Nashville Sound - Definition and Overview

The Nashville sound in country music arose during the 1950s in the United States. Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley, who were producing records in Nashville, invented the form by stripping the honky tonk roughness from traditional country and adding jazzy production and pop song structures. Patsy Cline was one of the most famous of the Nashville sound's original era.

In the early 1960s, the Nashville sound began to be challenged by the rival Bakersfield sound. Nashville's pop song structure became more pronounced, and it morphed into countrypolitan. Countrypolitan was aimed straight at mainstream markets, and it sold well throughout the later 1960s and 1970s. The Bakersfield sound and, later, outlaw country dominated country music among aficionados while countrypolitan reigned on the pop charts.

Samples

• Download sample of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart", perhaps the best-known Williams songs, covered by numerous other stars, and an excellent representation of the Nashville Sound