For the last five summers, my daughter and I spend a week riding the roller coasters at Dolly Parton’s theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. A large part of the park’s atmosphere is in the recreation of a turn of the century Smoky Mountain town complete with mills, churches, farm houses, blacksmith shops, and general stores. Additionally, Dollywood pipes in music to set the tone and ambience. The song most heard is always Parton’s 1970 recording of Jimmie Rodgers’ “Muleskinner Blues.” Jocelyn Neal, in The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Legacy in Country Music, explores the various reasons , besides the owner and recording artist being one and the same, packs a potent punch of authenticity for the visitor to travel from modernity
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As the recordings and their artists crossover to mainstream and pop circles, they fear the loss of their connection to the roots and authenticity of the genre. A common pattern emerges. Usually both a new wave of artists and the “heritage” artists seeking to reaffirm their country bona fides, harken back to the “good ole days” when country was pure and authentic. These artists will attach themselves to the sounds and songs of performers who embody the Mount Rushmore of the genre by covering their repertoire and name checking them in their songs. Currently, country music is witnessing such an arc in this narrative with the critical and economic successes with Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, and Jamey Johnson. Jocelyn Neal in her book, The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Legacy in Country Music, explores this cyclical pattern through the genre’s recognized “founding father” and three of the songs in his repertoire. Neal deftly explores and analyzes the question of both Rodgers influence on future generation of southern and country artists and the concept that he embodies the purity and authenticity of the genre. Through this analysis, Neal provides not only a biography of Jimmie Rodgers, but a history of his songs, the country music persona, the industry that supports the genre, and the fan’s …show more content…
While her descriptions attempt to keep the music theory to the basics, she does lose readers without some music background. She excels in illustrating and highlighting these points graphically, where little to no musical background will suffice, but can see a complete neophyte understanding the musical argument. However, given the books publication date and availability of streaming music services now, I suggest a playlist be built in Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and Google Play, of the recordings discussed. I know I referenced all the versions of “Muleskinner Blues” on Apple Music while reading the chapter. Without a doubt, it made her arguments and observations more salient and effective along side of the musical notations and
As the recordings and their artists crossover to mainstream and pop circles, they fear the loss of their connection to the roots and authenticity of the genre. A common pattern emerges. Usually both a new wave of artists and the “heritage” artists seeking to reaffirm their country bona fides, harken back to the “good ole days” when country was pure and authentic. These artists will attach themselves to the sounds and songs of performers who embody the Mount Rushmore of the genre by covering their repertoire and name checking them in their songs. Currently, country music is witnessing such an arc in this narrative with the critical and economic successes with Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, and Jamey Johnson. Jocelyn Neal in her book, The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Legacy in Country Music, explores this cyclical pattern through the genre’s recognized “founding father” and three of the songs in his repertoire. Neal deftly explores and analyzes the question of both Rodgers influence on future generation of southern and country artists and the concept that he embodies the purity and authenticity of the genre. Through this analysis, Neal provides not only a biography of Jimmie Rodgers, but a history of his songs, the country music persona, the industry that supports the genre, and the fan’s …show more content…
While her descriptions attempt to keep the music theory to the basics, she does lose readers without some music background. She excels in illustrating and highlighting these points graphically, where little to no musical background will suffice, but can see a complete neophyte understanding the musical argument. However, given the books publication date and availability of streaming music services now, I suggest a playlist be built in Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and Google Play, of the recordings discussed. I know I referenced all the versions of “Muleskinner Blues” on Apple Music while reading the chapter. Without a doubt, it made her arguments and observations more salient and effective along side of the musical notations and