Country music

====Honky tonk====
[[File:Hank Williams MGM Records - cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Hank Williams]]]]
Another type of stripped-down and raw music with a variety of moods and a basic ensemble of guitar, bass, [[dobro]] or steel guitar (and later) drums became popular, especially among rural residents in the three states of [[Texhomex]], those being [[Texas|''Tex''as]], [[Oklahoma|Okla''ho''ma]], and [[New Mexico|New ''Mex''ico]].<ref name="Country Music Magazine (Périodique) 1994 ">{{cite book | author=Country Music Magazine (Périodique) | title=The Comprehensive Country Music Encyclopedia | publisher=Times Books | series=A country music magazine press book | year=1994 | page=39 | isbn=978-0-8129-2247-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bi_aAAAAMAAJ | access-date=June 16, 2021}}</ref> It became known as [[Honky tonk music|honky tonk]] and had its roots in western swing and the [[ranchera]] music of Mexico and the border states, particularly New Mexico and Texas,<ref name="Ingman 1997 p. ">{{cite book | last=Ingman | first=J. | title=A.O.K.: Record Labels of West Texas & New Mexico | publisher=Ingman Music Research | year=1997 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ing5AQAAIAAJ | access-date=June 16, 2021 | page=}}</ref> together with the blues of the American South. [[Bob Wills]] and His Texas Playboys personified this music which has been described as "a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, a little bit of black and a little bit of white&nbsp;... just loud enough to keep you from thinking too much and to go right on ordering the whiskey."<ref name="Workin 1999. page 135">{{cite book| first1 = Gerald W.| last1 = Haslam| first2 = Alexandra Russell| last2 = Haslam| first3 = Richard| last3 = Chon| title = Workin' Man Blues: Country Music in California| date = April 1, 1999| publisher = [[University of California Press]]| isbn = 978-0-520-21800-0| page = [https://archive.org/details/workinmanbluesco00hasl/page/135 135]| url = https://archive.org/details/workinmanbluesco00hasl/page/135}}</ref> East Texan [[Al Dexter]] had a hit with "Honky Tonk Blues", and seven years later "[[Pistol Packin' Mama]]".<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Perkins| first1 = Carl| last2 = McGee| first2 = David| title = Go, Cat, Go!: The Life and Times of Carl Perkins, the King of Rockabilly| year = 1996| publisher = Hyperion Books| isbn = 978-0-7868-6073-9| pages = 23–24 }}</ref> These "honky tonk" songs were associated with barrooms, and was performed by the likes of [[Ernest Tubb]], [[Kitty Wells]] (the first major female country solo singer), [[Ted Daffan]], [[Floyd Tillman]], the [[Maddox Brothers and Rose]], [[Lefty Frizzell]] and [[Hank Williams]]; the music of these artists would later be called "traditional" country. Williams' influence in particular would prove to be enormous, inspiring many of the pioneers of rock and roll,{{sfn |Gilliland |1969 |loc=show 9}} such as [[Elvis Presley]], [[Jerry Lee Lewis]], [[Chuck Berry]] and [[Ike Turner]], while providing a framework for emerging honky tonk talents like [[George Jones]]. [[Webb Pierce]] was the top-charting country artist of the 1950s, with 13 of his singles spending 113 weeks at number one. He charted 48 singles during the decade; 31 reached the top ten and 26 reached the top four.