Country Music_Ken Burns Documentary

[Ocotillo]

Originally Posted by eDave

Elvis?

Ken Burns doesn't dive deep into Elvis, but he's important because his rise to stardom and the rockabilly genre he was associated with was a direct threat to traditional country and western music in the 1950s.

Elvis' roots were in gospel, blues and country, and his cover of bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" got him his only invite to the Grand Ole Opry. The Nashville establishment rejected him.

Elvis and rockabilly took off afterwards. The style of country, popularized by Hank Williams in the early 1950s, waned in the ensuing years and it took a while for Nashville to reinvent itself.