The Melody Web what each genre heard, and what it passed on

heard passed on Click or tap a node to recenter. Use a connecting line, or Influence, for the story.

Heard

Country genre · 1923–

The Bakersfield sound is country’s West Coast hard child: same song and star system, a louder electric mix.

Influence
Honky-tonk style · 1941–

Bakersfield keeps honky-tonk’s shuffle, steel, and bar song and turns up electric guitar and kit against Nashville-sound polish.

Influence
Rock and roll genre · 1954–1964

Bakersfield sound takes rock and roll’s loud backbeat and Telecaster attack into a country bar band.

Influence

Bakersfield sound

style · 1957–

Also called Bakersfield country

Kind of Country

Late-1950s–60s California hard country: twin Telecasters, a loud backbeat, and a dry mix against the Nashville-sound polish (Owens, Haggard; Wynn Stewart as an early hinge). It hears Honky-tonk for the bar-band job, Country as the taxonomic parent, and Rock and roll for the loud electric backbeat. It already gives Outlaw country and Country rock the West Coast hard-country mix, and Neotraditional country the dry Telecaster revival. Nashville sound leftover as the opposed polish, not a parent.

Listen

  1. Together Again Buck Owens (1964) YouTube · Spotify
  2. Act Naturally Buck Owens (1963) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  3. Mama Tried Merle Haggard (1968) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  4. Okie from Muskogee Merle Haggard (1969) YouTube · Spotify
  5. The Streets of Bakersfield Buck Owens (1973) YouTube

Passed on

Country rock style · 1968–1975

Country-rock takes Bakersfield’s Telecaster twang, steel, and Haggard/Owens songbook as the California country it electrifies.

Influence
Neotraditional country style · 1981–

Neotraditional country takes Bakersfield’s dry Telecaster hard-country mix as one 1980s radio model (Yoakam).

Influence
Outlaw country style · 1972–

Outlaw takes Bakersfield’s dry hard-country mix and writer-led stance as a 1970s refusal of the Nashville-sound cushion.

Influence

Country → Bakersfield sound

form and structuremelodyperformance practicestrength: highscholarly consensus1957–1969recordingradiooral

Mechanism

The Bakersfield sound is country’s West Coast hard child: same song and star system, a louder electric mix. Strength high. Honky-tonk is the bar-band donor; this hop is the taxonomic country child.

Evidence

Owens and Haggard as country-chart acts; Malone on the California country industry.

Debate

Whether this is only honky-tonk in California. The Telecaster-and-backbeat job is Bakersfield’s named 1960s style.

Mediators

artist: Buck Owens; artist: Merle Haggard

Honky-tonk → Bakersfield sound

meter and grooveinstrumentationtimbre and productionstrength: highscholarly consensus1957–1969oralrecordingradio

Mechanism

Bakersfield keeps honky-tonk’s shuffle, steel, and bar song and turns up electric guitar and kit against Nashville-sound polish. Strength high. Country remains the taxonomic parent; this hop is the 1940s bar grammar.

Evidence

Owens/Haggard halls and Capitol sides against 1940s Tubb/Williams grammar; Malone on that continuity.

Debate

Whether Bakersfield is only honky-tonk. The twin-Telecaster backbeat is the 1960s named job.

Mediators

artist: Buck Owens; artist: Merle Haggard

Rock and roll → Bakersfield sound

instrumentationmeter and groovetimbre and productionstrength: mediumscholarly consensus1957–1965recordingradio

Mechanism

Bakersfield sound takes rock and roll’s loud backbeat and Telecaster attack into a country bar band. Strength medium. honky tonk bakersfield sound is the bar-song parent; this hop is the electric kit. Nashville sound leftover as the opposed polish, not a parent.

Evidence

Owens’s twin-Telecaster records; Malone on Bakersfield as a West Coast electric answer; Starr–Waterman on rock-and-roll volume inside country.

Debate

Whether Bakersfield is already rock and roll. The song job remains honky-tonk country; the backbeat and dry electric mix are the rock-and-roll gift.

Mediators

artist: Buck Owens

Bakersfield sound → Country rock

instrumentationtimbre and productionmelodystrength: mediumwell documented1968–1973recording

Mechanism

Country-rock takes Bakersfield’s Telecaster twang, steel, and Haggard/Owens songbook as the California country it electrifies. Strength medium. The country umbrella remains the taxonomic donor; this hop is the local 1960s hard mix.

Evidence

Parsons covering Haggard; Sweetheart and Burrito steel against Owens grammar (Malone, Starr).

Debate

Whether this is already generic country. The California hard-country kit is Bakersfield’s, not the Nashville A-team’s.

Mediators

artist: Gram Parsons; artist: The Byrds

Bakersfield sound → Neotraditional country

instrumentationtimbre and productionperformance practicestrength: mediumscholarly consensus1986–1990recordingradio

Mechanism

Neotraditional country takes Bakersfield’s dry Telecaster hard-country mix as one 1980s radio model (Yoakam). Strength medium. honky tonk neotraditional country is the older bar-song parent; this hop is the California electric revival. Country-pop leftover as the opposed urban-cowboy sound.

Evidence

Yoakam’s Buck Owens repertory and Guitars, Cadillacs; Malone on the traditionalist wave’s West Coast wing.

Debate

Whether Strait and Travis already make Bakersfield unnecessary. Strait’s Texas honky-tonk is the other wing; Yoakam’s mix is the named Bakersfield gift.

Mediators

artist: Dwight Yoakam

Bakersfield sound → Outlaw country

timbre and productionperformance practicemelodystrength: mediumwell documented1972–1978recordingradio

Mechanism

Outlaw takes Bakersfield’s dry hard-country mix and writer-led stance as a 1970s refusal of the Nashville-sound cushion. Strength medium. Honky-tonk remains the groove parent; this hop is the California hard model.

Evidence

Haggard as a cited model; Jennings’s independent mix against countrypolitan; Malone on that line.

Debate

Whether outlaw is only honky-tonk returning. The West Coast electric hardness is Bakersfield’s gift.

Mediators

artist: Merle Haggard; artist: Waylon Jennings