re: Who is on the Mt. Rushmore of country music?

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Can't say I have ever heard a sing thing by Jimmy Rogers, and I am kinda old.

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he was the elvis of his day.
Watch the Ken Burns doc on country music.

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Bob Wills is still the king.

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of Western Swing

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of Western Swing

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You can hear the Grand Ol Opry
In Nashville, Tennessee
It's the home of country music
On that we all agree.
But when you cross that ol' Red River hoss
That just don't mean a thing
Once youre down in Texas
Bob Wills is still the king.

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This is a good thread. I'll go:

Hank Sr
George Strait
Waylon Jennings
Johnny Cash

This is a great debate topic, because you can go in so many directions with it, and also lends some interesting questions.

Is bluegrass included in "country music" or is it its own separate genre? Do groups count as 1 entity or do you have to pick one person from the group?

If it is included I would say...
Hank Williams (timeless songwriter, tied with Jimmie Rogers as first megastar of the genre)
Bill Monroe (father of bluegrass)
Buck Owens or Merle (Bakersfield sound)
Willie or Waylon (Outlaw movement)

If we can use groups as 1 entity I would probably replace Buck/Merle with the Maddox Brothers & Rose, as they were really the foundation of the Bakersfield sound, and also brought in the flashy clothing. I'd also probably replace Willie/Waylon with the Carter Family, because I feel like they are more important to the genre overall.

Also, if bluegrass is its own area, I'd replace Bill Monroe with either Dolly or Loretta. I hate to leave out Patsy, but she wasn't the songwriter that Dolly and Loretta were.

Hank Sr
George Jones
Merle Haggard
Roy Accuf

Willie Nelson
Merle Haggard
Johnny Cash
Waylon Jennings

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Is bluegrass included in "country music" or is it its own separate genre?

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IMO Bluegrass is not. But you could certainly argue it is.

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It's hard not to consider Conway Twitty

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It's easy for me not to consider him.

The steel guitar player with Hank’s band stated they played I’m So Lonesome I could Cry without practice in one take and the recorded version we have is the first time they ever played the song.