Countrypolitan

Countrypolitan is the polished, pop-oriented strain of country music that developed from the Nashville Sound in the 1960s and flourished into the 1970s, named by analogy with 'cosmopolitan' for its urban, adult sophistication. Producers such as *Billy Sherrill* surrounded smooth lead vocalists — *Patsy Cline*, *Tammy Wynette*, *Charlie Rich*, *Roy Orbison* — with string orchestras, choruses of backing singers and restrained rhythm sections, minimizing fiddle, steel guitar and honky-tonk rhythm. Aimed squarely at the adult pop market as well as country radio, countrypolitan produced many of the era's biggest crossover hits before provoking the outlaw and neo-traditional reactions.