Countrypolitan

Countrypolitan refers to a style of Country Pop which emphasizes elements of Pop orchestration while reducing the presence of traditionally Country-aligned instrumentation and rhythms. The genre is an outgrowth of the polished Nashville Sound production style, which originated in the late 1950s with the intention of increasing the crossover appeal of country music to pop audiences. Countrypolitan is most often characterized by its use of lushly arranged string overdubs and group or choral backing vocals, both reminiscent of Traditional Pop. Other commonly cited embellishments include crooning vocal styles, horns, vibraphones, echo effects, and piano played in the slip-note style popularized by Floyd Cramer. In turn, countrypolitan rarely features traditional “twangy” instrumentation like fiddles, banjos, or steel guitar, and makes minimal use of Honky Tonk rhythms. Countrypolitan songs commonly incorporate pop elements through hooks, choruses, and simple lyrics regarding universal subject matters, and many were performed in a slow to mid-tempo pop ballad style. The term “countrypolitan”, a portmanteau of “country” and “metropolitan”, first appeared as the name of 1950s radio format that played both traditional pop and country pop music. Commonly cited countrypolitan musicians include Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Skeeter Davis, and Charley Pride. The genre is often associated with 1970s producer Billy Sherrill, who updated the classic countrypolitan sound with modern production techniques and more prominent use of pedal steel guitar. This style can be heard in the duets of George Jones and Tammy Wynette and the Country Soul-inflected recordings of Charlie Rich. In the late 1970s the genre gained popularity with performers outside of Nashville, most notably Glen Campbell.