CR014 - Ralph Mooney: The Sound of Country Music

CR014 - Ralph Mooney: The Sound of Country Music

Author: Tyler Mahan Coe January 23, 2018 Duration: 1:25:40
The legendary pedal steel guitarist, Ralph Mooney, deserves the reputation he earned on his instrument. However, he deserves a lot more than that. This episode of the podcast backtracks to Bakersfield for a deeper examination of its "sound," a closer look at some people responsible for it and the story of a man whose story isn't told nearly often enough. It would be unacceptable to end the first season of a podcast on the history of country music without dedicating an episode to Ralph Mooney. After today, you'll know why that is. This episode is recommended for fans of: honky tonk music, the Bakersfield Sound, steel guitar, Wynn Stewart, Waylon Jennings, Ray Price, The Maddox Brothers and Rose, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins, Skeets McDonald and road stories.

There's a story behind every song, and often it's wilder than anything you could make up. Cocaine & Rhinestones: The History of Country Music digs into those stories, pulling back the sequined curtain on the genre's most fascinating and frequently misunderstood characters. Created and narrated by Tyler Mahan Coe, this podcast operates like a deep-cut research project brought to life, where myth and verified history collide. You'll hear about the schemes, the scandals, the brilliant artistry, and the sheer chaos that shaped the sound of American music. Each episode is built on a foundation of meticulous investigation, challenging the well-worn anecdotes you think you know. The result feels less like a lecture and more like you're being let in on a series of incredible secrets, told with a clear-eyed and compelling voice. This isn't a surface-level celebration; it's a raw, chronological excavation of the business, the personal demons, and the cultural shifts that left a permanent mark. For anyone curious about where the music really came from, this series connects the dots between the honky-tonk floor and the penthouse suite, revealing how country music's legacy was forged in equal parts genius and desperation. Settle in and let the stories unfold.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 35

Cocaine & Rhinestones: The History of Country Music
Podcast Episodes
CR024/PH10 - Stand by Your Man: The Anti-Feminist Manifesto [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:55:31
Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man" is one of the most well-known recordings in the English language. It was also a plastic explosive detonated at a sea change moment in United States politics and culture. Look around. W…
CR023/PH09 - Loneliness Surrounds: Virginia Wynette Pugh [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:43:53
Country music is full of rags-to-riches stories, like the one about how Virginia Wynette Pugh became Tammy Wynette. In a way, it's true. Even after becoming the most successful woman country singer at that point in histo…
CR022/PH08 - Dallas Frazier: Can't Get There From Here [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01:03
Some of the best songs you've ever heard were written by Dallas Frazier. Don't recognize the name? Don't worry. You'll remember it forever after this episode, especially those of you who love Charley Pride, Elvis Presley…
CR020/PH06 - All to Pieces: George Jones, Phase II [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:41:38
In the early 1960s, George Jones had a huge hit record featuring such a phenomenal vocal performance it instantly turned him into a living legend. He didn't handle it well.
CR019/PH05 - Wandering Soul: George Jones, Starday Recording Artist [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:06
There are some personalities who would embrace being called The Greatest Country Singer Ever or, at least, settle into the role once it became clear the brand was eternal. George Jones did not have one of those personali…
CR018/PH04 - White Lightning [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:40:48
In North Carolina, way back in the hills, there's a centuries-old tradition of cooking illegal liquor. Whether you feel that's right or wrong, good or bad, may be determined by any number of factors but the objective tru…
CR017/PH03 - The Nashville A Team [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:20:29
Now that we've established Owen Bradley as the single most important producer in the history of Nashville, let's take it further and acknowledge he's one of the most important figures in the history of all recorded music…
CR016/PH02 – Owen Bradley's Nashville Sound [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:17:56
What if the first serious books about country music contained a few massive errors which were then repeated by nearly everyone who's since used those books as a source? How long do you think it would take for society to…
CR015/PH01 - Starday Records: The Anti-Nashville Sound [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:13:29
The story of a little independent record label in Texas becoming "a force" in the Nashville country music industry brings an outsider's perspective to the anatomy of a machine. Going from backwoods honky tonks and roadho…