KB, in their introduction to 'The Encyclopedia of Folk, County & Western Music', Irwin Stambler and Grellun Landon wrote:

It is the authors' premise that there is a strong relationship between the major categories of folk, country and western music. If you were to place an elite group of country and folk authorities in one room to formulate what should be in an encyclopedia covering these disciplines and attempted to define what country and folk, or a combination of the two, really are, it would be wise to bring a sleeping bag, several changes of clothing, and survival rations for a long stay.

In respect of the term 'country and western', I agree with Gary that it was a label that embraced the broad range of musical styles that he referred to. By the 1970s, however, the 'western' part of the equation had become subsumed or assimilated into the 'country' part - for example, the Academy of Country & Western Music changed its name to the Academy of Country Music. This did not mean that 'western' style music had died out. Ironically, as many of the 'country' artists were seeking for the crossover pop hit, 'western' music was being given a shot in the arm with bands like Asleep at the Wheel, Riders in the Sky, Alvin Crow and the Pleasant Valley Boys and singers like Michael Murphey, Don Edwards etc. 'Country rock' seemed to develop as a category of its own for a while, ranging from rockabilly though the Byrds, Flying Burritos etc. Later, all manner of sub-genres emerged with their own handles, but the term 'country' still seems to embrace the whole shemozzle.

In respect of the adjective 'country' when used in the term 'country blues', I believe Jeff Todd Titon has a persuasive argument. He suggests that its use became widespread among writers on the blues after the publication of Samuel Charter's 'The Country Blues' in 1959. 'Country' refers to a physical place - a rural landscape with low population density or where a town 'ain't nothin' but a wide space in the highway'. Titon prefers to use the term 'downhome' in place of 'country - and he points out that black Americans have employed both terms - because it refers 'not to a place but to a spirit, a sense of place evoked in singer and listener by a style of music'. The term 'country' is problematic in that the style of music which it seeks to depict was performed regularly in towns and cities, and by people who grew up there - Lightning Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell etc.

--Stewie.