Cold War country : how Nashville's Music Row and the Pentagon created the sound of American patriotism / Joseph M. Thompson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thompson, Joseph M., author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Series:

Studies in United States culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Country music--History and criticism.

Country music.

Country music--Political aspects--History--20th century.

Music trade--Tennessee--Nashville--History--20th century.

Music trade.

United States--Armed Forces--Recruiting, enlistment, etc--History--20th century.

United States.

Country music--Political aspects.

Recruiting and enlistment.

Tennessee--Nashville.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

333 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, 2024.

Summary:

"Country music maintains a special, decades-long relationship to American military life, but these ties didn't just happen. This readable history reveals how country music's Nashville-based business leaders on Music Row created partnerships with the Pentagon to sell their audiences on military service while selling the music to service members. Beginning in the 1950s, the military flooded armed forces airwaves with the music, hosted tour dates at bases around the world, and drew on artists from Johnny Cash to Lee Greenwood to support recruitment programs. Over the last half of the twentieth century, the close connections between the Defense Department and Music Row gave an economic boost to the white-dominated sounds of country while marginalizing Black artists and fueling divisions over the meaning of patriotism. This story is filled with familiar stars like Roy Acuff, Elvis Presley, and George Strait, as well as lesser-known figures: industry executives who worked the halls of Congress, country artists who dissented from the stereotypically patriotic trappings of the genre, and more. Joseph M. Thompson argues convincingly that the relationship between Music Row and the Pentagon helped shape not only the evolution of popular music but also race relations, partisanship, and images of the United States abroad"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Big government country : Connie B. Gay and the roots of country music militarization

A G.I. Bill for country music : how country music and military recruitment merged in the 1950s

Singing in the ranks : Memphis, militarization, and the country roots of rock and roll

All-American boy : Elvis Presley and the Cold War's musical and military integration

Best liked world wide : selling the armed forces and the world on country music

Tell them what we're fighting for : the CMA, country artists, and the politics of the Vietnam War

Proud to be an American : country music militarization and patriotism after Vietnam.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

ISBN:

9781469678351

1469678357

9781469678368

1469678365

OCLC:

1401909335