Country music has its roots in African instruments and Black American culture.
Before Beyoncé blessed the world with the Grammy Award-winning “Cowboy Carter” album, Black women had already made an indelible mark in country music.
Before Mickey Guyton became a household name, Black women had already kicked down Grand Ole Opry doors.
While Queen Bey has dealt with haters and outright racism from stereotypical country music fans, Martell made it slightly easier for artists like Beyoncé and Tanner Adell.
By forging a path for others, RegalMag.com illuminates the Black History Spotlight on the legendary country artist who arguably never got the recognition she deserved for her artistry.
Martell’s website states, “A pioneering force hailed as the unsung hero of the genre, Linda Martell (82), was the first commercially successful Black female artist in country music. Martell had the highest peaking single on the Billboard Hot Country Singles (now Songs) charted at #22, ‘Color Him Father,’ by a Black female country artist in the history of the genre in 1969, until Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ debuted at #1 on February 21st, 2024. Martell was notably the first Black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry stage.”
The country legend grew up in South Carolina.
Martell grew up singing with her family before she went solo after she was discovered on a Charleston, S.C. Air Force base.
She then moved to Nashville, Tenn. in 1969, and she released her debut single the same year, which charted in the top 25.
The single preceded her first and only album, “Color Me Country,” which hit the Top 40.
“Color Me Country” featured three charting singles.
At the time, Billboard wrote, “Linda impresses as a female Charley Pride. She has a terrific style and a true feeling for a country lyric.”
After the release of “Color Me Country,” Martell began making appearances on “He Haw” and shows starring legends like Waylon Jennings and Hank Snow.
In total, Martell made 12 appearances at the Grand Ole Opry.
However, Martell’s website added, “Though the album was deemed a success, Martell’s talent and tenacity still faced racism by audiences shouting racial slurs and hateful words at nearly every live show.”
Rolling Stone reported, “She was a Black woman, singing in a genre dominated by White acts.”
Furthermore, at the time of Martell’s breakthrough, corrupt White men controlled much of the Nashville, Tenn. music scene.
When Martell’s final single “Bad Case of the Blues” performed poorly, her label shelved her music and she found herself “blacklisted” by the country music industry.
Devastated, Martell moved on from the country music industry in 1974.
Despite Martell’s blacklisting and the hatred that many Black country artists still face, racism cannot erase the influence that Black Americans had on the development of country and western music and culture.
TIME reported, “The Black influence on country music starts with the banjo, which often conjures the hazy image of a White pastoral South. But the instrument is a descendant of West African lutes, made from gourds, that were brought to America by slaves and which became a central part of slave music and culture in the South. Soon the instrument was standardized, appropriated and spread to White audiences through minstrel and blackface shows—which deeply informed the rise of hillbilly music, a term that would later be rebranded as ‘country music’….
“Many of the songs that early hillbilly artists played were likewise inherited and adapted from Black sources—like slave spirituals, field songs, religious hymnals or the works of professional Black songwriters.”
White musicians like Earl Scruggs and David Ackeman made the banjo a major part of country music as Black musicians began to abandon the banjo.
Country music also borrows from the vibe of blues music, a genre still dominated by Black artists.
While artists like Guyton have gained more acceptance from Nashville, Tenn., Beyoncé has not.
Many say the Houston native was inspired to make the “Cowboy Carter” after she received a lukewarm response from Nashville, Tenn. in the past.
Although some country fans say that the “Cowboy Carter” album is not authentic country music, the pop star used the album to pay homage to artists like Martell, while also providing a mainstream platform for up-and-coming Black artists like Willie Jones and new superstar Shaboozey.
The Texan did not limit her album to Black artists, showing love to icons like Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson too.
Despite the gains made by the new generation of Black country music stars, obstacles still exist for these rising stars.
Guyton often speaks about the resistance she has received from the Nashville, Tenn. music scene, specifically a stressful encounter she had with a record company executive.
She said, “Sitting there, I could tell one of the label heads was questioning me and my authenticity and grilling me on country music and if I knew it or not. I truly listened to country music growing up. I grew up in the South on gravel dirt roads—shouldn’t that be enough?”
The Arlington, Texas native said she has always faced stricter scrutiny when it comes to the music she releases.
Guyton added, “I was being told, ‘Make sure your songs sound really country ‘cause people aren’t gonna think you’re authentic,’ and in the same breath, I was listening to songs that were No. 1 on country radio with trap beats and R&B melodies, and these artists admitting that they were inspired by R&B songs.”
It is a similar refrain for Black country artists seeking inclusion, more than 50 years after Martell shattered Nashville’s proverbial glass ceiling.
