9781422274415

“hillbilly music” because it originated in the rural Appalachian Mountain region—was an important influence. In the 1940s and early 1950s, Hank Williams became famous for singing “brutally honest songs about his life in the language of the everyman,” according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some white performers took these country songs and played them at a faster Until the late 1940s, each side of a record could hold only about four minutes of music. The “long play” (LP) album format, introduced in 1948, could hold more than twenty minutes of music per side. This changed the way popular music was marketed, as artists could include ten to twelve short songs on each LP album.

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