Biggest Oversights in the Ken Burns Country Music Documentary
The Ken Burns Country Music documentary that aired on PBS in mid September was a supreme gift to true country music fans and those who would become one over the 8 episodes, and 16 1/2 hours of the film. But understandably with an undertaking so vast as trying to tackle an entire genre of music, there were multiple artists that were not highlighted that arguably should have been.
Country fans who are up in arms over their favorite artists being “snubbed” need to appreciate that it would be difficult to impossible to highlight every entertainer, and even if the film had included 20 more artist profiles, there would be 20 more artists people would complain got overlooked. In hindsight, perhaps it would have taken 10 episodes instead of 8 to do the subject matter justice, but you can’t include everything, and you have to make sure what you produce is compelling to the audience. As Ken Burns and screenwriter Dayton Duncan have said, it was one of their biggest concerns that not enough stuff was highlighted, but they wanted to make sure the film came across not as a dry history work, but as something that tells the overarching story of country music, which they accomplished with flying colors.
Also worth noting is the final episode was meant to be more of a summation as opposed to a deep dive into the 80’s era. Just like Ken Burns did with his baseball film, the Country Music documentary was made opened ended, meaning it could be added to in the future. It is a living work, just like the story of country music itself. So for those disappointed artists like George Strait didn’t get more air time, or that the current era wasn’t included, that may be forthcoming in future installments, and is not entirely fair to get hung up over, at least not yet. It’s also important to not just dwell on who was forgotten, but who was included. The Maddox Brothers & Rose, Emmloyou Harris, and others that had major contributions to country, but sometimes get left out of top tier consideration in country history, were given their proper due.
But artists not featured from earlier eras are unlikely to receive more attention in the future. So not as a rebuke of the work of the documentary, but as an addendum for those who watched and might want to dig deeper into the history of country through some of its more important personalities not represented well in the film, here are some of the Country Music film’s biggest oversights.
Jim Reeves
The story of the tragic plane crash that killed country star Patsy Cline, along with Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Cowboy Copas on March 5th, 1963 was one of the centerpieces of the Ken Burns documentary, as was her career that was very significant to country as Patsy became one of the first artists to cross over to pop, and help define the early “Nashville Sound” era.
But as country music historians will argue, at the time, Jim Reeves was just as significant, as was his plane crash that occurred just over a year later in 1964, ending his career tragically. The Country Music Hall of Famer’s career track was eerily similar to Patsy’s, where he was known for a more polished sound, and died right as his career was taking off. Unlike Patsy, many recordings from Reeves were still in the vault when he died, resulting in Jim having a robust career after his passing, resulting in four #1’s, and eleven Top 10’s. Jim Reeves was still charting Top 20 singles a decade after his death, including “I’d Fight The World” which came in at #13 in 1973.
The Jim Reeves plane crash was mentioned briefly in the documentary, but his life and career wasn’t, even though the Patsy Cline story gave it the perfect opening, and they were inexorably linked in the minds of many country fans at the time. In 1982, a compilation album called Remembering Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves was released, and was Certified Gold.
Don Williams
Don Williams was another Country Music Hall of Famer that didn’t even get a mention, though a brief shot of what appeared to be him from behind on stage entered the frame early in Episode 7. Don Williams played a huge role in country music, not just as a successful artist commercially, but as the guy many country fans will cite as being one of the most dear to their hearts. The “Gentle Giant” had seventeen #1 hits, 45 Top 10 hits, was the 1978 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year, and only had three singles from late 1974 into 1991 not make it into the Top 10.
Don Williams was not about promoting himself, and didn’t fit snugly into any specific sound or era. He wasn’t a flamboyant presence on or off the stage. He just sang his songs. This is probably one of the reasons the film passed him over, but this is also one of the reasons he was one of the most universally-beloved performers in country history. The warmth that accompanied his music was unparalleled. It was comfort music.
Glen Campbell
It’s somewhat understandable why the legacies of some artists got overlooked in the Ken Burns Country Music documentary. Some artist’s legacies get lost over time. Others don’t have living advocates or champions helping to keep their contributions alive in the public consciousness. But during the production of the Ken Burns film, Glen Campbell was going through a farewell tour, and a high profile battle with Alzheimer’s. There was a compilation album, and tribute concerts. The Band Perry won a Grammy for re-recording his hit “Gentle On My Mind” written by John Hartford (who also didn’t get a mention in the film).
Similar to Jim Reeves, Glen Campbell was not a died-in-the-wool honky tonk crooner, he was a crossover star known just as much for pop as country. But his “Glen Campbell Show” (which got a quick mention, and was the only reference to the “Wichita Lineman” singer) was huge in spreading the appeal for country music, and was a big boost for the personalities who appeared on it. The Country Hall of Famer sold 45 million records worldwide, including twelve gold albums, four platinum albums, and a double-platinum album. He won five Grammy Awards, and ten ACM Awards. And before he became a country music superstar, he was a guitarist in the famed “Wrecking Crew” of studio musicians in Los Angeles who played on many on the biggest hits of the era.
Above and beyond his contributions and accomplishments, Glen Campbell defined what country music was for many people. Songs like “Gentle On My Mind” embodied the restlessness of the time. Not seeing Glen Campbell featured was almost like seeing someone in your family forgotten.
Conway Twitty
Many names have been offered up as artists overlooked in the series, but arguably the biggest one was Conway Twitty. And not just because the Country Music Hall of Famer was the most accomplished country artist to not receive a profile, or even that he was completely ignored. It’s that the film referenced Conway in passing, and twice, but both times only as a former rockabilly star turned country artist, not a guy with 44 #1 singles, let alone his career with Loretta Lynn as a duet partner.
To play Devil’s Advocate, the legacy of Conway Twitty is a spotty one. He was more of a commercial force in country rather than a creative one. His songs like “Never Been This Far Before” and “Tight Fittin’ Jeans” are retroactively creepy to some audiences. His persona was the inspiration for country comedy star Unknown Hinson, and fights between his kids and wife around his estate, and specifically “Twitty City” which was sold off to evangelists as opposed to being the shrine to his legacy it was meant to be, have put Conway on the wrong side of history.
But Conway Twitty is a Top 5 country music artist of all time from a statistical standpoint. Even if the film mixed the good with the bad in a retroactive on his career, Conway deserved more than a passing reference for his time in rockabilly. To many, Conway Twitty is country music.
Johnny Horton
Johnny Horton wasn’t especially prolific, and just like Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves, he died tragically in an accident when a car he was riding in with Tommy Tomlinson and Tillman Franks hit a truck head on in 1960 in Milam Country, Texas, and he passed away on the way to the hospital. But songs like “North To Alaska” and “Honky Tonk Man” were massively influential in country, and “Battle of New Orleans” has been considered one of the most significant songs of the last century by the Grammy Awards and other institutions. Though his career and life was short, Johnny Horton was beloved by his fellow performers. Johnny Cash attended his funeral.
Another interesting part of Johnny’s story that would have been perfect for the film is that at the time of his death, he was married to Billie Jean Horton—the same woman Hank Williams was married to when he died. Billie Jean is another personality (though never a performer) who seemed to be missing in the documentary. Billie Jean did a lot to keep the legacy of Johnny alive after his death.
Johnny Horton has also been mistaken for being a proprietor of racism over the years, which may have put him on the outside of being included in the documentary. His song “Johnny Reb” is considered more of a historical work, similar to “The Battle of New Orleans.” But a white supremacist singer named “Johnny Rebel” often is mistaken with both the song, and Johnny Horton.
Hank Snow
Aside from getting some face time singing his big hit “I’ve Been Everywhere,” it’s hard to say Hank Snow received his due, not only from the documentary, but many complaining about who got snubbed. The Canadian and Country Music Hall of Famer logged seven #1 hits, and 33 Top 10 songs during his heyday, and was a huge force in country music for decades. Similar to Don Williams, and unlike many other country stars, Hank Snow wasn’t all about marketing himself, which can make his impact blend into the background. But he had a big impact nonetheless, including opening up the appeal for country music in the Canadian market.
Hank Snow also holds a very historical distinction with his song “I’m Moving On,” which before the modern era and Billboard’s chart changes in 2012, held the record for the longest-charting #1 in country history at 21 weeks. Now that pop crossover spins are incorporated into country charts, Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise,” Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Backroad,” and Bebe Rexha’s “Meant To Be” have hypothetically eclipsed that record. But if all things are equal, that record rightfully belongs to Hank Snow.
Johnny Paycheck and David Allan Coe
If you’re a fan of Johnny Paycheck and David Allan Coe, you have a right to be disappointed they weren’t even mentioned, but you also can’t be surprised. With their spotty pasts and the controversy that could have brewed from showing them in a positive light, it’s understandable why Ken Burns and writer Dayton Duncan just avoided the whole anthill. Still, both played significant roles in country, and it’s strange Paycheck couldn’t at least get a mention as being a side player behind numerous performers who were profiled, and the whole story behind “Take This Job and Shove It” seems perfect for a feature in the film, and a tie-in to country’s working class roots.
And if you wanted to see these guys in the documentary, you may have an unlikely ally. Some folks have criticized the film for whitewashing country history, and not including sketchy personalities like Coe and Paycheck. Remember, the point of the film is not to promote personalities, but to give an acculturate portrayal of country music from a historical perspective. If this is your goal, these two probably should be included.
Jerry Lee Lewis
The Sun Studios era was covered in depth in the documentary via Johnny Cash, the Million Dollar Quartet was referenced, of which Jerry Lee Lewis was a part of, yet he didn’t get his due for the second wind in his career when the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer arguably put together a Country Music Hall of Fame-caliber career.
Once again, personal behavior may have cause the filmmakers to shy away from giving Jerry Lee Lewis too much attention, but all the tie-ins and openings were there.
Jerry Jeff Walker, Doug Sahm, Michael Martin Murphy
You can be disappointed, but not particularly surprised that Doug Sahm didn’t make it into the documentary. His contributions to country music were mostly regional, and with such a premium on time, some people were going to get squeezed. Nonetheless, just mentioning his name in reference to Austin and the Armadillo World Headquarters would have gone a long way with Doug’s friends and family, and was warranted.
If it wasn’t for Jerry Jeff Walker, there arguably wouldn’t have been any music scene in Austin for Willie Nelson and others to come home to, or to rise from. He took his success with “Mr. Bojangles,” and along with songwriter Michael Martin Murphy, helped establish Austin as a country music epicenter. Of course Walker never saw similar success as he did in his folk days, but his support of Guy Clark (who was profiled), and other Texas songwriters deserved mention.
Bluegrass and Newgrass – John Hartford, Sam Bush, Alison Krauss, Jimmy Martin, et al.
The Ken Burns Country Music documentary did an excellent job making sure bluegrass didn’t play second fiddle to country in the film, and though there could have been more names and players mentioned, it did a valiant job representing this important portion of the music. However the legacy of Jimmy Martin, who was the self-professed “King of Bluegrass” got overlooked once more, just as Bill Monroe would have wanted.
Though it’s understandable that you can’t mention every artist, and John Hartford, Sam Bush, and Alison Krauss didn’t get mentioned (though Bush was pictured a couple of times behind other performers), perhaps a segment on more contemporary bluegrass, or “Newgrass” was warranted. Alison Krauss is the most awarded female in Grammy Awards history with 27, and has another 42 nominations, making her the third most in history among everyone.
The good news is if the documentary is ever added to, you can be assured that the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack released in 2000 will play a big role, and many bluegrass artists overlooked the first time will receive their due.
OTHER OVERSIGHTS:
Tanya Tucker – Even before her recent career resurgence, Tanya Tucker could be considered a Top 5 female artist in country music all time in regards to sales and radio support. She is likely to be a Country Music Hall of Fame contender in the coming years.
Linda Ronstadt – Though she converted to rock and pop early in her career, her work as an ambassador for country music rivals that of Gram Parsons, and if nothing else, her efforts with the “Trio” of Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris was worth mentioning.
Eddie Rabbitt – Though considered part of the “pop” problem in country by some, it’s hard to find songs more infectious than “Driving My Life Away” and “I Love A Rainy Night.” Eddie Rabbit was another who died young so his legacy was never properly cemented in country music. But it could have been with even a quick mention in the documentary.
Vern Gosdin – “The Voice” had a significant impact on country, and is considered a favorite artist by many. He was one of the casualties of the film’s quick pass through the mid 80’s that will hopefully be rectified if there are future installments.
Keith Whitley – Whitley was mentioned in reference to Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” but as the favorite artist of many, could have received a deeper dive into his career and tragic passing.
Marty Robbins – Marty was mentioned numerous times throughout the film, but probably deserved his own profile from the impact he had on the music.
Who did you think could have received more screen time? Give your opinion below.
September 29, 2019 @ 5:00 pm
Slim Whitman.
September 30, 2019 @ 12:27 am
Gary Stewart I don’t recall being mentioned. Buck Owens was a tiny glimpse and no real mention of Don Rich. California and Texas contributors they kind of breezed through minus Willie and Bob Wills.
September 30, 2019 @ 10:27 am
I agree, Gary Stewart. We are big fans here in Vero Beach & Ft. Pierce, Florida
September 30, 2019 @ 1:29 pm
ALABAMA With 90,000,000 sold and 44 hits got 5seconds coverage a disgrace. Conway’s coverage a big disappointment….
September 30, 2019 @ 9:00 am
I enjoyed this documentary. However, waaaaay too much time was spent on the Carter family, and Johnny Cash, in my opinion. While every true country fan understands their incredible contributions to country music, many more wonderful contributors could have been included if less time had been spent on EVERY detail of the Carter/Cash families!
September 30, 2019 @ 11:12 am
Every discussion of country music includes way too much of the way-overrated carters (who were nothing but in the right place at the right time) and the way-overrated cash. So much better music in their time than they provided – never understood it. And I’d rather hear those who portrayed them in Walk the Line than the originals… Skipping over Conway Twitty was definitely the way to go with that one. Some of the other oversights were very glaring, though.
September 30, 2019 @ 9:27 am
I think the big problem is a lot of Music is being crossed over into the country music genre as it is today. There needs to be a platform that uniquely specifies what makes music a certain genre. Pop genre has kinda gone by the wayside. It needs to come back and a lot of “so called” country music needs to be in that genre. Also, where Bluegrass had a distinct influence on country music a lot of the Bluegrass needs to be in the category of Bluegrass not Country. Country music in my opinion needs to have a fiddle and a flat steel guitar in it. Also, country for the most part tells a story of broken hearts, relationships, honky tonks, and Western base themes to it. Although, a lot of these other artist are great and I enjoy their music and songs they are not Country. Gary Stewart, Moe Bandy, Joe Stampley, Mel Street, Jim Ed Brown, Cal Smith, and a number of others should have been included, where Ricky Scaggs, Bill Monroe, and a few others should have not been under Country genre but instead Bluegrass no doubt.
October 1, 2019 @ 4:45 am
I love the roots of country music, but was disappointed Gary Stewart, Jim Ed Brown, Glen Campbell, Jim Reeves, Conway Twitty and several others were not mentioned much or all. Several people they did focus on, in my opinion, didn’t have as much contribution to country music as they were a part of the “Carter/Cash” Family and; thus, got more air time. Don’t misunderstand, I loved the first 1 – 6 shows, but the 7 and 8 didn’t do those years justice in my opinion as to what was really happening. Heck, I didn’t think they did Loretta Lynn justice either. She’s still making music. Poor Glen Campbell didn’t get his do for sure. Conway Twitty never gets proper credit.
September 29, 2019 @ 5:02 pm
No love for John Denver? All we saw was Charlie Rich burning Denver’s winning CMA announcement.
And while I liked Peter Coyote, I think he was there only because Levon Helm wasn’t…
September 29, 2019 @ 5:06 pm
Loved how they detailed all the transgressions of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and George Jones throughout the series. Yet they made no mention of Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood cheating on their spouses with each other before they eventually got married. Made them out to be session singers, Garth made it big, hired Trisha as a backup singer, and just fell in love and got married. There’s your classic “white wash”.
September 29, 2019 @ 8:46 pm
T. Nicol Trisha got her start working for Reba McEntire. She was already a signed recording artist & was actually Garths opening act not his background singer.
September 30, 2019 @ 7:30 am
Looks to me like Burns used the versions of the survivors that were quite different than the accounts that were published previously.Hmm.
September 30, 2019 @ 9:07 am
Ditto Vince Gill & Amy Grant. Willie does not have a good record with women, having been an abuser & proud of it.
September 29, 2019 @ 5:15 pm
There should of been less of Johnny cash and more of other country music stars
September 29, 2019 @ 5:20 pm
Dixie chicks
September 29, 2019 @ 10:19 pm
They burned their red, white and blue bridge. No great loss
September 29, 2019 @ 10:46 pm
I feel sorry for you
September 29, 2019 @ 5:21 pm
Steve Earle & Hoyt Axton…
September 30, 2019 @ 2:09 pm
Another Hoyt fan. Woo Hoo.
September 29, 2019 @ 5:22 pm
No mention of groups except brief mention of Oak Ridge Boys, No Statlers, Lady Atebelum, etc.
September 30, 2019 @ 9:30 am
I’ve only made it through 1.5 episodes so far, and am disappointed to hear that the Statlers were not covered. Don Reid appeared briefly in the first episode, so I had been optimistic they would be featured. They were were unique in many respects, including bringing four-part gospel harmony to country, so there is definitely a story to tell with them. They also used to call themselves “the most awarded act in country music,” I think in large part because they seemed to be really big with the old TNN Music City News Awards for quite a while.
Trigger, I would be interested in your thoughts on whether the Statler Brothers should be considered a big oversight…?
September 29, 2019 @ 5:22 pm
While I don’t know a lot of the people mentioned here, some of the names I do recognise as being involved with the Everlys, and I’m sure with each other, and whilst I’ve not been able to view anything here in the uk, does anyone know if ‘thumb picking’ was mentioned?
September 29, 2019 @ 8:49 pm
Yes they did mention thumb picking when discussing Mother Maybelle Carter.
September 29, 2019 @ 5:23 pm
Long time fiddler Kenny Baker. Ever heard Jerusalem Ridge? One of the best known American fiddle songs.
Should have been included, but the theme seemed to be family drama and personal faults of so many.
December 7, 2019 @ 5:35 pm
I saw Kenny Baker in person in the 90’s. I had no idea who he was at the time, but he was superb. Happy to see that someone else missed him in this very long production.
September 29, 2019 @ 5:27 pm
Jimmy Dean and Tennessee Ernie Ford
September 29, 2019 @ 5:30 pm
Was a minute devoted to Jerry Reed, who had several big hits and is listed (last I checked) as a “country-music singer…?”
October 1, 2019 @ 7:55 am
He was also an accomplished session guitarist and songwriter.
October 2, 2019 @ 2:04 pm
Not that I saw. I was waiting, too…In a way Jerry changed how it was done, in a sea of the ‘Nashville Sound’ he stood out. I never liked the ‘Nashville Sound’ but I wasn’t old enough to have lived it, but I DO have everything Jerry ever put to tape and his omission from this series was damned near CRIMINAL.
September 29, 2019 @ 5:35 pm
Excellent! Brought back such wonderful memories. Please remember there is no way you can please everyone.
September 29, 2019 @ 6:15 pm
Stoney Edwards. If they wanted to feature black country singers who are due more respect.
September 29, 2019 @ 6:21 pm
Strangely, the companion book has a page dedicated to Stoney Edwards, O.B. McClinton, and Linda Martell that talks about how the success of Charley Pride opened the music to to more African American performers, but somehow it didn’t make the cut of the film itself. With the emphasis Ken Burns put on black performers, you would have thought they would have been included.
September 29, 2019 @ 8:05 pm
Boy Trigger you sure know how to stir up a hornet nest. lol
September 29, 2019 @ 6:19 pm
A monumental and important documentary that I thought was very well done and fascinating to watch!
Could have used more mention of:
Conway Twitty
John Denver-country pop but it did connect a lot of folks in the 70’s to Country Music
Michael Martin Murphey -especially for his work in promoting and honoring Cowboy Music
September 29, 2019 @ 6:21 pm
Early Thomas Conley.. ETC gave us some of the most amazing country songs that remain favorites for me. In truth, there are others who deserved attention but then again, the show would have gone on for several more weeks. Perhaps Burns can do another documentary about the greatest voices who were not the biggest faces.
Gene Watson too. His voice and music are forever burned into my brain.
September 29, 2019 @ 6:21 pm
John Anderson- distinctive sound
September 29, 2019 @ 6:24 pm
Barely a mention of the Louvin Brothers, which really surprised me especially because Bill Malone is such a fan!
September 29, 2019 @ 11:31 pm
I agree. How could the Louvins be over looked. Charlie k er pt going after Ira passed.
September 29, 2019 @ 6:41 pm
No mention of the greatest country group of all time. ALABAMA!!!! They played the song “Mountain Music” while talking about another singer.
September 29, 2019 @ 6:43 pm
I really enjoyed the series. I thought Lucinda Williams should’ve been mentioned. Gary Stewart delivered excellent straight, hard country songs at a time when there wasn’t a lot of that and probably should been mentioned. Billy Joe Shaver should’ve been mentioned. And I agree with the writer about the outstanding country music produced by Jerry Lee Lewis – – it deserved more than a mention. Overall though, outstanding work by Ken Burns.
September 29, 2019 @ 6:43 pm
Robert Earl Keen and Ray Wylie Hubbard and Steve Earle. More of the Texas honkytonk sound.
September 30, 2019 @ 10:00 am
They could do a whole series on the Texas honky tonk singers both past and present. Bobby Flores, Justin Trevino, Jake Hooker, Darrell McCall, and of course the great Johnny Bush. I could go on and on with about fifty more greats from Texas but of them all, my friend the Late Noble Ray Price was the greatest. RIP Chief!
September 29, 2019 @ 6:48 pm
Doc Watson and Watson family
September 29, 2019 @ 6:50 pm
Thank you so much for acknowledging Jim Reeves tragic death. I was thoroughly saddened and disgusted that he was not focused on a little more. I was only a child when he passed away but his contribution to country music has been with me my whole life. I still stop in my tracks to catch my breath when I hear his songs played.
While there were several singers that I was shocked weren’t acknowledged more……I do understand that there would probably have to be another 16 1/2 hour production completed to acknowledge all the greats out there. But than again, some artist still may be brushed over……..
September 29, 2019 @ 6:51 pm
What about Doc Watson?
September 29, 2019 @ 7:00 pm
I did enjoy the program a great deal. I’m a big fan of Ken Burns. Something seems missing in the research for this project.
1. Barbara Mandrell – The first two-time Entertainer of the Year, last successful TV variety show (with her sisters), a part of the crossover years of the early 80’s that the series struggled with a bit and “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” with George Jones. None of this was mentioned.
2. Oak Ridge Boys – From their Gospel start to Elvira and Bobbie Sue – No mention.
3. Couldn’t believe we heard nothing about Tennessee Ernie Ford or Jimmy Dean.
4. Why the ending date of 1996? I know the genre has taken on some more changes, but that is part of the story, too. A lot of artists from the past 23 years, could have gotten some mention. Plus, that would be pointing toward the future. This doesn’t seem a proper place to have ended the series.
Good show, but it could have been GREAT!
September 29, 2019 @ 9:31 pm
Actually, Barbara and the Oaks were mentioned …
September 30, 2019 @ 8:10 am
Also Tennessee Ernie.
October 1, 2019 @ 12:50 pm
Both in 20 second blurbs. Hardly worthy of either’s accomplishments.
September 30, 2019 @ 5:51 pm
Ken’s own reason for not including that last 25 years was that it is too recent and you can’t know where these people will fall in history. Yes, they’re popular now – but you don’t actually know their legacy.
September 29, 2019 @ 7:01 pm
Doc Watson!!!
September 29, 2019 @ 7:04 pm
How about Tennessee Ernie Ford
September 29, 2019 @ 7:20 pm
I was only a casual but sincere fan of country music before this, but really appreciate the documentary for giving me information & historical context about the very early years (mind blown over Maybelle Carter’s story & her technical contributions to musicianship!)
I agree, even as an admittedly casual observer, that there was way way too much Cash (even while understanding the narrative arc attempted).
However, I saw my sister (classical pianist who “didn’t like country music”, a critical, albeit not negative connoisseur of musicianship) so riveted to the screen that I could have cleaned out her bank account without her noticing- ha!
Never ever would I have thought that I’d live to see that!
If the series’ goal was to open that door of respect and appreciation to a broader fan base, I believe that it succeded, even if there was egregious omissions (while not absolving those omissions).
I hope that there is a V.2 or II, much like is done on the History Channel for their “The Industrialists Who Changed The World” series, which are periodically revised to include new information.
This could happen, because the Burns crew said that so much footage was not used but was recorded. While not making light of the effort that would be required, the raw material is already recorded & in the can. It seems that it would be eagerly welcomed. If PBS can exhaust the “Downton Abbey” concept for views & pledges as much as it has, surely a followup to Country Music has a legitimate shot for station airplay.
I especially appreciate that the series brought me to this website and Trigger’s thought provoking reviews.
I am grateful!
September 29, 2019 @ 7:26 pm
Terrible. He would rather cover those on the fringe than those who made country what it is!
September 30, 2019 @ 9:47 am
Though, I don’t think it was “terrible”, I agree it focused too much on the “fringe” aka the “Outlaws”. In truth, that isn’t the true essence of country music, but rather only a small part. Country music is about the working man, honor and respect. Telling a story that hits the heart and warms one to their core. Coming out of grief with better understanding and standing for things that are all-American truth. The subtle political agenda of the series, put a damper on it for me, but something PBS probably loved. I don’t think it went unnoticed in flyover country. This is probably what is the root of the fans’ disappointment in certain artists not being mentioned. Of course, there isn’t time to cover them all. But the slant, and the focus on the “fringe” misrepresented the total spirit of country music, I feel.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved the stories of Kris Kristofferson, and especially the sincere heart of Dwight Yoakum; George Jones’ story makes you wonder why he ever wanted to sing again. But I guess I think they missed the “goodness”, the benevolent nature of living “country” and it almost seemed to be an attempt to change who country music really is. To try to re-write that culture is a sad thing, in my opinion.
This is a good article. Who else should have been there? Those mentioned in this article, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Ray Price, Bobby Bare, Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, the Gentle GIANT! Was Ernest Tubbs mentioned, Lefty Frizzell? I missed the first show.
I’m sure there will be a sequel. And really the “Forever Country” video; Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You”, and Toby Keith’s service to the troops and “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” should surely be included. As well, as Trace Adkins “Arlington”, the rodeo songs of Chris LeDoux, and the hit the heart songs of Tim McGraw. There I wrote it for them 😉
September 30, 2019 @ 9:56 am
Ernest Tubb was profiled in the second episode. Lefty Frizzell was also mentioned, a couple of times, though didn’t get a full profile.
September 30, 2019 @ 11:57 am
Thank you!
September 29, 2019 @ 7:38 pm
LUCINDA WILLIAMS ! “PASSIONATE KISSES”
named one of the best american song writers
September 29, 2019 @ 10:53 pm
LOVE THAT SONG
September 29, 2019 @ 7:39 pm
Should have had more of Ray Price. He changed the music sound too,
September 29, 2019 @ 9:24 pm
Mickey Gilley? Room full of Roses. Still has a westsrn venue club in Texas. Barbara mandrell as mentioned, Alan Jackson too. Hard to do something of this magnitude n not leave some out.
Great effort on all Ken Burns n staff. Enjoyed it especially the first episodes.
September 29, 2019 @ 8:03 pm
As a kid growing up on after school TV comericals I was surprised Slim Whitmam (we kiddingly refer to him as Slime Whitman due to his greased back hair) and possibly Willie Nelson’s long lost brother, Boxcar Willie, weren’t mentioned ‘as seen on tv’ entrepreneurs. I agree that Gentleman Jim Revees and virtuoso Roy Clark should have gotten more coverage. And if you want to hear pure clarity it’s hard to beat the tunes of The Cowboy Junkies which includes a rendition of Hank Williams’, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry and an Elvis mix called Blue Moon Revisited. Yes I’m a fan, Margo Timmins clear haunting voice reminds me of Linda Ronstadt singing Blue Bayou. p.s. I could listen to the narrator, Peter Coyote, sentence me to the electric chair.
September 29, 2019 @ 8:04 pm
I agree with several of these names mentioned as being overlooked. Biggest oversight? RAY PRICE. And as at least one person has said, eliminating some Johnny Cash screen time would have made room for others. (And I’m a big Cash fan). Price could have easily been used as a traditional country artist who transitioned into the pop-countrypolitan movement in the early 60’s (as I’m sure Eddie Stubbs would have testified). And with mention of the Will The Circle Album, they could have featured Doc Watson and Jimmy Martin (whose uncredited Grand Old Opry Song was featured in the show. And no recordings of Tom T. Hall.
September 29, 2019 @ 8:08 pm
Not a “who,” but a “what” – truck driving music!
September 30, 2019 @ 3:15 am
Well the ICC is checkin’ on down the line
I’m a little overweight and my log book is way behind
…
Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight
My favorite road trip song.
September 30, 2019 @ 5:27 pm
Dick Curless….”there’s a stretch of road up north in Maine that’s never ever ever seen a smile…”
September 29, 2019 @ 8:13 pm
Ray Price deserved more than a token mention only because Hank Williams lived with him when he came to Nashville. Ray took his band and gave them work after H. W. died. He also gave some of the ones mentioned work in his band, yet when they were interviewed, never mentioned his name, as one who gave them a start. Willie N., Roger Miller, etc. He added instruments, in many recordings, that changed the sound of country.
September 29, 2019 @ 8:16 pm
Micky Gilley, Alabama, Brooks n Dunne, worst oversight was Barbara Mandell. Ken B still deserves major kuddos.
,
September 29, 2019 @ 8:21 pm
Besides the comments made in the article, there are two more reasons Hank Snow deserved more than the reference made to him as being a “Jimmie Rodgers acolyte” : His duets with Anita Carter were some of the finest in of all CW music, and Movin On was such a great song that Ray Charles made it a hit for a second time.
September 29, 2019 @ 8:25 pm
Don’t forget Tex Ritter, Ken Curtis Roy Rogers
September 29, 2019 @ 8:37 pm
i think Ken Burns did a great job on this. someone was bound to get left out at only 16 hrs.
but my biggest concern is… what did Mama Judd do to her face?
September 29, 2019 @ 8:45 pm
Although alabama was mentioned,I think they were glossed over.a band with over 41 number one songs,, newer like kenny chesney,and toby Keith,too
September 29, 2019 @ 8:47 pm
The entire trucking song phenomenon was skipped.
September 29, 2019 @ 9:20 pm
Lynn Anderson…Steve Frumholz ( Texan.cool album” Flummox ” and a long time singer.picker,writer
September 29, 2019 @ 9:26 pm
In the last episode Mark Chestnut was missed. He has always kept it true country. Also Suzy Bogus, Pam Tillis, and Patty Loveless.
September 29, 2019 @ 9:28 pm
Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez were mentioned as part of the Texas Tornados but Doug Sahm was not. I saw them live st a black tie private party at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin in the early nineties. They were phenomenal and the dance floor was jammed all night. Doug Sahm was a huge part of the Texas Tornados. They were one of the best live bands I have ever heard.
September 29, 2019 @ 11:43 pm
Many Texas talents were overlooked. Johnny Rodriguez and Gene Watson among them. And the guy who was blind. I can’t remember his name but he had good music.
September 30, 2019 @ 7:43 am
Johnny Rodriguez was well covered.
September 30, 2019 @ 2:18 pm
Ronnie Milsap?
September 30, 2019 @ 6:16 pm
Justin Trevino.
September 29, 2019 @ 9:28 pm
It would have been nice to hear a bit about Hank III (Hank Williams grandson).
September 29, 2019 @ 9:39 pm
I agree the show was good but not great. Two C&/W artists that were completely ignored were
Sonny James and David Houston. Sonny James dominated country in the 60’s and 70’s with 26 number one hit songs.
David Houston also hugely poplular was ignored. I guess I was more shocked by the ignoring of Sonny James though.
September 29, 2019 @ 10:04 pm
Just in case other’s didn’t know it was Jean Ritchie who also brought a lot of the hill music to light when she and Doc Watson played together in New York; she’s responsible for bringing “Amazing Grace” to the public as well. and so many other’s but Jean Ritchie was in my mind a huge overlook maybe because she was considered at the time part of the folk music scene:
Highlights from Wikipedia on her Biography:
Jean Ritchie was born in unincorporated community in Perry County in the Cumberland Mountains of south eastern Kentucky. The Ritchies of Perry County were one of the two “great ballad-singing families” of Kentucky celebrated among folk song scholars (the other was the Combs family of adjacent Knott County, whose repertoire formed the basis of the first scholarly work on the British ballads in America, a doctoral thesis by Professor Josiah Combs of Berea College for the Sorbonne University published in Paris in 1925.)[1] In 1917, the folk music collector Cecil Sharp collected songs from Jean’s older sisters Una and May. Many of the Ritchies attended the Hindman Settlement School, a folk school, where people were encouraged to cherish their own backgrounds and where Sharp also found many of his songs. Jean’s father Balis had printed up a book of old songs entitled Lovers’ Melodies,[2] and music making was an important activity in the Ritchie home.
As the youngest of 14 siblings, Ritchie was one of ten girls who slept in one room of the farming family’s farm house. She recalled that when the family acquired a radio in the late 1940s they discovered that what they had been singing was hillbilly music, a word they had never heard before.
Ritchie graduated from high school in Viper and enrolled in Cumberland Junior College (now a four-year University of the Cumberlands) in Williamsburg, Kentucky, and from there graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in social work from the University of Kentucky, in Lexington in 1946. At college she participated in the glee club and choir and learned to play piano.[4] During World War II, she taught in elementary school. After graduating she got a job as a social worker at the Henry Street Settlement, where she taught music to children. There she befriended Alan Lomax, who recorded her extensively for the Library of Congress.
She joined the New York folksong scene and met Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, and Oscar Brand. In 1948, she shared the stage with The Weavers, Woody Guthrie, and Betty Sanders at the Spring Fever Hootenanny and by October 1949 was a regular guest on Oscar Brand’s Folksong Festival radio show on WNYC.[5] In 1949 and 1950,
she recorded several hours of songs, stories, and oral history for Lomax in New York City.[6] Elektra records signed her and released three albums: Jean Ritchie Sings (1952), Songs of Her Kentucky Mountain Family (1957) and A Time for Singing (1962).
Marriage to George Pickow
In the early 1940s, Ritchie’s future husband George Pickow was introduced to folk music when he heard Cisco Houston and Woody Guthrie jamming every night in a tiny cabin at the left-wing Camp Unity summer camp in upstate New York. The Brooklyn-born Pickow, who had studied painting at Cooper Union and made training films for the Navy in World War II, had a long career as a professional photographer and filmmaker.
His career also included an extensive documentation of his wife’s work and his photographs illustrated many of her books. Pickow and Ritchie met in 1948 at a square dance at the Henry Street Settlement. The following day, Pickow invited her to accompany him on a photo shoot at the Fulton Fish Market. “The result — Ms. Ritchie perched on the hood of a truck, holding a rather large lobster — was published in a trucking-industry magazine.”
They married in 1950 and had two sons, Peter and Jon. In 1952, Pickow accompanied his wife on a Fulbright Scholarship to collect folk songs in Britain and Ireland. When Alan Lomax, then working out of London for the BBC, and his collaborator Peter Kennedy of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, decided to document the unique May Eve and May Day Festivals at Padstow in Cornwall, they selected Pickow to be their cameraman. The result was the 16-minute color film Oss Oss Wee Oss (1953). In 1961, Pickow and Lomax collaborated on a short film documentary about the Greenwich Village folk revival scene intended to be shown on the BBC. This never happened, however, and ten years later Alan’s daughter Anna Lomax Wood, edited the surviving scraps and fragments in her father’s office into a short film, “Ballads, Blues, and Bluegrass”. In addition to Ritchie, Ballads, Blues, and Bluegrass features what one reviewer called “killer footage” [8] of performances by Clarence Ashley, Guy Carawan, Willie Dixon, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Roscoe Holcomb, Peter La Farge, Ernie Marrs, The New Lost City Ramblers, Memphis Slim, and the first known footage of a very young Doc Watson. In the audience are Maria Muldaur and Bob Dylan.
This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. (December 2016)
Ritchie preferred to sing without instrumental accompaniment, but occasionally she also accompanied herself on autoharp, guitar or on a handmade plucked Appalachian dulcimer. The latter instrument is also called the “mountain dulcimer” and is distinct from the hammer dulcimer; it is an intimate indoor instrument with a soft, ethereal sound. Her father had played the Appalachian dulcimer but forbade his children to touch it. At the age of four or five, however, Ritchie defied this prohibition and picked out “Go Tell Aunt Rhody”.
By 1949, Ritchie’s playing of the Appalachian dulcimer had become a hallmark of her style. After her husband made one for her as a present, the couple decided there might be a potential market for them. Pickow’s uncle, Morris Pickow, set up an instrument workshop for them under the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn. At first they were shipped to New York in an unfinished state by Ritchie’s Kentucky relative, Jethro Amburgey, then the woodworking instructor at the Hindman Settlement School. George did the finishing and Jean did the tuning and soon they had sold 300 dulcimers. Later they manufactured them themselves from start to finish, Today there are dulcimers for sale at most folk festivals. Because fans kept asking her “Which album has the most dulcimer?”, she finally recorded an album called The Most Dulcimer in 1992.[11]
The Fulbright expedition[edit]
Jean Ritchie was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to trace the links between American ballads and the songs from Britain and Ireland. As a song-collector, she began by setting down the 300 songs that she already knew from her mother’s knee. Ritchie spent 18 months tape recording and interviewing singers.[12] Pickow accompanied her, photographing Seamus Ennis, Leo Rowsome, Sarah Makem and other musicians. In 1955 Ritchie wrote a book about her family called Singing Family of the Cumberlands.[13]
“The Mother of Folk”[edit]
Ritchie became known as “The Mother of Folk”. As well as work songs and ballads, Ritchie knew hymns from the “Old Regular Baptist” church she attended in Jeff, Kentucky. These were sung as “lining out” songs, in a lingering soulful way. One of the songs they sang was “Amazing Grace”. She wrote some songs, including “Black Waters”,[14] one on the effects of strip mining in Kentucky. (Some of Ritchie’s late 1950s/early 1960s songs on mining she published under the pseudonym “‘Than Hall” to avoid troubling her non-political mother, and believing they might be better received if attributed to a man.)[15]
“My Dear Companion” appeared on the album Trio recorded by Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and Emmylou Harris. Judy Collins recorded some of Ritchie’s traditional songs, “Tender Ladies” and “Pretty Saro”, and also used a photograph by George Pickow on the front of her album “Golden Apples of the Sun” (1962). Ritchie’s 50th anniversary album was Mountain Born (1995), which features her two sons, Peter and Jonathan Pickow. In 1954 Ritchie and George Pickow released some of their UK recordings under the name Field Trip. It was re-issued in 2001 on the Greenhays label. It has recordings by Elizabeth Cronin, Seamus Ennis, and others, side by side with Ritchie family versions of the same songs.[citation needed]
In 1996 the Ritchie Pickow Photographic Archive was acquired by the James Hardiman Library, National University of Ireland, Galway.[citation needed]
Jean Ritchie performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall and at the Royal Albert Hall.[citation needed] Her album, None But One, was awarded the Rolling Stone Critics Award in 1977. Ritchie is a recipient of a 2002 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States’ highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[16]
For many years, Ritchie lived in Port Washington, New York. In 2008, she was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.[17]
Her music can be found on the Smithsonian Label.
September 29, 2019 @ 11:35 pm
Reckon you can make this post a little longer? SomE May NOT Know TO Google wikipedia.
October 3, 2019 @ 8:30 am
Jean did not make it in Nashville therefore she did not make it 🙂
September 29, 2019 @ 10:09 pm
Looking for love in all the wrong places was one of the biggest hits in it’s day. I was a DJ during that time and at a club on Saturday nights. I could play that song 3 or 4 times in a row and no one complained. Johnny Lee
September 29, 2019 @ 10:13 pm
Jimmy Buffett. His earliest songs and albums were very country oriented, yet it was Margaritaville that not only really launched his career, but in a sense caused him to basically create a sub-genre all his own. Many of today’s artists have done either a Buffett song, or a song echoing his unique style.
September 29, 2019 @ 10:20 pm
This was a remarkable collaboration of country music & its’ vast history. We all know everyone in this history could not be mentioned. Still, it was disappointing not hearing many obvious greats names. Some of the lengthy details of drinking, divorces, etc. could’ve been minimized so as to include those who well deserved to be mentioned. Jimmy Dean gave many artists a start to their careers with his early 1960s variety show. And Ernie Ford (also with his TV show) opened up Country Music to many homes who otherwise might not have had exposure to it. Chet Atkins was mentioned more as a businessman, but his wonderfully talented style of guitar playing (CGP) should’ve been included. I don’t believe I even heard mention of the Statler Bros., and their career was many decades long. There were many unmentioned artists in the 8 episodes we saw. Hopefully Burns will continue on with a couple more shows as an addition. It kind of feels like Country music stopped in the 1990s. Let’s hope the youngsters in our country see this historical series. A lot to learn from our ancestors.
September 29, 2019 @ 10:23 pm
Emmett Miller.
September 30, 2019 @ 1:09 pm
Never heard of him. Thanks for the tip.
September 29, 2019 @ 10:35 pm
I think it was a great docemdary and I love country western music I was born inDallas Texas in 1934 and I LOVE country western music we used to go to the The Big D Jamboree every Saturday night when I was just a kidyou Ken burns is great…., Dorothy 🙋
September 29, 2019 @ 10:45 pm
The Statler Brothers.
Conway Twitty.
Johnny Horton.
Keith Whitley.
Vern Gosdin.
September 29, 2019 @ 11:45 pm
Ken Burns was obviously influenced by people around him,or financiers that funded the project.
With more time devoted to Johnny Cash, The Carter family and Bob dylan/Robert Zimmerman,,can you see the connection how about Bruce Springsteen he sang a few songs about the country,,who owns the entertainment industry..Just saying.
Not saying Cash,Carters ,Zimmerman aren’t talented but why make this about something other than the music,,spoiled it for me hearing I’m not alone in those that got way more credit than others who really walked the line.
Maybe you should of had Bruce Springsteen featured as well but that would have gave it away.
This is exactly why I do not watch TV..
The people have spoken here in this review.
Of coarse my review will NOT be printed and it just proves what I’m saying.
September 30, 2019 @ 1:26 pm
Your agenda is showing. Your review was posted.
September 29, 2019 @ 11:52 pm
I thought the Country Music series was an outstanding piece of Americana. Ken Burns always seems to be able develop great history and much in the way of pertinate detail into his productions. However, I think he should have at least given mention to one of the greatest songwriters who wrote hits for many people who were featured in this story of country music. Don Schlitz wrote big songs for Kenny Roger’s, Randy Travis, and many other artist. He deserved mention.
September 29, 2019 @ 11:55 pm
I’m actually shocked that bluegrass was even mentioned at all due to the let’s say….non-mainstream appeal. However I bet you could ask any country music musician who was the biggest influence on today’s popular music and a bluegrass rooted musician would be named…
Clarence White has influenced not only bluegrass, country and rock and roll more than any ONE person and I bet the only way he made the Burns documentary would be in a clip of The Andy Griffith show.
September 30, 2019 @ 12:01 am
This was a poor production for two reasons. One, it focused too much on Johnny Cash, the Carter family, and a few others. The legend of Cash is bigger than the man. These took up too much air time and most of it was repetitive.
The second mistske, and probably the most important error is that it was shown from a decade perspective. Country is a music with many genres. They are all a part of the whole and can’t be equated within decades.
The idea is wonderful but the execution was poor. Let’s scrap it and start over. I’ll help. Hell, I even know if you talk about the CMA you mention Jack Green.
September 30, 2019 @ 12:26 am
It was a fine doc. You can’t tell everybody’s story. They did a fine job of following the innovators. Was Conway Twitty good? Yes he was but, an innovator? No. Garth brooks is very talented but he’s not responsible for making country popular. Just selling a lot of records. People like Jimmie Dean and Johnny Horton were pretty much one hit wonders who had great careers but innovators? Hardly.
September 30, 2019 @ 12:31 am
Weenies, nobody brought up anybody before the 50s. No Milton Brown. No Grayson and Whitter. No Georgia fiddlers (Clayton McMichen, Lowe Stokes, GeorgiaYellowhammers, guitarist Riley Pucket et. al.). No Henry Thomas. No Wilmer Watts. It’s obvious why they were left off (time), but still sad.
September 30, 2019 @ 9:03 am
I agree with you 100%. Thanks for mentioning this.
September 30, 2019 @ 12:37 am
Carl Belew! They wanted him to be one of The Outlaws, but his label wouldn’t let him out of his contract. Homer & Jethro, Steve Earle, John Anderson, Dickey Lee, Billy Joe Shaver…and many more. That said, what I have seen I enjoyed. I learned some things, which is great. I especially enjoyed the coverage of Roger Miller!
September 30, 2019 @ 1:15 am
the late 60’s, early 70’s country/rock movement got a slight nod with the Byrds/Gram Parsons, but what sprung from them did not… needed to mention Gene Clark, Gosdin Brothers, Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, Michael Nesmith and the First National Band, Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, Clarence White, Linda Ronstadt…dare I mention the Eagles (whom I loathe, BTW)?
also agree that Jerry Jeff Walker and Doug Sahm should’ve been mentioned. Billy Joe Shaver?
Thank you for more than a passing mention of Townes Van Zandt.
September 30, 2019 @ 1:35 am
Damn, should they have included Spade Cooley as well?
September 30, 2019 @ 4:28 am
I know he was important but they could’ve spent less time on Johnny Cash and included a few others. They also gave quite a bit of time on his daughter Rosanne who wasn’t nearly as integral as some of the other females. Just a mention of George Strait and Barbara Mandrel? C’mon?!
September 30, 2019 @ 9:32 am
Janie Fricke, another great lady of country, totally left out.
September 30, 2019 @ 4:51 am
Hank Garland should have had a mention.
September 30, 2019 @ 5:17 am
I agree too much emphasis on Johnny Cash and The Carter family, Rosanne Cash and Marty Stuart . I got sick of hearing will “The Circle Be Unbroken.” Lots of great country singers in the 80s that were forgotten like Eddie Raven, Earl Thomas Conley and John Anderson.
September 30, 2019 @ 5:30 am
Merle Travis. A gross oversight considering how many country guitarists use Travis picking. He was also one of country music’s finest writers. Dark as a Dungeon is one of the heaviest songs ever written, in spite of genre. End of rant.
September 30, 2019 @ 5:32 am
It seems the focus was on Nashville;Texas and California sounds deserve their own categories? That being said,HANK THOMPSON!!!!
September 30, 2019 @ 6:25 am
I thought this thing felt like one of my college papers after I procrastinated until the last minute. I grabbed a bunch of content and threw it all in without regard to understanding the meaning. Did some half assed arranging with categories, and then tied it together with a unifying arc that wasn’t well thought out. Not sure why all those interviewed got a segment whether they deserved it or not, but I don’t recall Tom T Hall getting his own segment. Country music would be no different without Rosanne Cash, or Kathy Mattea.
September 30, 2019 @ 6:29 am
Fiddler and banjo player Aunt Samantha Bumgarner was overlooked. I think she was the first woman to record country music.
September 30, 2019 @ 6:36 am
Bluegrass is still alive and well thanks to the Queen of Bluegrass Rhonda Vincent and nothing was mentioned about her. She and her family host a Bluegrass festival each July here in Schuyler County Missouri people come from all over the world to enjoy the music and small town atmosphere
September 30, 2019 @ 6:37 am
I didn’t see any of the documentary, but was there any mention of the alt-country movement of the early 90’s? for about a 10 year period or so, I had kind of turned my back on country music in lieu of rock music, and early 90’s alt music. it wasn’t until I discovered bands like Whiskeytown, Uncle Tupelo, the Bottle Rockets and the Jayhawks that I was reminded of how great, diverse, rowdy, and fun country music could be. Those bands definitely helped to reopen a door that had been closed for way too long.
September 30, 2019 @ 7:04 am
The closest they got was the segment on Emmylou Harris and Nash Ramblers (actually, I don’t think they said the band name out loud), where they mentioned her as a revered figure in the “Americana” music world. I don’t believe they ever said “alt-country” and they certainly did not cover those bands. I love all those bands and I certainly would have enjoyed it for selfish reasons. And you could tie Uncle Tupelo to the Carter Family with the name of their first album and the title track. Also, their punked up version of John Hardy. And then there was the breakup of the band right after they got a deal with a major record company and the release that great album Anodyne. The Son Volt and Wilco albums that followed. Team Farrar vs. Team Tweedy. Farrar and Son Volt takes the lead in the beginning, with Trace getting great reviews and A.M. thought to be a lesser version of Uncle Tupelo, But then, Tweedy and Wilco strikes back with Being There and that’s 1996. However, if they covered that whole music scene, I think some of the hardliners around here (Honky, this means you) would have probably cried bias and political correctness and they probably would have been right. But they didn’t, so we were spared that.
September 30, 2019 @ 6:47 am
Alison Krauss and Union Station with 27 Grammy Awards for bluegrass, didn’t even get mentioned, which is a huge oversight, but Alabama was country music for many years, and should have gotten a lot more love!
September 30, 2019 @ 7:00 am
Mike Nesmith gave Linda Ronstadt “Different Drum” and the rest is history. He is a prolific songwriter even with The Monkees. The music he created with First National Band stand up today! And he’s still touring to sold out venues with First National Band Redux.
September 30, 2019 @ 7:05 am
Wow. I am amazed you didn’t mention, let alone give a paragraph to Kenny Rogers or Ronnie Milsap. Actually, Barbara Mandrell barely got mentioned. All three of these were huge in their day, and were important ambassadors for country music to the pop audiences. Their impact was much bigger than many of the folks you gave paragraphs to, and all 3 are hall of famers.
September 30, 2019 @ 7:34 am
Sister Loretta Tharp.
September 30, 2019 @ 9:38 am
I think you meant Sister Rosetta Tharp. She played a mean guitar.
September 30, 2019 @ 7:41 am
I know they showed at least 1 photo Billy Joe Shaver, and played 2 songs he wrote, but I don’t remember them ever mentioning his name. While talking about Waylon they went from his combed hair days right to Dreaming My Dreams, not mentioning Honky Tonk Heroes. Billy Joe Shaver deserved at least a mention
September 30, 2019 @ 8:21 am
You are correct. Maybe the picture of him was chosen just to give him some recognition, although only those of us who know what he looks like would notice. They did the same with Doc Watson on the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album segment. My theory is that they started with Dreamin’ My Dreams so that they could segue into the Wanted: The Outlaws album and talk about how it was made up of “previous recordings.” And it was it that point that we heard the song Honky Tonk Heroes.
September 30, 2019 @ 8:32 am
And sort of how they discussed Red Headed Stranger, but not Shotgun Willie or Phases and Stages.
September 30, 2019 @ 7:42 am
Glen Campbell! Listen to his music and it makes me happy.
September 30, 2019 @ 7:50 am
And what about C W McCall. Wolf creek pass, Convoy, and lots of great trucking ballads! Truckers moved our beloved music all around the country.
September 30, 2019 @ 8:03 am
How about John Conlee, one of the best voices in country music. it would have also been cool if they had mentioned the ride Jerry Jeff Walker took with Buffett in an old Packard to the keys…it changed Buffett’s life and mine also.
September 30, 2019 @ 8:25 am
Poor Kenny Rogers. Not only left out of the documentary but left out of everyone’s list of those left out. How forgotten can you be?
September 30, 2019 @ 8:26 am
Kenny Rogers was mentioned in the documentary, as was “The Gambler.” It was brief, but unlike some artists, he did get mentioned.
September 30, 2019 @ 12:32 pm
Considering he was as popular as anyone in music for a couple years, he really should have gotten more mention than he did.
September 30, 2019 @ 8:32 am
They some what mentioned the Urban Cowboy movement of the early 80’s they didn’t really go into the artist who were big then like Mickey Gilley CDB Bonnie Raitt Anne Murry and Boz Skaggs I mean the movie Urban Cowboy brought a lot of people to country music that wouldn’t have normally listened to it in places like LA and New York City.
September 30, 2019 @ 8:47 am
You might be right about that. As someone who did grow up in the NYC area and whose father liked to listen to WHN 1050 AM (The Most Listened To Country Station in the Nation was their slogan), I do have a memory of hearing Put Another Log on the Fire by Tompall Glaser on that station in 1976 or 1977. It wasn’t for me at the time (it was my prog rock period, you understand), but it sure was funny (Don’t I take your sister dancin’ every night?).
September 30, 2019 @ 1:16 pm
Ain’t I always nice to your kid sister?
Don’t I take her drivin’ every night?
So sit here at my feet ’cause I like you when you’re sweet
And you know it ain’t feminine to fight
September 30, 2019 @ 1:24 pm
Ah. Drivin’, not Dancin’. Memory error.
September 30, 2019 @ 1:34 pm
I’m as big a Bonnie Raitt fan as any but she didn’t belong in this documentary. Likewise Boz Skaggs.
September 30, 2019 @ 8:47 am
I watched it with my daughter and noticed they mentioned Shania Twain but no other Canadian artist like Terri Clark Lisa Brokop or Anne Murry
No mention of Olivia Newton John from Australia she was country before she was pop.
Terri Clark still makes country sound country her latest album is filled with great country songs like Bloody Mary Morning
September 30, 2019 @ 8:12 pm
Olivia Newton John was mentioned and her Grammy caused some folks to be unhappy cause she was from Down Under.
September 30, 2019 @ 9:13 am
The Grateful Dead (‘Workingman’s Dead’ and ‘American Beauty’ plus playing Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins and Hank Williams at the Fillmores) and BUDDY MILLER).
September 30, 2019 @ 9:18 am
I agree with the Marty Robbins comment, at one time he was by far the biggest selling and most influential Country singer / song writer and won the Grammy twice, and re Jim Reeves, when he made the movie Kimberly Jim in South Africa my aunt gave him some lessons in Afrikaans, the language he spoke a few times in the movie.
September 30, 2019 @ 9:50 am
I think it focused too much on the “fringe” aka the “Outlaws”. In truth, that isn’t the true essence of country music, but rather only a small part. Country music is about the working man, honor and respect. Telling a story that hits the heart and warms one to their core. Coming out of grief with better understanding and standing for things that are all-American truth. The subtle political agenda of the series, put a damper on it for me, but something PBS probably loved. I don’t think it went unnoticed in flyover country. This is probably what is the root of the fans’ disappointment in certain artists not being mentioned. Of course, there isn’t time to cover them all. But the slant, and the focus on the “fringe” misrepresented the total spirit of country music, I feel.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved the stories of Kris Kristofferson, and especially the sincere heart of Dwight Yoakum; George Jones’ story makes you wonder why he ever wanted to sing again. But I guess I think they missed the “goodness”, the benevolent nature of living “country” and it almost seemed to be an attempt to change who country music really is. To try to re-write that culture is a sad thing, in my opinion.
This is a good article. Who else should have been there? Those mentioned in this article, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Ray Price, Bobby Bare, Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, the Gentle GIANT! Was Ernest Tubbs mentioned, Lefty Frizzell? I missed the first show.
I’m sure there will be a sequel. And really the “Forever Country” video; Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You”, and Toby Keith’s service to the troops and “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” should surely be included. As well, as Trace Adkins “Arlington”, the rodeo songs of Chris LeDoux, and the hit the heart songs of Tim McGraw. There I wrote it for them 😉
September 30, 2019 @ 9:54 am
Okay. I’m agreeing with your mention of Michael Martin Murphey & his cowboy songs. Cowboy became the “look” of country for quite awhile, also. How did that happen & not get mentioned? The oversight of Tanya Tucker was a big one, as well as the divine Janie Fricke. Fast forward to alt-country or ‘Americana’ as they call it & the program would have been enriched by some Jimmie Dale Gilmore + Butch Hancock besides arguably the greatest guitarist of all, Jesse Taylor. But thank you, Ken Burns. You can do what you like after devoting an entire episode to the greatest of all, Hank Williams.
September 30, 2019 @ 9:56 am
I’ve always been a big fan of Ken Burns’ work, but he’s a bit “boomer” obsessed, i.e. start with 60’s counter culture, and examine first its background and then examine its repercussions and “offspring”. In this case, it felt like “let’s take Johnny Cash, and figure out what made Johnny Cash, and then what spawned from Johnny Cash.” Not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with that approach, it’s just not the lens through which giant swaths of the population would view the evolution of the genre. I’d be interested to see how a documentarian of my generation (late X/early millennial) would tackle the project. All in all though, I think it’s a great piece of film, and I’ll definitely be showing it to my kids when they’re old enough to appreciate it.
September 30, 2019 @ 9:58 am
I think you meant Sister Rosetta Tharp. She played a mean guitar.
September 30, 2019 @ 10:23 am
Doc and Merle Watson. Doc was just mentioned as playing on the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album. The Merlefest Music Festival (named in honor of Doc’s son) held annually in Wilkesboro, North Carolina is one of the biggest country, bluegrass, folk festivals in the country that attracts thousands.
Since Doc died Sam Bush has been the honorary host of the festival and he was never mentioned.
September 30, 2019 @ 10:29 am
No mention of Skeeter Davis. She led the way for Dolly and Loretta.
September 30, 2019 @ 1:22 pm
There was a mention of her but it was surprisingly negative; about how someone thought she was too pop.
September 30, 2019 @ 10:38 am
Doc Watson, cajun music
September 30, 2019 @ 10:49 am
I enjoyed the PBS “Country Music” series, and it’s hard to include everyone. However, there were several who should NOT have been missed, including:
The Browns (and Jim Ed Brown),
Jack Greene,
Jim Reeves,
Marty Robbins,
Crystal Gayle,
and so many more as others indicated in their comments.
September 30, 2019 @ 12:59 pm
“bluegrass didn’t play second fiddle to country”
Possibly the lamest pun ever. 🙂
Seriously, though, this is a really excellent post. Thanks.
September 30, 2019 @ 2:24 pm
Like all other Ken Burns documentaries, he does a fantastic job on the first third, a great job on the second third, and then realizes that he has only one more episode to cover 40 years so everything gets shoehorned.
Way too much time spent fawning over Bob Dylan and folk-rock groups that did one crossover album.
September 30, 2019 @ 2:32 pm
No profile of Red Foley? Only one quick mention of “singer Red Foley”; he hosted the Grand Ole Opry for years after Roy Acuff’s departure, had many hits in the 40’s and 50s, and was as popular as Ernest Tubb!
Agree with others regarding Johnny Paycheck and David Alan Coe…Ken Burns took a revisionist approach to this series.
September 30, 2019 @ 2:41 pm
Conway Twitty and Tanya Tucker.
September 30, 2019 @ 2:45 pm
Hank Snow’s influence on his generation of country music fans and musicians is incalculable. It went well beyond his charted hits. He was a very distinctive vocalist and guitarist. I knew and know of artists that based entire careers on Hank Snow’s musical style.
People such as Orval Prophet, Jimmy Linegar and Ryan Jacobs. All can be heard online if anyone is curious. He definitely deserved a more comprehensive coverage than he received
in the Burns documentary.
September 30, 2019 @ 3:05 pm
Comment 600!
Liked the whole thing and will probably watch it again sometime. I like reading bios and autobios like Buck ’em and Man of Constant Sorrow and Kentucky Traveler so it was right up my alley.
September 30, 2019 @ 3:33 pm
Overall it was interesting in spite of leaning too much to Opry artists as everything written or shown on country music seems to do. I would have liked to see more on the early artists and I’ll name two that are always overlooked. Carson Robison and Wilf Carter (Montana Slim).
Carson Robison wrote songs that are still being recorded and was involved on hit records both with others and as an individual from 1924 to 1948. He wrote many of the songs recorded by Vernon Dalhart and played guitar on them. Wilf Carter as Montana Slim was heard coast to coast on radio in United States from 1935 to 1940. My friend the late Bill Bolick (The Blue Sky Boys) who were on RCA at the same time told me Carter was the most famous country artist across the country as he was heard in all 48 states. Though not noted for million sellers he was steady as he was not dropped in 1981 when RCA dropped others including Hank Snow.
September 30, 2019 @ 5:46 pm
Where the heck was John Prine?
September 30, 2019 @ 6:26 pm
Slim Whitman?
October 1, 2019 @ 5:44 am
Yeah Bill! Indian Love Call destroyed the Martians and saved the earth! ( movie reference for those wondering- Mars Attacks)