I just saw a TV commercial where a promotion involves doing something with Toby Keith. When this is announced, two guys in the commercial nod to each other in a sort of “that’s cool” gesture. One of the guys is black, and it occured to me that I don’t know any black people who listen to country music.
I was wondering if this is a national thing or is it different in the south when country is more a part of the culture.
You ever hear of Charlie Pride, sir?
Not only is he Black but he got elected to be in the Country Hall of Fame. (Country Singer)
Myself, I know of quite a few Black folks that listen to the coutry music.
Hell, they even wear Cowboy hats too! 
Yes, of course. Obviously.
There are some black cowboys in the South but your average black person does not listen to country music. I have met a few older black men that did and black people in the South do tend to get exposed to it more than elsewhere but there are many forms of music that have roots in the South. There is a much bigger crossover of say, white kids listening to hard-core rap music, than there are blacks that listen to country music. Some types of country music have themes that are a long way away from the cultural experiences of Southern blacks.
Have you ever heard of Ray Charles?
It’s not obvious to me. My experience is that virtually no black people (I’m pretty sure I’ve never met one who is) enjoy country.
Obviously there are some who do (Charlie Pride), but my question is really "Is country music a popular form of music among black people in the south?
My dad’s black and I love country music. In fact, “Save a horse, ride a cowboy” is playing in the background.
Oh, and there’s a country music rapper called Cowboy Troy. He calls it ‘hickhop.’ I love that name.
Charlie Pride-based anectdote:
My parents are big country fans. back in the 70s, when Charlie was big in the biz, they went to see him in concert. The audience of about 8,000 was mostly whites, although there were more than a few blacks.
Unfortunately, there were a couple of blacks who decided to confront Charlie accusing him of being a sellout by singing “white people’s music”. Charlie stopped the show and explained that he wasn’t selling out to anyone and that he sang country music because he grew listening to it and it was the music he loved. He had the men escorted out AND refunded their money. The audience cheered and everyone had a good time.
Ray Charles and Charlie Pride are great, but the OP asked if black people in teh South (and more than two of them) listened to country music. Anothe rthing to consider is, if they advertise on TV, chances are it’s a Corporate Country station, in which case they wouldn’t even play Johnny Cash until he died. So would black people in the south listen to a Shania Twain/Garth Brooks type station?
I think it is safe to say, while black people DO listen to country music, there isn’t the same level of cross over as there is with white people listening to hip hop. I’ve been to quite a few country bars/concerts in Texas and I have seen very few black people there.
Most of the black people I’ve met listen to hip hop and Gospel/Christian music.
Just my own personal experience.
Speaking as someone who grew up in urban New Orleans:
Absolutely not. Not a bit of country whatsoever. All rap, rock, etc.
Of course, this was an urban environment. I can’t speak for blacks in the country.
I would also like to take this chance and glaot that Charle Pride and I use to go to the same Pub before it got shut down.
He didn’t drink but boy his duaghter sure did.
You also have to consider mixes and crossovers of the genres. Rock and Roll, Rockabilly, Southern Rock, Gospel, Blues, Folk, Western, Country, etc… individual songs can be seen as any of these genres with just a little different slant of perspective.
Look at Elvis. Rock legend. I have scores of Gospel and Country tunes from him. And yet some of his songs sound R&B (or Black) to many people.
Look at some of the legends of early Blues. That sound leans far closer to Folk/Country than to modern Hiphop or R&B, imho. How many early Blues artists were Black?
For a personal anecdote, I know quite few Homeboy Cowboys. True, not as many Blacks listening to Dwight Yokum as Whites listening to Busta, but still, it happens. For that matter, I know some Blacks from Cuba and the Dominican Republic who listen to a very Latinized style of music.
Widen out. Grow in your perspective. Skin colour and musical tastes are not inherently intertwined.
Resume: Lived in the southland, 1981-2000.
Never met a black kid in school who liked country. Then went to a black college. Not once did I go into a black student’s dorm room and hear country music playing on their stereo system. I heard rap, jazz, gospel, soul, r&b crooning, a small amount of rock and even had one friend who spent half his time listening to the Misfits, but never country. Not even once.
Left the South 5 years back. My contact with blacks since then is inadequate to use for reference.
Do some blacks prefer country as their primary musical listening genre?
I’m certain such folks exist. However, I’ll wager they’re no more prevalent than 1 in 20.
No way this one is getting answered except by opinions. So, off to IMHO.
samclem GQ moderator
David Allen Coe’s drummer is black, so that’s another one. No blacks at his concert, and adding up the half dozen or so other country concerts I’ve been to (most fairly large, like 15K+ I’d guess), I’ve only seen a handful of blacks that I suspected didn’t work there.
I used to watch Hee-Haw. For the titties-popping-out-the-cornfield jokes.
But I confess, my first "12 record album I bought with my own money was, in fact, Kenny Roger’s “The Gambler.”
As I got older I realized the basic differences between R&B and country is banjoes, bass, production values and the tempo. A lot of the subject matter is the same: love, heartbreak and family. Both take real singing. Both have sad stories.
Ray Charles, Charlie Pride, Roy Hamilton, Gil-Scott-Heron and Al Green have all done country music.
I don’t listen to much contemporary country music. Last tune I liked was “Thunder Rolls” by Garth Brooks. :rolleyes: I am currently evaluating some tunes by Montgomery Gentry I mysteriously got ahold of after Bricker (or was it** Left Hand of Dorkness**?) brought them to my attention. Hey, they claimed MG were ghetto.
These days, I’d say no: Black people in the south do not listen to country much. Too many other genres are more easily accessible. But once upon a time (my father’s mid-WWII generation) it was quite common. My father’s nickname in college was based on a Kingston Trio hit.
I don’t know that many black people who care much for country music, which I assume is at least partly due to how few black country performers there are.
There was a black man from northern Virginia a few years ago named Cleve Francis. He was a cardiologist, but had always wanted to try his hand at a country music career. He apparently got a deal and recorded and toured, but ended up going back to doctoring (and performing in his spare time).
I remember another black country singer on Hee Haw in the early 1970s, whose name escapes me. He sang a song called “I Want You in the Morning”, and after the song, Mary Ann Gordon (the fluttery southern belle) made a comment about how cute he was. That was pretty amazing for the place and time.
I don’t have cable at home, so the only places I see music videos are bars and gyms. One day a couple of years ago, I was on running a treadmill and saw what I assumed was a country music video. The singer was a cute blonde with a bare navel covorting with guys in jeans and cowboy hats. Upon closer inspection, she bore a strong resemblance to Madonna. Had Madonna done a send-up of a country video? Or was it a new hat-and navel singer who looked like Madonna. I was undecided, until the moment when a black guy in a cowboy hat came into view, at which point I knew it wasn’t a real country video.
When you break it right down, there’s not much real difference between gangsta rap and The Louvin Brothers - drug use, drinking, shooting, stabbing, gambling, and treacherous women. Hell, “Shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die” is pretty gangsta.
If you doubt the parallels, take country back to its roots in Scottish and Irish folk, and listen to one of the innumerable versions of Whiskey In The Jar sometime: man robs cop at gunpoint. Takes proceeds of robbery back to girlfriend, gets drunk in a hotel room with her. Girlfriend dobs him in to cop, cop bursts in and gets shot. Man faces execution.
Charlie Pride sounds awesome. I hate the “all blacks MUST conform” mentality.
Anyway, I don’t know any blacks who listen to country, but most Caribbean nationals listen to reggae, soca, hip-hop and roc. One guy I know, likes classical.