Merle Haggard:
Roy Clark and Buck Owens:
Waylon Jennings:
Ernest Tubb et al.:
The "old timers" were as likely as not to wear a "cowboy hat" while performing.
Ok, I hardly ever pay any attention to celebs, including country music ones. But I looked, and Mr Urban looked normal. I have had cowboy hats for most of my life, and to me, wearing a cowboy hat around the house, at a sit down restaurant, or some other building for more than 10 minutes (except a barn), the hat comes off.
I rarely listen to music any more, (exception: at church), so these musicians have made money without any help from me.
It’s just comical to me to see entertainers wearing cowboy hats when performing. Especially the ‘beat up cowboy hat’ look. As though they just came from mending fence in the hot sun.
Look at all the country music stars in the past that rarely if ever wore a cowboy hat. It’s like, “Hey, I’m indoors at the Opry, why keep this hat on? It’s not gonna help me sing any better.”
A notable exception is Dwight Yoakam. He always wears a cowboy hat to hide his bald head. He looks really goofy without it, but he has a great voice, IMHO.
I remember when cowboy hats, sequins and fringe were standard accoutrements of country western music...............
Merle Haggard:
Roy Clark and Buck Owens:
Waylon Jennings:
Ernest Tubb et al.:
The "old timers" were as likely as not to wear a "cowboy hat" while performing.
As the Opry transitioned over to B&W TV from radio, there was some disagreement as to how the “country” singers should look on the screen. The simple obvious solution was to dress them similarly to the singing cowboys on the serialized picture shows.
It is really irritating for your hat to bonk into the headrest of your pickup, so you take it off and lay it beside you on the seat. Then sometime later, after you realize that the back of your neck is getting sunburnt, you must walk back to your truck to retrieve the hat.