乡村音乐(country music)
乡村与西部音乐（country and western）的简称。
20世纪流行於美国南方和西部乡村地区白人之间的音乐风格。这个用语由唱片业在1949年采用，以取代逐渐失色的「乡土音乐」（hillbilly music）。其本源是定居於阿帕拉契山脉及美国南方其他地方的欧洲移民的音乐。1920年代早期南部山区传统弦乐团音乐开始录成商业唱片，卡森（J. Carson）在1923年集成第一张热门唱片。对乡村音乐的发展来说，无线电广播比唱片更重要。1920年代在南方和西部较大的城市中出现许多小电台，专门播放适合乡间白人听众的现场音乐演出或录音。影响力最大的两个常态节目是芝加哥的「民族谷仓舞」和纳什维尔的「大奥普里」。这类节目立刻受到欢迎，既推动更多唱片生产，也鼓励山区有才气的音乐家走向广播电台，包括卡特（Carter）家族和罗杰斯（J. Rodgers）。随着1930年代和1940年代许多南方乡下白人迁移至工业城市，乡村音乐被带到新的地区，接受蓝调和福音音乐等新的影响。由於乡村音乐普遍具有怀旧倾向，那些描写迫人的贫穷、失去父母的孤儿、失恋的情人和远离家乡的工人的歌词，在人口大规模迁徙的时代具有特殊的感染力。1930年代若干称为「歌唱牛仔」的影星，其中以奥特里（G. Autry）最着名，把乡村音乐配上妥善改写的歌词，成为一种综合的、外来的「西部」音乐。其他乡村音乐的变体还有：以威尔斯（B. Wills）为代表的西部摇摆风格，随塔布（E. Tubb）、威廉斯（H. Williams）等人崛起的酒吧音乐（honky-tonk）。到1940年代，兴起一股回复乡村音乐某些根源价值的努力（参阅bluegrass）。但事实证明，随着第二次世界大战後乡村音乐在美国各地受到欢迎，商业化的影响力强烈多了。1950年代和1960年代乡村音乐成为一种大型的商业性企业，流行歌手常以纳什维尔风格来录制歌曲，而许多乡村音乐唱片使用华丽的管弦乐伴奏。就在电吉他逐渐取代较传统乐器，而乡村音乐对全国城市听众变得更能接受的1970年代和1980年代，乡村音乐和主流流行音乐之间的鸿沟持续缩小。直到20世纪晚期，在各式各样的表演者如纳尔逊（W. Nelson）、詹宁斯（W. Jennings）、芭顿（D. Parton）、特拉维斯（R. Travis）、布鲁克斯（G. Brooks）、哈利斯（E. Harris）和洛维特（L. Lovett）等的表演下，乡村音乐依然蓬勃发展。尽管乡村音乐吸收了其他流行风格，它仍保持美国少数真正本土音乐风格的鲜明特性。
English version：
country music
Musical style that originated among whites in rural areas of the southern and western U.S. The term “country and western music” was adopted by the music industry in 1949 to replace the derogatory “hillbilly music.” Its roots lie in the music of the European settlers of the Appalachians and other areas. In the early 1920s the genre began to be commercially recorded; Fiddlin' John Carson recorded its first hit. Radio programs such as Nashville's Grand Ole Opry and Chicago's “National Barn Dance” fueled its growth, and growing numbers of musicians such as the Carter family and Jimmie Rodgers began performing on radio and recording at studios. With the migration of Southern whites to industrial cities in the 1930s and '40s, country music was exposed to new influences, such as blues and gospel music. Its nostalgic bias, with its lyrics about poverty, heartbreak, and homesickness, held special appeal during a time of great population shifts. In the 1930s such “singing cowboy” film stars as Gene Autry altered country lyrics to produce a synthetic “western” music. Other variants include western swing (see Bob Wills) and honky-tonk (see Ernest Tubb and H. Williams). The 1940s saw an effort to return to its root values (see bluegrass), but commercialization proved a stronger influence, and in the 1950s and '60s country music became a huge commercial enterprise. Popular singers often recorded songs in a Nashville style, while many country-music recordings employed lush orchestral backgrounds. Country music has become increasingly acceptable to national urban audiences, retaining its vitality with such diverse performers as W. Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, Emmylou Harris, and Lyle Lovett. While embracing other styles, it has kept an unmistakable character as one of the few truly indigenous American musical styles.