Criteria for Inclusion

In judging whether a recording is appropriate for inclusion in Rockin' Country Style, I try to answer two questions: First, is it rock & roll? Second, is it country (or primarily derived from country)? It is often painfully difficult to make one or both of these decisions.

The following is a list of the characteristics I have looked for in evaluating tracks. They range from strongly negative to neutral to strongly positive. Some characteristics (such as the presence of a mainstream country flipside) are only significant in the context of a recording I have already judged to be rock & roll. Other characteristics (such as piano triplets) are only significant in the context of a recording already judged to be country.

I developed this table only after having evaluated several thousand tracks. It is not a set of rules which I have tried to use in objectively scoring performances; rather, it is simply an attempt to spell out the criteria I found myself applying on an informal basis.

	Negative			Positive
Characteristic	Strong	Moderate	Neutral	Moderate	Strong
Genres
Sounds like Elvis on Sun					X
Sounds like Carl Perkins					X
Sounds like Jerry Lee Lewis					X
Sounds like Elvis on RCA, 1956-58					X
Sounds like Charley Ryan's "Hot Rod Lincoln"					X
Sounds like Elvis on RCA, 1959+				X
Sounds like Johnny Cash on Sun				X
Sounds like Duane Eddy				X
Sounds like the Everly Brothers				X
Sounds like Conway Twitty				X
Sounds like Arkie Shilbley's "Hot Rod Race"				X
Sounds like Bill Haley			X
Sounds like Buddy Holly			X
Sounds like Carl Mann			X
Sounds like Chuck Berry		X
Sounds like Little Richard		X
Artist Characteristics
Country					X
Already has pertinent material included				X
Southern (non-Gulf Coast)				X
Gulf Coast			X
Non-Southern			X
Cajun		X
Hispanic		X
Black		X
Recording Characteristics
Country label or series					X
Nashville recording					X
Mainstream country flipside					X
Southern label				X
Custom record				X
Mainstream pop flipside		X
Post-1959 recording		X
Post-1964 recording	X
Material Characteristics
Cover of R&B material					X
Country composer or publisher				X
Rocker				X
Ballad		X
Instrumental		X
Traditional country material		X
Boogie woogie rhythm		X
Calypso or other exotic rhythm		X
Twist rhythm		X
Waltz rhythm	X
Vocal Characteristics
Twang in vocal					X
Presley-derived vocal					X
Exhortations by vocalist				X
Brother duet				X
Male vocal group			X
Female or mixed vocal group	X
Instrumental Characteristics
Lack of an instrumental break		X
Prominent electric guitar				X
Acoustic rhythm guitar				X
Steel guitar					X
Acoustic bass				X
Electric bass		X
Single saxophone			X
Horn other than saxophone		X
Two or more saxophones or other horns	X
Jerry Lee Lewis-style piano					X
Piano triplets				X
Boogie woogie piano		X
Other piano			X
Fiddle					X
Accordian		X
Organ	X
Bongos	X

This page revised on 03/16/2000

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