Barn Dance Show
As a barn dance a radio program type is referred to, which was the 1930s and 1940s, especially popular in the US. Only country music and related styles were played in the shows .
history
root
The later country shows have their roots in the traditional square dances that were cultivated by the people of the mountainous regions. People usually met in a barn on weekends to dance to the sounds of a string band , which was a welcome break from the busy week. There was a first equivalent of these Barn Dances on January 4, 1923 on the radio station WBAP in Fort Worth , Texas , which, however, still had significant differences from the later shows. In 1922 and 1923 the first hillbilly musicians also appeared on the WSB station , but they did not play in front of an audience in the studio. There was also no payment; the musicians only played for their own entertainment and that of the audience.
Ascent
Adaptation on the radio
In 1924, the head of the Chicago radio station WLS George D. Hay brought the National Barn Dance on the way. Despite the skepticism of the program director, Hay had personally taken care of the development of this show. Elements of traditional barn dances such as a subsequent square dance were used. The program only hillbilly musicians performed that the audience in the studio - or later in the auditorium - and behind the receivers traditional rural string band music, old folk - ballads or Cowboy talked rhythm songs. In between, the program was loosened up with appearances by comedians. The National Barn Dance quickly became one of the most popular shows in the United States, and many other networks followed the trend.
1930 to 1955
Hay went to Nashville , Tennessee in 1925 , where he created another barn dance show on WSM , renamed the Grand Ole Opry in 1928 . The Opry became the most successful and long-lasting show in the USA in the years that followed. It is still broadcast today from the Opryland complex. In the early 1930s and in the following years, many more such barn dance shows were started, including the KMA Country School (1928), the WWVA Jamboree (1933), the WLW Renfro Valley Barn Dance (1939), the WSB Barn Dance (1940), the WRVA Old Dominion Barn Dance (1946), the KRLD Big D Jamboree and the KWKH Louisiana Hayride (1948), the WHAS Old Kentucky Barn Dance (1949) and the Town Hall Party (1951). At the height of these shows' popularity in the late 1940s and early 1950s - also the "golden age of country music" - there were around 600 country shows.
The management of the radio stations often published so-called "Songfolios", books in which the radio stations presented their artists, announced extraordinary shows and presented the history of the respective show. The shows contributed significantly to the spread of country music, which was completely ignored by the entertainment industry until 1923 and was considered "Hintlerwäldlerisch" (Hillbilly). Country music grew in popularity especially from 1933, when the National Barn Dance was broadcast nationwide on the CBS network.
The programs often produced big stars of the genre, such as the Delmore Brothers , Fiddlin 'Arthur Smith , Uncle Dave Macon or Grandpa Jones , who only got his popularity in the 1930s through his appearances in the Opry. Even Hank Williams built his career, having appeared in the then newly launched Louisiana Hayride on and made his first appearance on the Opry in 1949 his breakthrough.
The End
Due to the increasing popularity of television in the early 1950s and the triumphant advance of rock 'n' roll from 1954, in which country music lost almost all young listeners, the popularity of barn dance shows declined. The audience could now look for entertainment on television at home and no longer had to go to the next Saturday evening show, which also cost admission. Even if some shows like the Town Hall Party, the KSTP Sunset Valley Barn Dance or the WLW Midwestern Hayride also had their shows broadcast on television, the decline could no longer be prevented. Some shows, such as the Big D Jamboree and the Louisiana Hayride, adapted to the musical conditions and also had rockabilly musicians appear in their programs. The best-known example of this is probably the young Elvis Presley , whose appearances in the Hayride regularly triggered mass hysteria among the female audience.
The Town Hall Party inevitably switched to rock'n'roll and rockabilly from 1955, even if announcer Jay Stewart always called the show "California's Western Music Hall of Fame". Firmly involved ensemble members of the Town Hall Party who played rockabilly included The Collins Kids , Bobby Helms , Bob Luman , Wanda Jackson and Sammy Masters .
Barn Dances today
Few shows have survived to this day, largely due to the development of the entertainment and television industries. Today only five well-known barn dance shows are on air in the USA, the Grand Ole Opry, the WWVA Jamboree, the Louisiana Hayride, the Sagebrush Roundup and the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, which is no longer broadcast on the radio. As an alternative to this, so-called “reunion concerts” are organized with the old artists in memory of some programs. This is the case with the WNER Suwanee River Jamboree , among others .
The CKNX Barn Dance from Ontario still exists in Canada and has been held regularly since 1987.
Characteristic
The main characteristic of the country shows was that they romantically transfigured the entertainment possibilities of the mountain region population. The stage design was often designed in the style of an old barn, the prairie or other romantic perspectives. The names of the shows are often based on expressions such as Jamboree ( Eng . "Big Festival"), Hayride (Eng. "Heuritt") or Barn Dance ( Eng. " Barn Dance "). Only the broadcasting location (e.g. Renfro Valley Barn Dance , Carolina Hayride ) or other typical expressions was added. In addition to barn dances from barns, there were and are stage shows that, like the Grand Old Opry, did not come from a converted barn, but were broadcast from real auditoriums. The subsequent square dance was therefore also omitted.
See also
literature
- Wayne W. Daniel: Pickin 'On Peachtree. A History of Country Music in Atlanta, GA . University of Illinois Press, Urbana 1990, ISBN 0-252-01687-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Old Time Herald: Barn Dance with Calls
- ^ Entry on country music at Laut.de
- ^ The History of the National Barn Dance - Traditional Country Music Hall of Fame