Country Music by Ken Burns

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Music: Country

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Hear the remarkable stories of the people and places behind a truly American art form.

Explore the history of country music – from its roots in ballads, hymns and the blues to its mainstream popularity – and meet the unforgettable characters and storytellers who made it America’s music.

Explore the history of a uniquely American art form: country music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the twentieth century. The series, directed by Ken Burns, features never-before-seen footage and photographs, plus interviews with more than 80 country music artists. No-one has told the story this way before.

Series 1

BBC Four

Ken Burns

Country Music by Ken Burns: Series 1: Music Will Get Through (1973-1983)

Music Will Get Through (1973-1983)

BBC Four - Country Music by Ken Burns, Series 1, Music Will Get Through (1973-1983)

Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings launch the Outlaw movement.

Bluegrass retained a strong core of avid fans during the 1970s, while in Austin, Texas, Willie Nelson discovered a new music scene where hippies and rednecks seemed to get along. 

Though no longer heard on country radio for much of the 1970s and early 1980s, bluegrass still had a strong core of avid fans. Marty Stuart toured with Lester Flatt and sometimes with the ‘father of bluegrass’, Bill Monroe. 

Back in his home state of Texas, Willie Nelson discovered a new music scene in Austin, where a mixture of hippies and rednecks seemed to get along and welcomed offbeat artists like Nelson, whose music became a hit. 

Ricky Skaggs had deep bluegrass credentials, but his time with Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band inspired him to experiment with a sound combining the acoustic instruments of a string band with something more electric. Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings launched the ‘Outlaw’ movement, and Emmylou Harris bridged folk and rock with country music in a way that influenced a new generation of artists.


Country Music by Ken Burns: Series 1

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Explore the history of a uniquely American art form: country music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century. The series, directed by Ken Burns, features never-before-seen footage and photographs, plus interviews with more than 80 country music artists. No-one has told the story this way before.

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Country Music by Ken Burns

Series 1

Music Will Get Through (1973-1983)

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