Nashville Sound Era

tagStarted 1957Peak 1958-1968Last big hit 1972From Nashville, United States

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Music Row's pop-aimed answer to rock 'n' roll: steel and fiddle stripped out, replaced by smooth string sections, vibraphone, muted rhythm, and the soft 'ooh' of background choirs like the Jordanaires. Crooned, adult-contemporary vocals with lots of reverb. Polished, uptown, radio-friendly, and crossover-minded.

History

Producers Chet Atkins (RCA) and Owen Bradley (Decca) engineered a slicker formula to keep country commercially alive after rockabilly's rise. From the late 1950s it dominated Nashville studios, making stars of Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, and Eddy Arnold. It later evolved into the orchestral Countrypolitan style and triggered the Bakersfield and Outlaw backlashes.

Defining artists

Jim ReevesSpotify YouTube
Patsy ClineSpotify YouTube
Eddy ArnoldSpotify YouTube
Don GibsonSpotify YouTube
Skeeter DavisSpotify YouTube
Jim Ed BrownSpotify YouTube

Essential listening

He'll Have to Go — Jim ReevesSpotify YouTube
Crazy — Patsy ClineSpotify YouTube
Make the World Go Away — Eddy ArnoldSpotify YouTube
Oh Lonesome Me — Don GibsonSpotify YouTube
The End of the World — Skeeter DavisSpotify YouTube

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Sources

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Bill C. Malone, Country Music U.S.A.
Rich Kienzle / liner-note scholarship
AllMusic Nashville Sound essay