Presse Archiv - Various Artists - The Bakersfield Sound 1940 - 1974 - Relix
Buck Owens and Merle Haggard are undoubtedly the twin towers of the singular sound invented in Bakersfield, Calif. But as this massive new box set from the Bear Family label so intricately details, there is a Gold Rush of incredible music to be discovered beyond the gates of the Second City of country music.
The Bakersfield Sound is a veritable college course on the evolution of the region, born out of the barrooms and barn dances of the Dust Bowl era with the concept of conspiring a small combo iteration of the Western-swing big-bands who used to roll through town to perform for the laborers. It was a sound that would quickly be dubbed "Honky Tonk," and served as an edgier, more electrified alternative to the Nashville twang of the East Coast. This 10-CD set goes back to the mid-1940s via rare recordings of acts who cut their teeth performing for migrant communities in Central California like Tex Butler and Ebb Pilling, not to mention a live radio performance from Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys, who made Bakersfield a regular stop on their traveling roadshow.
Buck Owens and Merle Haggard are undoubtedly the twin towers of the singular sound invented in Bakersfield, Calif. But as this massive new box set from the Bear Family label so intricately details, there is a Gold Rush of incredible music to be discovered beyond the gates of the Second City of country music.
The Bakersfield Sound is a veritable college course on the evolution of the region, born out of the barrooms and barn dances of the Dust Bowl era with the concept of conspiring a small combo iteration of the Western-swing big-bands who used to roll through town to perform for the laborers. It was a sound that would quickly be dubbed "Honky Tonk," and served as an edgier, more electrified alternative to the Nashville twang of the East Coast. This 10-CD set goes back to the mid-1940s via rare recordings of acts who cut their teeth performing for migrant communities in Central California like Tex Butler and Ebb Pilling, not to mention a live radio performance from Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys, who made Bakersfield a regular stop on their traveling roadshow.