Country Music by Ken Burns

After centuries of percolating in the American South, what was first called hillbilly music began to reach more people through the new technologies of phonographs and radio. The Carter Family, with their ballads and old hymns, and Jimmie Rodgers, with his combination of blues and yodelling, became its first big stars.

During the Great Depression and World War Two, country music thrived and reached bigger audiences. Bob Wills adapted jazz's big band sound to create Texas Swing and Grand Ole Opry singer Roy Acuff became a national star. Despite a divorce between two of its members, the Carter Family carried on, turning out songs that went on to be classics. Nashville slowly became Music City and the centre of the growing country music industry.

The country stars of post-war America, including Hank Williams, whose songs are inspired by his troubled and tragically short life.

A visit to Memphis, Tennessee, during the age of rockabilly with Sun Studios artists Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. Ray Charles crosses over racial borders by recording a country album and Patsy Cline rises to stardom with a smooth new sound.

How country music reflected a changing America. Loretta Lynn spoke to women everywhere, Merle Haggard became the `Poet of the Common Man' and audiences looked beyond race to embrace Charley Pride.

How country music responded to a nation divided by the Vietnam War. Army captain-turned-songwriter Kris Kristofferson set a new lyrical standard while Johnny Cash returned to the Ryman Auditorium.