3 Legendary Country Songs That Created Whole New Subgenres

While rock and pop are known for their virtually endless subgenres, country music doesn’t get enough love for its subgenres that may be relatively unknown to casual listeners. There are actually quite a few excellent country subgenres out there, and the following three songs either helped create those subgenres or had a heavy hand in popularizing them. Let’s look at a few classics, shall we?

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“Take It Easy” by Eagles (1972)

In the early 1970s, bands were beginning to blend elements of country music and hard rock. Eagles took the country rock subgenre to the mainstream with their hit song, “Take It Easy”. A classic rock staple today, this track has a bit of country twang mixed with Eagles’ classic hard rock sound. It’s no surprise it was a hit, and it’s also no surprise that it popularized country rock for the rest of the decade. “Take It Easy” was a No. 12 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and also did fairly well in Canada.

“Man! I Feel Like A Woman” by Shania Twain (1999)

Alright, Shania Twain didn’t invent country pop. That particular subgenre had been around for a minute. However, country pop experienced an enormous boom in the late 1990s that lasted through the 2000s, and we can thank Shania Twain for making the subgenre so popular. Even people who don’t like country or pop know this ultra-catchy tune very well.

“Man! I Feel Like A Woman” was a massive international hit (among several others from her album Come On Over), one that peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

“Ladies Love Outlaws” by Waylon Jennings (1972)

There’s no way I’d put together a list of songs that popularized country subgenres without bringing up outlaw country. In the late 20th century, outlaw country was basically the punk rock movement of country music. Instead of the shiny and clean Nashville sound, a ragtag group of cowboys decided to go in a very different, harder-edged direction, effectively launching the outlaw country movement.

It’s difficult to pinpoint who did it “first.” But one can’t deny that Waylon Jennings’ self-referential “Ladies Love Outlaws” helped kickstart the movement in the early 1970s. The album of the same name was a No. 11 hit on the Top Country Albums chart.

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