3 Country Voices From the 1950s You’ll Actually Recognize in About Two Seconds

You may not immediately think it, but the 1950s boasted some very memorable country voices—singers whose work we still remember fondly today. Indeed, the era offered country fans a lot more than we often give it credit for now.

And that’s just what we wanted to dive into here below. We wanted to remember three artists from the time period whose music still rings out today. These are three country voices from the 1950s you’ll actually recognize in about two seconds.

Patsy Cline

Sometimes in life all you need is a mellow slide guitar and Patsy Cline’s powerful voice to get you through a day. Life can be hard; the drudgery of the mundane is enough to make a person go crazy. But then there’s country music and Cline’s voice, which gets into your spirit and nestles there like a neighborhood cat. Suddenly, you’re transported to another time, another place. You’re on a porch, you’re rocking in your rocking chair. And Cline’s voice finds you, like a pleasant summer breeze.

Hank Williams

Hank Williams’ legacy is still felt in country music today. In many ways, he set the blueprint for what it means to be a country star, for what it means to be an acoustic guitar-driven storyteller, and what it means to be a crooner who sounds divine on wax. Indeed, Williams boasted a number of hit country tracks in the 1950s, including “Hey Good Lookin’” and “You’re Cheatin’ Heart”. Just hearing his vocal twang and lyrics about everyday living—it’s enough to make you a lifelong country fan.

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash enjoyed a music career that spanned a handful of decades. But it all began way back in the 1950s with songs like “Folsom Prison Blues”. Cash was part-outlaw, part-poet. Not only was he someone on the road, traversing America with his songs, but he was also someone who would find himself in prison playing for the inmates. Cash was unafraid, and that courage came through both in his work and his snarling spirit. If Cash wanted to play for a bunch of incarcerated prisoners, no one was going to tell him no. He was the Man in Black. And that’s why we love him still.

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