Nashville sound

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The Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville Sound (often known as Countrypolitan) arose during the 1950s in country music. RCA Records manager Steve Sholes was responsible for the birth of the Nashville Sound. Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, who were producing records in Nashville, invented the form by stripping the honky tonk roughness from traditional country and adding slick production and pop structures. Bill Porter is the legendary RCA recording engineer influencial in the uniqueness of the Nashville sound, whom would later go on to engineer Elvis Presley. Vocalists Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves, along with pianist Floyd Cramer, were among the most famous of the artists leading the way to the smooth crooning style of the Nashville Sound's original era.

Classic examples of "Nashville Sound" recordings:

• The Three Bells by The Browns, 1959
• El Paso by Marty Robbins, 1960
• Four Walls by Jim Reeves, 1960
• He'll Have to Go by Jim Reeves
• Last Date by Floyd Cramer, 1960
• I Fall to Pieces by Patsy Cline, 1961
• The End of the World (song) by Skeeter Davis, 1963
• Here Comes My Baby by Dottie West, 1964
• King of the Road by Roger Miller, 1965
• Make the World Go Away by Eddy Arnold, 1965
• Misty Blue by Wilma Burgess, 1966

In the early 1960s, the Nashville Sound began to be challenged by the rival Bakersfield sound. Nashville's pop song structure became more pronounced and it morphed into "Countrypolitan". Countrypolitan was aimed straight at mainstream markets and it sold well throughout the later 1960s into the early 1970s. Among the architects of this sound were producers Billy Sherrill, (who was instrumental in shaping Tammy Wynette's early career) and Glenn Sutton. Artists who typified the Countrypolitan sound initially included Wynette, Glen Campbell, Lynn Anderson and Charlie Pride. The Bakersfield sound and, later, outlaw country, dominated country music among aficionados while countrypolitan reigned on the pop charts.

Upon being asked what the Nashville Sound was, Chet Atkins would reach his hand into his pocket, shake the loose change around and say "That's what it is. It's the sound of money."

Country music | Country genres
Bakersfield sound | Bluegrass | Close harmony | Country blues | Honky tonk | Lubbock sound | Nashville sound | New Traditionalists | Outlaw country | Australian country music
Alternative country | Country pop | Country rock | Psychobilly | Deathcountry | Rockabilly | Country-rap