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Don't Get Above Your Raisin': Country Music and the Southern Working Class
Combining a high-spirited history of country music's roots with vivid portraits of its principal performers, Don't Get above Your Raisin' examines the close relationship between "America's truest music" and the working-class culture that has constituted its principal source, nurtured its development, and provided its most dedicated supporters.
Widely recognized as country music's ranking senior authority, Bill C. Malone explores how the music's defining themes (home and family, religion, rambling, frolic, humor, and politics) have emerged out of the particularities of working people's day-to-day lives. He traces the many contradictory voices and messages of a music that simultaneously extols the virtues of home and the joys of rambling, the assurances of the Christian life and the ecstasies of hedonism, the strength of working-class life and the material lure of middle-class aspirations. The resulting tensions, Malone argues, are a principal source of the music's enduring appeal.
Country musicians have often been people from undistinguished blue-collar backgrounds who have tried to make their way as entertainers in a society that has little respect for the working class. From this ambivalent position, they have voiced the sometimes contradictory values and longings of their culture while also attempting to fulfill the romantic expectations of outsiders.
"For every Garth Brooks," Malone says, "there are a thousand country musicians who perform in local bars, taverns, and American Legion halls and who have never been able to ‘give up their day jobs.' These are musicians whose middle-class dreams are tempered by working-class realities." A powerful and honest expression of the hopes, longings, frailties, and failings of ordinary people, country music increasingly resonates with listeners beyond its core constituency as they struggle with a complex and uncertain world.
Widely recognized as country music's ranking senior authority, Bill C. Malone explores how the music's defining themes (home and family, religion, rambling, frolic, humor, and politics) have emerged out of the particularities of working people's day-to-day lives. He traces the many contradictory voices and messages of a music that simultaneously extols the virtues of home and the joys of rambling, the assurances of the Christian life and the ecstasies of hedonism, the strength of working-class life and the material lure of middle-class aspirations. The resulting tensions, Malone argues, are a principal source of the music's enduring appeal.
Country musicians have often been people from undistinguished blue-collar backgrounds who have tried to make their way as entertainers in a society that has little respect for the working class. From this ambivalent position, they have voiced the sometimes contradictory values and longings of their culture while also attempting to fulfill the romantic expectations of outsiders.
"For every Garth Brooks," Malone says, "there are a thousand country musicians who perform in local bars, taverns, and American Legion halls and who have never been able to ‘give up their day jobs.' These are musicians whose middle-class dreams are tempered by working-class realities." A powerful and honest expression of the hopes, longings, frailties, and failings of ordinary people, country music increasingly resonates with listeners beyond its core constituency as they struggle with a complex and uncertain world.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 11, 2016
Don't get above your raisin', stay down to Earth with me -- Bill Malone never quotes the song that serves as the title of his book, a history of country music in its southern context...but its spirit is ever present. Using the lives of country's most passionate and storied performers, Malone reflects on the tradition and finds it a lovable mess -- alternatively humble and bragging, pious and rowdy. Malone's deep familiarity with the tradition, and his love for it, are obvious. He doesn't simply treat readers to a barrage of chronology, but rather examines how certain aspects of the genre have evolved throughout the last two centuries, so tumultuous to the South.
Country is as the name implies a tradition of music created and sustained by rural populations -- farmers first, and now people who live and play in the backwoods. Its beginnings mix traditional romantic ballads, dances, and religious music. Religious music is an especially strong influence on country, the stuff of lullabies and tent revivals that created generation after generation of musicians and singers. In religiosity, the South remains stridently Protestant, but there's no puritanism to be found in country music. Inst ed, piety and partying mix together freely -- with no better witness than Hank Williams, who penned "I Saw the Light" and died an early death, plagued by depression and substance abuse. The tangled, wonderful messiness of country envelops more than religion. Country songs simultaneously embrace Mama's hearth and home, while celebrating rambling men and the freedom of the open road. Politics, too, finds contradictions -- zealous law-and-order mixed with praise of rowdy outlaws who give the Man what-for. Not for nothing are truckers and cowboys, the ramblers who come home eventually, so popular -- as are repentant sinners who will invariably go chasing cigareetes, whuskey, and wild, wild women. Additionally, Malone delves into the connections between country and its daughters, bluegrass and political folk, as well as the changing country-dance scene. There's also a good chapter on country's connection with comedy in general, focusing on the Grand Ol Opry and Hee Haw, mentioning people like Andy Griffith and Jerry Clower.
Malone's piece is a labor of love, though with most others his age he despairs of the way country music headed in the 1990s, with more synthesizers and less fiddles. That trend has certainly continued, Taylor Swift's seamless transition into pop being an obvious example. There are many traditionalists in the ranks, though. Travis Tritt is quoted as sneering at Billy Ray Cyrus, who dressed in a body shirt and 'turning country music into an ass-wiggling contest'. Considering the posterior antics of Cyrus' daughter Miley, who does more than wiggling, I suppose apples still don't fall very far from trees. Still, Malone looks for the best even in then contemporary music, and concedes that every genre is in constant motion.
Don't Get Above Your Raisin' surprised me. I knew it would be a history of country music, but -- even as someone who grew up with country, who loves and collects the older artists -- Malone shared artists and stories I'd never heard of. Who knew that square dancing was borrowed from French aristocrats? If you have any interest in country music at all, this book is worth picking up just for the discography in the back, where Malone lists all of the albums and songs he's been referencing throughout the text. I've been able to find a lot of older artists via youtube's "also reccommended" feature, but this kind of shortcut is welcome!
Country is as the name implies a tradition of music created and sustained by rural populations -- farmers first, and now people who live and play in the backwoods. Its beginnings mix traditional romantic ballads, dances, and religious music. Religious music is an especially strong influence on country, the stuff of lullabies and tent revivals that created generation after generation of musicians and singers. In religiosity, the South remains stridently Protestant, but there's no puritanism to be found in country music. Inst ed, piety and partying mix together freely -- with no better witness than Hank Williams, who penned "I Saw the Light" and died an early death, plagued by depression and substance abuse. The tangled, wonderful messiness of country envelops more than religion. Country songs simultaneously embrace Mama's hearth and home, while celebrating rambling men and the freedom of the open road. Politics, too, finds contradictions -- zealous law-and-order mixed with praise of rowdy outlaws who give the Man what-for. Not for nothing are truckers and cowboys, the ramblers who come home eventually, so popular -- as are repentant sinners who will invariably go chasing cigareetes, whuskey, and wild, wild women. Additionally, Malone delves into the connections between country and its daughters, bluegrass and political folk, as well as the changing country-dance scene. There's also a good chapter on country's connection with comedy in general, focusing on the Grand Ol Opry and Hee Haw, mentioning people like Andy Griffith and Jerry Clower.
Malone's piece is a labor of love, though with most others his age he despairs of the way country music headed in the 1990s, with more synthesizers and less fiddles. That trend has certainly continued, Taylor Swift's seamless transition into pop being an obvious example. There are many traditionalists in the ranks, though. Travis Tritt is quoted as sneering at Billy Ray Cyrus, who dressed in a body shirt and 'turning country music into an ass-wiggling contest'. Considering the posterior antics of Cyrus' daughter Miley, who does more than wiggling, I suppose apples still don't fall very far from trees. Still, Malone looks for the best even in then contemporary music, and concedes that every genre is in constant motion.
Don't Get Above Your Raisin' surprised me. I knew it would be a history of country music, but -- even as someone who grew up with country, who loves and collects the older artists -- Malone shared artists and stories I'd never heard of. Who knew that square dancing was borrowed from French aristocrats? If you have any interest in country music at all, this book is worth picking up just for the discography in the back, where Malone lists all of the albums and songs he's been referencing throughout the text. I've been able to find a lot of older artists via youtube's "also reccommended" feature, but this kind of shortcut is welcome!
June 20, 2013
Dog my cats, this is a great thematic history of country music, by the dean, if you will, of the topic, whose book Country Music USA led me to much great music.
Now that I've finished the chapters and notes, I find I linger over the Bibliographical and Discographical Suggestions.
Highly recommended.
Now that I've finished the chapters and notes, I find I linger over the Bibliographical and Discographical Suggestions.
Highly recommended.
July 16, 2022
Although academically presented, Malone's book provides an accessible account of country music's ties to religion, the ideal rural home, and other aspects of the old Southern working class mindset. Part of the accessibility comes through repetition - each chapter focuses on a theme and proceeds chronologically from past to present. When a new theme is introduced, there may be overlap in content, but rather than feeling stale, it enhances understanding and memory of information.
At first, I had some difficulty following the book, but that was because 1). it's been a while since I've read a book this academically-presented, 2). I was reading only one or two pages at a time, when the book is better read in chunks, and 3). I just needed to get rolling. It was easy to follow, and very enjoyable to follow, once I'd gotten in the zone.
My favorite chapters, which I found most enlightening, were the ones on women + the home, the church, and bad men.
Malone as an author most values the older styles of country music rather than the modern (at the time of writing, 2002) - a trait I share, and a trait which made his content more relevant to my interests.
In addition to the main body of text, I find Malone's book exceedingly valuable for its footnotes. Not what he discusses in the footnotes, but what sources he pulls from. It is a gold mine of citations I need to check out. I've read tons of country music nonfiction books, but a body of sources this new and interesting for me should be criminal.
And absolutely worthwhile read, and one I'll, in the future, read again - to cement my understanding.
At first, I had some difficulty following the book, but that was because 1). it's been a while since I've read a book this academically-presented, 2). I was reading only one or two pages at a time, when the book is better read in chunks, and 3). I just needed to get rolling. It was easy to follow, and very enjoyable to follow, once I'd gotten in the zone.
My favorite chapters, which I found most enlightening, were the ones on women + the home, the church, and bad men.
Malone as an author most values the older styles of country music rather than the modern (at the time of writing, 2002) - a trait I share, and a trait which made his content more relevant to my interests.
In addition to the main body of text, I find Malone's book exceedingly valuable for its footnotes. Not what he discusses in the footnotes, but what sources he pulls from. It is a gold mine of citations I need to check out. I've read tons of country music nonfiction books, but a body of sources this new and interesting for me should be criminal.
And absolutely worthwhile read, and one I'll, in the future, read again - to cement my understanding.
March 23, 2024
Rock solid overview of 20th century country music focusing on an examination of a series of its components historically: religion, politics, dance, humor, rurality, the American South, the rambler ethos, and working life. A touch defensive throughout (Malone is of the generation that helped create scholarly study of popular entertainment, so understandable), but enjoyable and erudite.
December 26, 2024
One to read again and again in life to see if the references ever start to make more sense.
May 18, 2015
Bill Malone might not be one of the most prolific writers, but every book is very much worth the while for anyone seriously interested in the history of country music. Crammed with information and insightfull observations. A delight to read and very much an addition to the growing stream of books on American Music.
Want to read
December 5, 2014For my history of American popular music class.
May 13, 2009
Read my thoughts at:
http://livinginstereo.com/?page_id=37
http://livinginstereo.com/?page_id=37
December 3, 2012
Authentic tribute to 'real' country music
September 28, 2014
Fascinating review of the history of country music related to it's social background. A worthy follow up of country music U.S.A.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews