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Country pop
Country pop (also known as urban cowboy when referring to the early 1980s version of the genre) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres like rock, pop, and country, continuing similar efforts that began in the late 1950s, known originally as the Nashville sound and later on as Countrypolitan. By the mid-1970s, many country artists were transitioning to the pop-country sound, which led to some records charting high on the mainstream top 40 and the Billboard country chart. In turn, many pop and easy listening artists crossed over to country charts during this time. After declining in popularity during the neotraditional movement of the 1980s, country pop had a comeback in the 1990s with a sound that drew more heavily on pop rock and adult contemporary. In the 2010s, country pop metamorphosized again with the addition of hip-hop beats and rap-style phrasing.
The joining of country and pop began in the 1950s when studio executives Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley wanted to create a new kind of music for the young adult crowd after "rockabilly stole away much of country music's youth audience". According to Bill Ivey, this innovative genre originated in Nashville, Tennessee and thus became known as the Nashville Sound. He believes that the "Nashville Sound often produced records that sounded more pop than country" after the removal of the fiddle and banjo. Patsy Cline, Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, and Eddy Arnold were among the most popular artists during this time. Both Reeves and Arnold had major influence on their RCA labelmate Elvis Presley, apparent not only in secular songs but even more so in country gospel songs. Cline became famous in the early 1960s, gaining widespread acceptance from country and pop audiences alike. Other crossover hits during the 1960s included Skeeter Davis's "The End of the World", Sonny James' "Young Love", Billy Joe Royal's "Down in the Boondocks", Jeannie C. Riley's "Harper Valley PTA", and Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey". However, the Nashville Sound was not well received by country purists and faced competition on that front, first from the Bakersfield Sound and later the outlaw movement; on the pop side, the format was overshadowed by the British Invasion, which was taking place during the same time that Cline and Reeves died by airplane accident.
The Nashville sound eventually evolved into countrypolitan during the 1970s and had varying levels of success, with several artists recording in the style: Ray Price ("For the Good Times" 1970), Lynn Anderson ("Rose Garden" 1970), Charley Pride ("Kiss an Angel Good Morning" 1971), Mac Davis ("Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me" 1972), Donna Fargo ("The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A." 1972 and "Funny Face" 1973), Marie Osmond ("Paper Roses" 1973), Kris Kristofferson ("Why Me" 1973), Charlie Rich ("The Most Beautiful Girl" 1974), Billy Swan ("I Can Help" 1974), Ray Stevens ("The Streak" 1974), Jessi Colter ("I'm Not Lisa" 1975), and Crystal Gayle ("Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" 1977) all charted pop-influenced country hits during the 1970s.
Country pop started when pop music singers like Glen Campbell, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, and Anne Murray (Canada) began having hits on the country charts. Denver's single "Take Me Home, Country Roads" went to No. 2 on the Billboard pop charts in 1971, and while the song stalled outside of the top 40 on Billboard's country chart, the album Poems, Prayers, and Promises reached the top 10 on the Billboard Country Album chart and was certified Platinum. Denver's career flourished from then on, and he had a series of hits over the next four years. In 1972, Denver scored his first Top Ten pop album with Rocky Mountain High, with its title track reaching the pop Top Ten in 1973. At the peak of his popularity in 1974 and 1975, Denver's albums Back Home Again and Windsong reached number one on both the pop and country album charts. His singles were also successful on both charts: "Sunshine on My Shoulders" No. 1 pop, No. 42 country; "Annie's Song" No. 1 pop, No. 9 country; "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" No. 1 pop and country; "Back Home Again" No. 5 pop, No. 1 country; and "I'm Sorry" No. 1 pop and country.
Another 1970s crossover artist was Olivia Newton-John, who emerged from Australia in the mid-1970s, hoping to make it big in the United States. Her single "Let Me Be There" became a big pop-country crossover hit in 1974. She won a Grammy award for "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" for the song and also won the Country Music Association's most coveted award for females, "Female Vocalist of the Year" (beating out established Nashville artists Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Tanya Tucker, as well as Canadian transplant Anne Murray). Her win sparked a backlash, with several traditional country artists forming the Association of Country Entertainers (ACE) to promote what they considered to be "real country music." Newton-John scored a string of pop-country hits in 1974 and 1975 including "I Honestly Love You", "Have You Never Been Mellow", and "Please Mr. Please", before moving away from country in the late 1970s after starring in Grease and focusing mostly on pop music from then onward.
The debate raged into 1975 and reached its apex at that year's Country Music Association Awards when reigning Entertainer of the Year Charlie Rich (who himself had a series of crossover hits) presented the award to his successor, John Denver. As he read Denver's name, Rich set fire to the envelope with a cigarette lighter. The ACE would only last two years; its two biggest backers, firm traditionalists George Jones and Tammy Wynette, faced a bitter divorce, and Jean Shepard, the other major backer of the ACE, closed down the organization when she could not find others that shared her enthusiasm for the association's purpose.
Although known primarily as a rock performer in the 1970s, Linda Ronstadt had considerable country chart success with "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" (1974), for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1976, "When Will I Be Loved" and "Love is a Rose" (1975), and "Blue Bayou" (1977).
Several artists principally identified as rock, such as the Eagles and America, scored significant pop chart hits with country rock songs, though they may have reached country charts rarely or not at all.
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Country pop AI simulator
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Country pop
Country pop (also known as urban cowboy when referring to the early 1980s version of the genre) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres like rock, pop, and country, continuing similar efforts that began in the late 1950s, known originally as the Nashville sound and later on as Countrypolitan. By the mid-1970s, many country artists were transitioning to the pop-country sound, which led to some records charting high on the mainstream top 40 and the Billboard country chart. In turn, many pop and easy listening artists crossed over to country charts during this time. After declining in popularity during the neotraditional movement of the 1980s, country pop had a comeback in the 1990s with a sound that drew more heavily on pop rock and adult contemporary. In the 2010s, country pop metamorphosized again with the addition of hip-hop beats and rap-style phrasing.
The joining of country and pop began in the 1950s when studio executives Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley wanted to create a new kind of music for the young adult crowd after "rockabilly stole away much of country music's youth audience". According to Bill Ivey, this innovative genre originated in Nashville, Tennessee and thus became known as the Nashville Sound. He believes that the "Nashville Sound often produced records that sounded more pop than country" after the removal of the fiddle and banjo. Patsy Cline, Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, and Eddy Arnold were among the most popular artists during this time. Both Reeves and Arnold had major influence on their RCA labelmate Elvis Presley, apparent not only in secular songs but even more so in country gospel songs. Cline became famous in the early 1960s, gaining widespread acceptance from country and pop audiences alike. Other crossover hits during the 1960s included Skeeter Davis's "The End of the World", Sonny James' "Young Love", Billy Joe Royal's "Down in the Boondocks", Jeannie C. Riley's "Harper Valley PTA", and Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey". However, the Nashville Sound was not well received by country purists and faced competition on that front, first from the Bakersfield Sound and later the outlaw movement; on the pop side, the format was overshadowed by the British Invasion, which was taking place during the same time that Cline and Reeves died by airplane accident.
The Nashville sound eventually evolved into countrypolitan during the 1970s and had varying levels of success, with several artists recording in the style: Ray Price ("For the Good Times" 1970), Lynn Anderson ("Rose Garden" 1970), Charley Pride ("Kiss an Angel Good Morning" 1971), Mac Davis ("Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me" 1972), Donna Fargo ("The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A." 1972 and "Funny Face" 1973), Marie Osmond ("Paper Roses" 1973), Kris Kristofferson ("Why Me" 1973), Charlie Rich ("The Most Beautiful Girl" 1974), Billy Swan ("I Can Help" 1974), Ray Stevens ("The Streak" 1974), Jessi Colter ("I'm Not Lisa" 1975), and Crystal Gayle ("Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" 1977) all charted pop-influenced country hits during the 1970s.
Country pop started when pop music singers like Glen Campbell, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, and Anne Murray (Canada) began having hits on the country charts. Denver's single "Take Me Home, Country Roads" went to No. 2 on the Billboard pop charts in 1971, and while the song stalled outside of the top 40 on Billboard's country chart, the album Poems, Prayers, and Promises reached the top 10 on the Billboard Country Album chart and was certified Platinum. Denver's career flourished from then on, and he had a series of hits over the next four years. In 1972, Denver scored his first Top Ten pop album with Rocky Mountain High, with its title track reaching the pop Top Ten in 1973. At the peak of his popularity in 1974 and 1975, Denver's albums Back Home Again and Windsong reached number one on both the pop and country album charts. His singles were also successful on both charts: "Sunshine on My Shoulders" No. 1 pop, No. 42 country; "Annie's Song" No. 1 pop, No. 9 country; "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" No. 1 pop and country; "Back Home Again" No. 5 pop, No. 1 country; and "I'm Sorry" No. 1 pop and country.
Another 1970s crossover artist was Olivia Newton-John, who emerged from Australia in the mid-1970s, hoping to make it big in the United States. Her single "Let Me Be There" became a big pop-country crossover hit in 1974. She won a Grammy award for "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" for the song and also won the Country Music Association's most coveted award for females, "Female Vocalist of the Year" (beating out established Nashville artists Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Tanya Tucker, as well as Canadian transplant Anne Murray). Her win sparked a backlash, with several traditional country artists forming the Association of Country Entertainers (ACE) to promote what they considered to be "real country music." Newton-John scored a string of pop-country hits in 1974 and 1975 including "I Honestly Love You", "Have You Never Been Mellow", and "Please Mr. Please", before moving away from country in the late 1970s after starring in Grease and focusing mostly on pop music from then onward.
The debate raged into 1975 and reached its apex at that year's Country Music Association Awards when reigning Entertainer of the Year Charlie Rich (who himself had a series of crossover hits) presented the award to his successor, John Denver. As he read Denver's name, Rich set fire to the envelope with a cigarette lighter. The ACE would only last two years; its two biggest backers, firm traditionalists George Jones and Tammy Wynette, faced a bitter divorce, and Jean Shepard, the other major backer of the ACE, closed down the organization when she could not find others that shared her enthusiasm for the association's purpose.
Although known primarily as a rock performer in the 1970s, Linda Ronstadt had considerable country chart success with "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" (1974), for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1976, "When Will I Be Loved" and "Love is a Rose" (1975), and "Blue Bayou" (1977).
Several artists principally identified as rock, such as the Eagles and America, scored significant pop chart hits with country rock songs, though they may have reached country charts rarely or not at all.