How the Civil War Shaped Country Music

Some people argue the U.S. Civil War was the single biggest turning point in our history. Whether you agree with that or not, it certainly galvanized us into a single country. And, as with other turning points in our history, like the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement, our Civil War transformed us culturally as well as politically. In and around the battlefields of the great conflict between the North and South, the roots of our country commingled with the roots of what we today call Country Music.

From the time of the first American colonies until well into the 19th Century, the popular music of the United States was largely that of Great Britain. Many popular songs of that early period were re-purposed British songs with American lyrics, like:

"The Star Spangled Banner",
(borrowed from "To Anacreon in Heaven")

"Billy Boy",
(borrowed from "Charming William")

"Lakes of Pontchartrain")
(borrowed from "Roddy McClorey")
Minstrel shows started gaining popularity in the first half of the 19th century, and although they propagated many of the worst stereotypes of African-American slaves, they were an important step forward in developing truly American music; they presented our unique notion of absurd humor in the telling of a sad tale. In 1843, "Old Dan Tucker" was the first minstrel song to be a hit. There are two distinct interpretations of the song. One is that it celebrated the antics of an irrepressible and crass black man whose mischief and good cheer were legendary. The other is that it's the legend of a minister and slave owner from Elbert County, Georgia. In this interpretation, Tucker was a man well-liked by his slaves. The chorus, “You’re too late to get your supper” is a kindhearted taunt to a man who, because of his work in ministry, ferryboat operation and on his farm, often arrived home well after dark.

Audiences of the time had found both a genuine American character and a truly American musical style. The song's origins are uncertain, but it was popularized and published by the white minstrel performer Daniel Emmett, who later composed "(I Wish I Was in) Dixie's Land".

In this same time frame, America's first professional songwriter came into his own. Stephen Foster was proficient in both the sentimental styles of the mid-19th century and the lively minstrel styles. In "Oh! Suzzana", he expressed an emotional depth that was new to American music. It's hard to find it now, in the politically corrected version you hear today, but the original song relates the heartbreak of marriages torn apart by slavery. One of his early successes, "Old Folks at Home," is sung as an aging African-American, pining for his home on the old plantation. He was sold and taken to another plantation, but it's the emotion in the song, expressing the yearning to "go home again", that connects it to songs that followed. The depth of emotion expressed in these two songs appealed to a wide audience; they could empathize with the characters because they too were living in an era of great change and uncertainty.

Music During the War
Music was particularly important in mid-nineteenth-century America. Today it's rare to hear a large group in song except in church, but things were different in 1860. People engaged in group singing at most outdoor events. They held musical soirees to raise money for the troops or entertained friends and family with private concerts. Soldiers’ lives were structured by music; it not only provided solace in camp but also announced military events from reveille to meals to battles. Comments about music appear constantly in their diaries and letters. Although scholars note it, few have considered how music functioned during the war or explored the role of music in daily life. This is what Christian McWhirter’s book, Battle Hymns does in spades. Well-researched and written, Battle Hymns is the definitive work on the popular culture of the Civil War.

A craze for musical evenings had taken hold, driven by a focus on family life. It provided the impetus for more new music to meet the rising demand. McWhirter estimates that close to 10,000 songs were published as sheet music in the north during the war years. The demand for new music was smaller in the south because of its smaller population, and possibly because of their cultural focus on the antebellum. Fewer than 700 songs were published in the Confederacy. But on both sides the production of new music outstripped all other forms of literary output.

People used music differently then. There were no recordings, so listeners felt free to interpret what they heard, and then alter the lyrics to suit their situation. McWhirter argues in his book that this is why some songs were more popular than others. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, for example, wasn't well-loved during the war. Soldiers viewed the lyrics as too formal and polished to be easily remembered. A tune that offered a good marching tempo and lyrics that were simple and clear were important to its success. The most popular song with Union troops was “John Brown’s Body”. In the south, "Bonnie Blue Flag", though popular, was eclipsed by “Dixie” for the same reasons.

Patrick Gilmore was the most influential composer and bandleader of the war and wrote "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" right after the battle of Gettysburg. He also wrote the "Famous 22nd Regiment March" and created "Gilmore's Concert Garden", which eventually became New York's Madison Square Garden.

There were two versions of "Maryland, My Maryland"; one was a call for sussession, the other, a defense of the Union. "The Battle Cry of Freedom," by George F. Root had two versions as well; one in favor of the Union and one in favor of the Confederacy. Both versions of the song were immensely popular with combined sales of over 500,000 copies of sheet music. The Union version survives to this day and was used in the Second Iraq War.

Military music fell out of favor almost immediately after the war and didn't see a resurgence until the 1890s, when John Philip Sousa came into the picture.

Early Influences of the War on Music

-Jimmie Rodgers, circa 1930

Some say Country Music started in the early 1920s, and others argue it was born on August 1, 1927, when Ralph Peer arrived in Bristol, Tennessee, to scout rural performers for Victor Records. That later argument is driven primarily by the significance of the artists recorded in those Bristol sessions. Over a three month period, Peer recorded Jimmie Rodgers, Alfred Reed and the Carter Family, all of whom became country music legends. Bill Malone's book, Country Music USA is considered by many to be the most complete and accurate history of country music. The thesis of his book is that the origins of country music can be traced to migrant farm workers bringing hillbilly music into urban areas in the early 1900s. Starting with the music's folk roots in the rural South, it traces country music from the early days of radio to the 21st century. Even in this exhaustive work, you won't find an actual birth date for country music.

Whenever country music started, there are a number of music trends in the second half of the 19th century and propagated by the war that led to its arrival. Negro Spirituals and Blues, Hillbilly and Bluegrass, and the American Folk movement all appeared and gained popularity, and each played a role in creating what would become country music. America changed because of the Civil War, and those changes can be seen in the music that followed the war. So many people found themselves moving throughout the country during and after the war that they couldn't help but experience new customs, foods and points of view. The nation experienced such tremendous growth through immigration and expansion in the west that they couldn't help but get caught up in a boundless optimism, and that opened the gates of possibility in American music.

From Negro Spirituals to the Blues
Beginning in the 18th century, Negro Spirituals were created by slaves who adopted the Christian faith. They provided comfort and eased the boredom of daily life. While their first purpose was to express spiritual devotion, they had a second purpose: they served as a hidden expression of a yearning for freedom. Some even had a third purpose: songs like "Steal Away (to Jesus)", "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Wade in the Water" when raised in a quiet cotton field or sung softly in the dark of night, signaled that the coast was clear and now was the time to escape.

These spirituals were not widely popular immediately after the war, but were an important platform for the development of the delta blues of the late 19th century. Songs like "Down in Mississippi" by J.B. Lenoir, "Dust My Broom" by Elmore James and "Crossroads" by Robert Johnson owe a lot to the spiritual tradition.

From Minstrel to American Folk
The minstrel styles continued into the early 20th century, but by late in the 19th century, American Folk music started to emerge as a larger influence. Also, because of the war, whites and blacks came into greater contact. Music provided an opportunity for them to share cultures, defy the social limits of segregation, and influence each others' musical styles. Starting in the early 1920s, commercial radio changed the game yet again. It exposed Americans to the diversity of musical styles, and there was just no way to segregate the airwaves.

The list of significant folk songs that appeared in the second half of the 19th century through the early part of the 20th century is long and covers a wide range of subjects. But they share the common trait of being story songs. Like the minstrel songs that preceded them, these truly American folk songs touched a chord with listeners by being real and relatable. "Man of Constant Sorrow" is a story of a troubled life, yet carries strong spiritual undertones. "John Henry" is a song about a fabled railroad man who represented the best of the human spirit. "Tom Dooley", on the other hand, was a story about a Civil War soldier who represented the worst of our natures. "Oh My Darling Clementine" was a story about a miner who found his true love, but lost her, while "Cool Water" told a story of another miner who had no one to share his thoughts and feelings with but his mule, Dan. "Wabash Cannonball" was a train song that captured imaginations with the romance of train travel, while "Wreck of the Old 97" told of the misfortunes of train travel. Many of these songs are still performed today, attesting to their presentation of the good and bad in the human spirit, and their ability to connect us to our past.

The Merger of Styles into Country Music
In 1910 John Lomax published Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads, and in 1916 Cecil Sharp began publishing hundreds of folk songs from the Appalachian / Cumberland mountains. These generated interest in the white musical heritage, separate and distinct from the African-American track. In 1922 Alexander (Eck) Robertson, the son of a Civil War veteran, recorded the first songs that could be considered country music. He played with Henry C. Gilliland for the Victor Company, recording "Arkansas Traveler" and "Turkey in the Straw", thus sharing in the claim for the first country music recordings. Nashville radio station WSM began broadcasting a weekly barn dance program in 1922 that was later renamed "The Grand Ole Opry". It's clear that Country music was off and running.

- Ryman Auditorium at 115 6th Avenue, North in Nashville, TN was the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.

In this same time frame, the recording industry started the division of white and black music, calling the Spirituals and Blues "race music", and the folk and bluegrass music "hillbilly". Starting with "Railroad Blues", Sam McGee was one of the first white artists to play the guitar like a bluesman. At about the same time, Mississippi John Hurt started recording songs like "Spike Driver Blues" that also blended country with blues. The mix of music and performers brought the blues sound to country music and starting the end of that racist policy. This black influence on white country music stalled for a while during WW2, but reemerged in the 1960s and continues today.

String bands became popular in the 1920s as well, including Grayson & Whiter's "Going Down the Lee Highway", Ernest Stoneman's Dixie Mountaineers' "Sweeping Through the Gates", and the Skillet Lickers' "Red River Valley".

At about the same time, Carl Sprague started recording cowboy songs with "When The Work's All Done This Fall". Others followed, like Goebel Reeves' "Cowboy's Lullaby", Bob Nolan's "Cool Water" and Gene Autry's "Back in the Saddle Again".

Jimmie Rodgers was influential in creating the myth of the west with songs like "T is for Texas" and "Yodeling Cowboy". There was so much interest in western music that "country" became "country & western" music. Though country music was coming mainly from the southeastern states, the romantic notion of the mountain man was replaced by the the lonely cowboy by the early 1930s. Both honky-tonk and western-swing that followed were by-products of this shift in focus towards the southwest.

Rodgers, who adopted the Hawaiian slide guitar in his later performances, also shared in the creation of country blues. You can hear it in "Waiting For A Train", and "Mule Skinner Blues". Another country musician who was early to country blues was Jimmie Davis with songs like "Jellyroll Blues" and "You Are My Sunshine".

By 1930, Country music's instrumentation was settled in place with the exception of the pedal steel guitar, the acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin. Notice the absence of drums and bass fiddle. Some regional forms of country music added a harmonica, accordion or ukulele.

Writing the Country Songbook
The origin of Country music is really the merging of folk, spiritual, blues, bluegrass, hillbilly and western styles. Its origins come from the music of Great Britain and Europe that came to America in the 18th century, and then were laced with a generous dollop of African-American flavor. The U.S. Civil War played a part in all of that by providing a conflict that spurred the deep emotions simmering on both sides of the slavery issue since colonial times (with great strife comes great creativity). It changed the way people thought about the country - moving us away from a state and sectional focus to that of a great melting pot. Our rapid expansion west after the war (another result of the war's resolution), helped us become more accepting of new cultures. Finally, we were war-weary; we couldn't leave the music of the war behind us fast enough. Like our western expansion, we were in search of something new, yet connected with the American spirit; something timeless.

It's that interconnection that really hits home. Every step in the development of country music was based on the work of those who came before. Without those minstrel songs, we wouldn't have American Folk. Without the Negro Spirituals, we wouldn't have the blues and country blues. Without string music, bluegrass and hillbilly, we wouldn't have gotten to the birth of country music. It's like a symphony, and all these movements became chapters in the American Songbook.

In many ways, Brad Paisley's song, "Country Nation" expresses that sense of connectedness better than this paper ever could. Take a moment and give it a listen:
"Country Nation".

"Our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
- Abraham Lincoln

References:
If you'd like to pursue the ideas presented here in more depth, here are the sources used in the research for this work and the formation of country music:

Legacy of the Civil War:
Http://www.ycp.edu/offices-and-services/advancement/communications/york-college-magazine/fall-2012/understanding-civil-war-legacy/

Battle Hymns:
The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War
Http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807835501

How the Civil War Changed America Forever:
Http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/08/how-the-civil-war-changed-america-forever.html

The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America:
Https://www.loc.gov/collections/songs-of-america/articles-and-essays/musical-styles/popular-songs-of-the-day/

The History of Country Music:
Http://www.scaruffi.com/history/country.html

Bill Malone's book, Country Music USA:
Http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/malc3p

John Lomax's book, Cowboy Songs, and Other Frontier Ballads:
Http://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-Songs-Other-Frontier-Ballads/dp/0559021615

Hillbillies and Mountain Music:
Http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newcentury/5190