# What’s the difference between Rock & Roll and Country/Western music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 4, 2022, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925 "2022-05-04T08:19:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/41 "2022-05-04T14:41:06Z")
I guess it’s not a minor 7th, flat 5 then? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/42 "2022-05-04T14:45:31Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > This is definitely true; the two music styles have fairly well defined rules about what they are allowed to be about. Either can be about love or politics, but only rock can be ab out nothing, and country has some clarity of theme rock can’t be about. Listen to [the last verse](https://youtu.be/jkKn5HrKgHQ?t=185) of David Allen Coe’s “The Prefect Country & Western Song” to know what a country song needs to be about. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/43 "2022-05-04T14:50:25Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I am squinting, but still have not found the electric guitar in that clip. How bout [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK7T4LHjln4)? ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/44 "2022-05-04T15:10:26Z")
They’re playing electric guitars in both videos. In the first one, Chet’s is designed to retain some of the dimensions and characteristics of a Spanish (nylon-string) guitar, but it’s made to be plugged in for amplification and/or recording. Notice how thin it is. In both videos, the second guitarst is Paul Yandell, who’s playing what I think is the Gretsch Country Gentleman, a semi-hollowbody electric guitar named and designed in honor of Chet Atkins, who’s also playing one in the second video. Here’s a video of modern bluegrass. They’re paying homage to the man seated in the center, the mighty Earl Scruggs. Bluegrass, which I consider to be within the country genre, has always been about instrumentals. With singing, too, but less of it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yQIJuu3N5EY/hqdefault.jpg "Earl Scruggs And Friends - Foggy Mountain Breakdown") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQIJuu3N5EY) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/45 "2022-05-04T15:43:58Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > With country most of the emphasis seems to be on the singing and the instrumemts are more accompanyment. > [@snowthx](#): > > I am squinting, but still have not found the electric guitar in that clip. As mentioned, there are going to be exceptions, but can you point to a recent example of a country instrumental? In the last 20+ years, it seems ALL country is focused on the singer. I just thought you were overgeneralizing in saying that Country music is more about the singer than the instruments. I don’t think the instruments typically take second fiddle (heh) to the singing, and there’s plenty of examples of electric guitar in Country. As for instrumentals, I imagine there are Country instrumental songs out there, just not as many as songs with singing. But I’d say it’s the same with Rock. How many well-known completely instrumental Rock songs are there? A few, but not a ton. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/46 "2022-05-04T15:47:25Z")
> [@solost](#): > > As for instrumentals, I imagine there are Country instrumental songs out there, just not as many as songs with singing. Yes, there are, for instance Buck Owens And The Buckaroos had many instrumentals. And as mentioned above, in bluegrass instrumentals are dominant (and I’m of the same persuasion that bluegrass falls under country music, but that’s a question for another thread). Here’s a famous one: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-2VLIO14dns/maxresdefault.jpg "Buck Owens - Buckaroo - 1965") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2VLIO14dns) Another one: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OPss6C_-QUA/maxresdefault.jpg "Last Date (Remastered)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPss6C_-QUA) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/47 "2022-05-04T16:00:46Z")
If you watched the Ken Burns series on country music, he defined that genre A HECKUVA lot broader than I would’ve. I think this is probably a meaningless attempt to discern a clear distinction. What do you do with a “country rock” band? Lynyrd Skynyrd? I’m wondering why the OP desires to draw such a distinction? I’m trying to figure out what musical distinctions ARE meaningful? When I was in college, the big “debate” was “What is New Wave?” Heck - I even have a problem with “unplugged!” And how do you define “rock and roll?” Do you define it by the performer? Instrumentation? Individual songs? … Pretty easy to distinguish music at the extremes as country/not country. But in the middle, there is a ton of overlap. The same tune can be played in various styles and with various instrumentation, which would make it seem like country or not. When I was younger, I used to say the only music I disliked was opera and country. Now, I’m all about the twang. In fact, my favorite music is past country and into oldtime! 😉 I used to be in rock bands. Now I play bluegrass and oldtime. The vast majority of all of the songs have the same chord progressions - 1/4/5. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/48 "2022-05-04T16:05:22Z")
John Lennon said, “If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry,” but Chuck had country roots. “Maybellene” is a version of a country song (with blues roots), “Ida Red,” a big hit for Bob Wills in 1938. Hank Williams’s “Move It on Over” (1947) sounds a lot like Bill Haley’s 1954 “Rock around the Clock.” It’s messy. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/49 "2022-05-04T16:11:01Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > It’s messy. Behold, one of the greatest country music albums of all time! > **[Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Sounds_in_Country_and_Western_Music)** > > Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a studio album by American singer and pianist Ray Charles. It was recorded in February 1962 at Capitol Studios in New York City and United Western Recorders in Hollywood, and released in April of that year by ABC-Paramount Records. > The album departed further stylistically from the rhythm and blues music Charles had recorded for Atlantic Records in the 1950s. It featured country, folk, and Western music standards reworked by Charles in popular song fo... ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/50 "2022-05-04T17:51:20Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’m wondering why the OP desires to draw such a distinction? I don’t desire to draw such a distinction. It already exists. I think that’s clear in the OP, and implicit in most of the answers so far, although just about everyone agrees that there are lots of overlaps and caveats. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/51 "2022-05-04T18:18:25Z")
Country: Pick-up Trucks, Your Mama, horses, Beer/Liquor Rock: Hot Rods, Your ‘Baby’, motorcycles, Drugs ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/52 "2022-05-04T18:27:13Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Country: Pick-up Trucks, Your Mama, horses, Beer/Liquor Don’t be fooled, also uppers and downers. Ask Johnny Cash. They also sometimes sing about those, like the line with the “little white pills” in Dave Dudley’s “Six Days on The Road”. ETA: wait, I’m gonna have to correct myself. The line “I’m taking little white pills and my eyes are opened wide” is in the Flying Burrito Brothers’ cover, but not in the Dave Dudley version. But my point still stands. Conclusion: rockers love to sing about illegal drugs (especially in the 60s/70s) while country singers sing endlessly about alcohol, while also taking some of the forbidden stuff on the side and mostly keeping their yap shut about it. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/53 "2022-05-04T18:30:03Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Country: Pick-up Trucks, Your Mama, horses, Beer/Liquor You forgot about the dog running off. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/54 "2022-05-04T18:48:08Z")
> [@What's the difference between Country and Rock?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-country-and-rock/401970/1): > > Is the Marshall Tucker Band one or the other? Ah, The Marshall Tucker Band. In my estimation, one of the greats of their era. Ever, really. Flute, saxophone, great guitar and bass playing and vocals. Those guys could really play their instruments. I, certainly wouldn’t call them country and hard-core rockers wouldn’t call them rock. Hence, the term Southern Rock. Outlaws (really “twangy”, sometimes) Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet and, of course, the Allman Brothers Band. All somewhere on that spectrum but MTB and the Brothers were in a class of their own. BTW, how did that twangy sound become to be associated with western/country music. A few notes played that way has me immediately thinking of cowboys and such. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/55 "2022-05-04T19:00:06Z")
Having been a Country DJ from 1990-1995, a period in which Country grew tremendously in popularity, I could never figure out the uneven dividing line between Country and Country-Rock, at least as far as radio stations were concerned. For example, Restless Heart had a few dozen Country hits and were well-established. Yet, when they had a crossover hit, “Tell Me What You Dream,” Country stations refused to play it because it wasn’t “Country.” However, we did play Dwight Yoakam’s “Fast As You,” which was a really heavy pounding rock tune if I ever heard one. Dwight (and Garth Brooks, of course) really pushed the envelope. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/56 "2022-05-04T19:45:58Z")
And made messier by the fact that the whole distinction between “rock”, “R & B” and “country” is just rooted in 50s music executives feeling that white people wouldn’t or shouldn’t buy records by black musicians and vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/57 "2022-05-04T19:51:35Z")
“R&B” even was an improvement coined by Jerry Wexler over the former official term “race music”. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/58 "2022-05-04T20:52:02Z")
Yes, indeed ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/59 "2022-05-04T20:52:58Z")
And prison. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/60 "2022-05-04T21:21:33Z")
And there is now Country Rap. Our plumber is very into it. It’s darker than a lot of regular Country (not that I would know), and has the “twang”, but it’s very much a thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925.md?page=4)