ABSTRACT
Sometime in late 1955, during my second year as a student at the University of Texas, I attended a country music concert at the old municipal auditorium on the southern edge of Austin. I went to see my current musical hero, Hank Snow, and was bitterly disappointed when his portion of the show was cut short in order to bring out the evening's headliner, and to make way for a hastily scheduled second show, I do not know now which shocked me most, the physical gyrations of the young singer who dominated the stage that afternoon, or the screaming response of the young women who rushed the stage. After all, neither singer nor audience were acting like they were supposed to act— male country singers did not permit physical mannerisms to overwhelm or detract from the lyrics of a song, and neither they, nor country women, were permitted to exhibit sensual feelings in public.
