it seemed to be an all too formulaic hybrid of either rock with a vocal twang, or pop with a vocal twang.
I know genres develop, and/or evolve into slightly different things, but post 1980, country (and that is a rough time, not a precise measured time) just seemed to cease to exist to me.

 

Europeans also respect US Country music and have done a lot better job keeping the best of the old classics available. They loved it after hearing it so much on Armed Forces Network Radio. Also, there's the superb Bear Family Records of Germany and their superb box sets. Richard Weize is for me, a hero in keeping Classic Country alive, and I am fortunate enough to have met him.

 

I wouldn't take it so seriously. I doubt the writer or editor is clueless. They're writing the headline for the masses. I'd argue that Roy Rogers name is more recognizable than old time country singers so I can see why they did that. Roy signifies cowboys and the west which is a long time image connected to country music.

 

It’s possible the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry references had more to do with their clean-cut boy-next-door personas which seemed at the time to fit Garth Brooks and Clint Black, neither of whom were known as drunken hell-raisers. It may not have been necessarily about what kind of country music they performed.

 

The Zeppelin reference was aimed at Rock fans. The Roy was aimed at country fans. The Zeppelin I agree was a stretch but they at least represented Rock better than Roy represented country.

 

I like a bit of country here and there. Some great bands, such as Calexico, pushing things forward. Maybe possibly "Americana" I suppose.

I have zero time for Country + Western though. I've no desire to loop my thumbs through my belt loops and kick my back heel up, thanks

 

I am one of those persons! I know nothing about country music, aside from what Ken Burns taught me, and I own almost zero country music.

Is Mike Nesmith considered country? My wife has the three First National Band albums, and I like those!

 

I would have to say that most people don’t have a grasp on country music, including those that listen to pop country radio.

 

This would qualify as an example of the thread title.

 

'Country music' is NOT 'folk music'. 'Folk music' is a genre by itself. 'Country music' is a genre by itself. Country music is about folks and other things, but it is not the 'folk music' genre. I hope that is what you were trying to say.