Nashville Sound

Country music’s Nashville Sound began in the mid-1950s when “smooth strings and choruses,”  “sophisticated background vocals,” and “smooth tempos” associated with traditional pop replaced rough honky-tonk music’s dominance on the charts in the 1940s and 1950s.

What became known as Countrypolitan was the result of Nashville’s pop song structure becoming more prominent.

It has a mellower, more enveloping sound characterized by orchestral strings and choir accompaniment. Countrypolitan’s music sold well in the late 1960s and early 1970s because it targeted mainstream audiences.

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