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37-649: Wynn Stewart pioneered the Bakersfield sound, while performing artists Buck Owens and Merle Haggard became two of the most successful artists of the original Bakersfield era while performing with the Buckaroos and the Strangers respectively. Other major Bakersfield country artists include Jean Shepard and Susan Raye . The Bakersfield sound was developed at honky-tonk bars such as The Blackboard, and on local television stations in Bakersfield and throughout California in

74-572: A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, was the most well-known artist involved in the development of the Bakersfield Sound. As a child, Haggard spent a lot of his time listening to the records his mother had given him, particularly those of the Maddox Brothers and Rose , Bob Wills , and Lefty Frizell , who he described as his hero. A son of two Okie parents and a troublemaker from a young age, his music often touched on themes of outlaw living,

111-475: A Sad Song", which went to No. 19 in 1977. Stewart started his own label in 1978 called WIN. His first single, "Eyes as Big as Dallas", broke the Top 40. Although country music was changing in the late 1970s, moving to the smooth sounds of country pop , he was not able to continue to achieve success, which was hampered by his alcoholism. In the early 1980s, Stewart quit performing, but a few years on and Stewart launched

148-476: A Sad Song". "Wynn's sound was what influenced Buck and me both," Haggard has said, "and in a strange twist of fate, his band was the heart of the old Frizzell band – Roy Nichols was part of the Lefty band, and he went to Wynn Stewart and ran into Ralph Mooney, who played the steel, and they were the basis of the modern West Coast sound." With the help of songwriter Harlan Howard , Stewart signed with Jackpot Records,

185-517: A comeback, with an extensive tour and a new album. During the tour, Stewart suddenly died of a heart attack on July 17, 1985. Following Stewart's death, his song "Wait 'Til I Get My Hands on You" became a minor hit. In 2010, Volkswagen used Stewart's song "Another Day, Another Dollar" in an ad for the Jetta Kmart also used one of Wynn's songs, "It's Such a Pretty World Today", on a Blue light special commercial. Music Row Music Row

222-499: A lingering racial or social stereotype. . . . Merle seems to be saying, among other things, 'Hey, we exist, too. Without us, there is no state.'" His lyrical allusions to the ordinary life earned him the nickname of the Poet of the Common Man. Wynn Stewart Winford Lindsey " Wynn " Stewart (June 7, 1934 – July 17, 1985) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He

259-596: A local TV show and was part owner of a nightclub, The Nashville Nevada. Stewart continued to have sizable hits, including the Jan Howard duet called " Wrong Company ", and "Big, Big Love", among others. Stewart moved back to the center of the Bakersfield sound, California, in 1965. He re-signed with Capitol. Cliffie Stone , who was an A & R director with Capitol introduced Wynn to a young arranger-guitarist Bill Aken (Zane Ashton) who would often over-dub unique guitar parts on Wynn's recordings. His first couple of singles for

296-511: A musical incarnation called country rock. I don't know if there would have been a John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival had there not been the California country music that's come to be known as the "Bakersfield sound". The magazines No Depression and Blue Suede News regularly feature Bakersfield sound enthusiasts, while podcasts such as Radio Free Bakersfield carry on the tradition online. Besides Buck Owens , Merle Haggard ,

333-542: A popular version of Owens' " Act Naturally " with Ringo Starr on lead vocal. Years later, the Rolling Stones made their connection explicit in the lyrics of the very Bakersfield-sounding " Far Away Eyes ", which begins: "I was driving home early Sunday morning, through Bakersfield". The Bakersfield sound has such a large influence on the West Coast music scene that many small guitar companies set up shop in Bakersfield in

370-414: A recording contract with an independent record label called Intro Records . He released two singles on Intro. The first was called "I've Waited a Lifetime" and the second was "Strolling". Both failed to reach on the country music chart. His second single caught the attention of Skeets McDonald , one of Stewart's idols. He liked the song so much, he arranged an audition with Capitol Records for Stewart. By

407-410: A subsidiary label of Challenge Records , in 1958. He recorded a string of singles that were a mix of different styles, ranging from pop to rockabilly . In 1959, he moved to the parent Challenge label and released a single called "Wishful Thinking". The song proved a breakthrough for Stewart when it reached No. 5 in 1960. Following the song's success, Stewart moved to Las Vegas , Nevada, where he hosted

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444-573: A year working at KWTO in Springfield , Missouri. In 1948, he moved to California with his family. Stewart originally wanted to become a professional baseball player, but suffered from a hand disease and was also too short to play professional baseball. In high school, Stewart formed a band that played at clubs around California. He soon met steel guitarist Ralph Mooney , who joined Stewart's band. The group's lineup consisted of guitarist Roy Nichols and bassist Bobby Austin . In 1954, Stewart signed

481-458: Is a historic district located southwest of downtown Nashville, Tennessee , United States. Widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry , Music Row has also become a metonymous nickname for the music industry as a whole, particularly in country music , gospel music , and contemporary Christian music . The district is centered on 16th and 17th Avenues South (called Music Square East and Music Square West, respectively, within

518-467: Is considered to have kept the Central Valley, and the many Dust Bowl migrants who came there to work, alive through his songs. Bakersfield author Gerald Haslam stated that "Merle is most a representative of The Other California when he writes with the voice of someone outside the state's paradigm of success . . . he offers glimpses into lives lived out of the mainstream, on an economic edge and often under

555-673: Is not exclusively limited to the town itself but encompasses the larger California country sound of the '40s, '50s and on into the '60s, and even the '70s, with the music of Emmylou Harris , Gram Parsons, the Burrito Brothers and the Eagles – they are all an extension of the "Bakersfield sound" and a byproduct of it. I've got a poster of Buck Owens performing at the Fillmore West in 1968 in Haight-Ashbury! What went on there led to there being

592-650: Is the Music Industry Coalition . In his 1970 book The Nashville Sound , Paul Hemphill described Music Row as the area "where almost all of Nashville's music-related businesses operate out of a smorgasbord of renovated old single- and two-story houses and sleek new office buildings." RCA Victor , Decca Records , and Columbia Records each completed at least 90 percent of country recordings at music Row. Elsewhere, observed Hemphill, Music Row had "a montage of 'For Sale' signs [and] old houses done up with false fronts to look like office buildings." Throughout

629-407: Is the "Music Row Roundabout ," a circular intersection designed to accommodate a continuous flow of traffic. Flanking the intersection to the west is Owen Bradley Park, a very small park dedicated to notable songwriter , performer, and publisher Owen Bradley . Within the park is a life-size bronze statue of Bradley behind a piano. Inside the roundabout is a large statue called the " Musica ". At

666-651: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum . Next door to the CMA headquarters is Broadcast Music Inc. The first Country Music Hall of Fame sat at the corner of Music Square East and Division Street from April 1967 to December 2000, but the building has since been torn down and the museum moved to a state-of-the-art building 11 blocks away in Downtown Nashville in May 2001. One area of Music Row, along Demonbreun Street,

703-504: The 1950s and 1960s. The town, known mainly for agriculture and oil production, was the destination for many Dust Bowl migrants and others from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and parts of the Midwest. The mass migration of " Okies " to California also meant their music would follow and thrive, finding an audience in California's Central Valley . Bakersfield country was a reaction to the slickly produced, string orchestra-laden Nashville sound, which

740-582: The 1960s, property values on Music Row grew, for instance a 50-foot lot from $ 15,000 in 1961 to $ 80,000 in 1966. Music Row includes historic sites such as RCA 's famed Studio B and Studio A , where hundreds of notable and famous musicians have recorded. Country music entertainers Roy Acuff and Chet Atkins have streets named in their honor within the area. The Country Music Association (CMA) opened its $ 750,000 headquarters in Music Row in 1967. The modernist building included CMA's executive offices and

777-523: The 1960s. The Mosrite guitar company was located in Bakersfield until the death of the company's founder, Oildale resident Semie Moseley , in 1992. The Bakersfield music scene remained markedly separate from the Nashville Music Row industry at the time, as the major station in Nashville, WSM , did not reach California. No Bakersfield natives (nor any other Californians until Jon Pardi achieved

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814-447: The 1970s. By 1972, Stewart moved to RCA Records with "Paint Me a Rainbow" being his biggest hit for the label. He also briefly signed with Atlantic Records in 1974. Over the next three years, Stewart released singles but did not break the country Top 40. In 1975, he signed with Playboy Records and managed a Top 10 hit in 1976 called "After The Storm". Although he stayed with Playboy, he only had one other big hit, his version of "Sing

851-504: The Bakersfield sound, he also helped preserve its history. In 1996, Owens opened Buck Owens Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, which served as both a nightclub for country music performers and as a museum of the history and sound of country music, including the Bakersfield sound. Owens regularly performed at the Crystal Palace until his death in 2006. In an interview, Dwight Yoakam defined the term "Bakersfield sound": "Bakersfield" really

888-557: The Mavericks and the Derailers . Jean Shepard , one of country music's first significant female artists, began her recording career on the West Coast in the 1950s. Through Capitol Records , Shepard's " A Dear John Letter ", was the first major country hit single to use entirely Bakersfield musicians. Many of her early recording sessions featured prominent members of the Bakersfield movement, including Lewis Talley and Speedy West . Susan Raye

925-412: The Music Row area), along with several side streets. Lacy J. Dalton had a hit song in the 1980s about 16th Avenue , while the area served as namesake to Dolly Parton 's 1973 composition " Down on Music Row ". In 1999, the song " Murder on Music Row " was released and gained fame when it was recorded by George Strait and Alan Jackson , lamenting the rise of country pop and the accompanying decline of

962-531: The Okie experience in California's Central Valley, and working class pride. His most famous song, Mama Tried, is based on his real life experiences of being a rebel child, going to prison, and his mother's refusal to give up on him despite his troublemaker behavior. In songs like Mama's Hungry Eyes and Working Man Blues , Haggard alludes to the social inferiority of Okies and the struggle of providing for one's family while working in rural California. Merle Haggard's music

999-466: The dual fiddles of Oscar Whittington and Jelly Sanders. "Louisiana Swing" was the first song recorded in the style known today as the "Bakersfield sound". In the early 1960s, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, among others, brought the Bakersfield sound to mainstream audiences, and it soon became one of the most popular sounds in country music, helping spawn country rock and influencing later country stars such as Dwight Yoakam , Marty Stuart ,

1036-490: The feat in 2023) were ever inducted into the cast of WSM's flagship Grand Ole Opry . Buck Owens and the Buckaroos developed it further, incorporating different styles of music to fit Owens' musical tastes. The music style features a raw set of twin Fender Telecasters with a picking style (as opposed to strumming), a big drum beat, and fiddle, with an occasional "in your face" pedal steel guitar . The Fender Telecaster

1073-571: The label proved unsuccessful once again for Stewart, but his fifth single was a different story. " It's Such a Pretty World Today " was released in 1967 and became the biggest hit of his career. The song went to No. 1 on the country music chart and spent two weeks there. It was also the country music Song of the Year and a Gold record. Its follow-up, "Cause I Have You", was a Top 10 hit in 1967. Following his singles' success, Stewart recorded more soft, pop-friendly material, which gave Stewart his biggest hits into

1110-524: The summer of 1956, Stewart signed with Capitol. He soon recorded and released his first single from the label, "Waltz of the Angels", that same year. The song went to No. 14 on the country chart, and gave Stewart his first major hit. The song later became a duet hit for George Jones and Margie Singleton . However, Stewart did not stay with Capitol much longer as none of his other singles was gaining much success. His last single for Capitol (until his 1960s return)

1147-572: The traditional country music sound. The area hosts the offices of numerous record labels , publishing houses , music licensing firms, recording studios , video production houses, along with other businesses that serve the music industry, as well as radio networks , and radio stations . MusicRow Magazine has reported on the music industry since 1981. In present years, the district has been marked for extensive historical preservation and local as well as national movements to revive its rich and vibrant history. A group dedicated to this mission

Bakersfield sound - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-444: Was also a major figure in the Bakersfield sound, particularly in the 1970s, with hits such as " L.A. International Airport ". She was also a member of Buck Owens' road show and recorded several hit duets with him. Other women to emerge from the West Coast country movement include Bonnie Owens , Kay Adams , and Rosie Flores . Two important British Invasion -era rock bands displayed some Bakersfield influences. The Beatles recorded

1221-675: Was becoming popular in the late 1950s. One of the first groups to make it big on the West Coast was the Maddox Brothers and Rose , who were the first to wear outlandish costumes and make a "show" out of their performances. Artists such as Wynn Stewart used electric instruments and added a backbeat, as well as other stylistic elements borrowed from rock and roll. Important influences were Depression -era country music superstar Jimmie Rodgers , early 1950s honky tonk singer Lefty Frizzell , and 1940s Western swing musician Bob Wills . In 1954, MGM recording artist Bud Hobbs recorded "Louisiana Swing" with Buck Owens on lead guitar, Bill Woods on piano, and

1258-584: Was called "I Wish I Could Stay the Same", released in September 1957. Stewart was part owner of a Las Vegas , Nevada, nightclub called Nashville Nevada during the early 1960s. He performed there six nights a week and also hosted his own television show. A young Merle Haggard sat in with the band while Stewart was out of town in 1962. Stewart returned early, was impressed with Haggard's performance, and hired him as his regular bass player. He wrote Haggard's first hit "Sing

1295-588: Was once littered with down-market tourist attractions and vanity "museums" of various country music stars. These began to disappear in the late 1990s with the announced move of the Country Music Hall of Fame. The strip sat largely vacant for a few years but has been recently redeveloped with a number of upscale restaurants and bars serving the Downtown and Music Row areas. At the confluence of Demonbreun Street, Division Street, 16th Avenue South, and Music Square East

1332-558: Was one of the progenitors of the Bakersfield sound . Although not a huge chart success, he was an inspiration to such artists as Buck Owens , Merle Haggard and Nick Lowe . Stewart was born in Morrisville , Missouri, United States, in 1934, during the Depression . He spent most of his childhood moving around the country with his sharecropping family. After World War II , Stewart spent

1369-520: Was originally developed for country musicians to fit in with the Texas/ Western swing style of music that was popular in the Western US following World War II . The music, like Owens, was rebellious for its time and is dependent on a musician's individual talents, as opposed to the elaborate orchestral production common with Nashville-style country music. Buck Owens not only aided in the development of

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