Like rock and roll, country music presented older music in new forms in the early days, though most of the material was new songs – or at least new to their audiences.  Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers (“The Singing Brakeman”) among others are legendary songwriters as well as performers.  Another early country-music legend Roy Acuff is also renowned as the founder in 1942, with Fred Rose (a talent scout and major music-industry figure), of Acuff-Rose Music; as described in Wikipedia:  “Acuff-Rose’s honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms at the time and led them to fame throughout the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s.”  

(February 2015)