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Country pop
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Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to adult contemporary.
Country pop music gained its first success in the early 1960s with a new widespread creation by producers Owen Bradley and Chet Atkins that called itself the Nashville Sound. This was intended to have country singers gain more success in pop music and help sell more records. The first male artists to come out of this new genre were Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold, who both grew to have widespread acceptance in both country and pop music. The first female country singer to emerge from this new genre was Patsy Cline in the early 60s. She created a whole new breed of female country artists, such as Crystal Gayle and Shania Twain, who gained prominence in later years. Even though Cline also gained widespread acceptance from country and pop audiences alike, the Nashville Sound did not maintain its popularity for long, receiving competition first from the Bakersfield Sound and later the outlaw movement.
Country pop found its first widespread acceptance during the 1970s, when popular music acts, including Glen Campbell, John Denver and Olivia Newton-John, began having hit songs simultaneously on country and Top 40 radio.
A group of artists, troubled by this trend, formed the Association of Country Entertainers in 1974. The debate raged into 1975, and reached its apex at that year's Country Music Association [[1]] 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 action was taken as a protest against the increasing pop style in country music.
Country pop reached an early peak immediately following the movie Urban Cowboy in the early 1980s. Some older artists from the 1960s and 1970s converted their sound to country pop or 'countrypolitan,' such as Faron Young, Dolly Parton, and Dottie West. In 1980 Dolly Parton scored a #1 country and pop hit with "9 to 5," from her movie of the same name. Dottie West also had a countrypolitan #1 hit, "A Lesson in Leaving" in the early 80s that reached #73 on the pop charts. By the mid-80s, however, fans of more traditional country music were growing restless. For the next several years, country radio was dominated by neotraditional artists, although some country pop artists continued to have hits.
Country pop enjoyed a resurgence beginning in the mid-1990s, primarily because of Garth Brooks and Shania Twain. In the last few years, country singer LeAnn Rimes has proved her ability to sing country pop songs such as the record-setting "How Do I Live", which spent 69 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, longer than any other song in history, as well as her massive hit "Can't Fight the Moonlight."
Among the more famous country pop artists are Alabama, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, John Denver, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Big and Rich, Trace Adkins, Ronnie Milsap, Rascal Flatts, Eddie Rabbitt, Kenny Rogers, Carrie Underwood, Shania Twain, and Glen Campbell.
In recent years some pop acts have also crossed over to country music. Since 2003, Sheryl Crow, Los Lonely Boys, MercyMe, and Kid Rock have all charted singles on the Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart. Jimmy Buffett, Elton John, Uncle Kracker, John Mellencamp, and Bret Michaels have also hit this chart in collaboration with established country artists. Whether this also counts as country pop is debated.
While supporters of country pop contend the style has brought many new fans to the genre, others, particularly older country music artists and fans who embrace the more traditional styles, have criticized country pop music. Their main argument is that commercial country music, especially that which has been produced since the 1990s, already sounds too much like mainstream pop music even without an even more pop-sounding subgenre.
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