Nashville Sound
tagStarted 1957Peak 1959–1964Last big hit 1967
The Nashville Sound replaces honky-tonk roughness with smooth rhythm sections, background vocal choirs, string sweetening, and controlled, intimate crooning. Tempos are often moderate, drums understated, and every detail serves the singer rather than the bandstand.
History
Built in studios like RCA Studio B and shaped especially by Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley, the Nashville Sound aimed to grow country's audience after rock and roll disrupted the market. Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline, Don Gibson, Skeeter Davis, and others made it commercially dominant, and it permanently established Nashville as the industry's recording capital.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
- PBS Country Music
- Britannica
- RCA Studio B histories