several months ago I mentioned turning my radio to a country station while I worked in my garage (I don't normally listen to country music) but in that 3 hour period it was already obvious to me that this chord pattern and melody combination was being used in country music the way C-Am-F-G was used in 60s songs

Regarding the pattern, and the application to other genres:
About 10 years ago I started listening to contemporary Christian music. At that time this same chord progression was very commonly used in that genre. My thinking is that since bible belt and country music share a lot of the same demographic, it makes sense that what the home schooled kids were listening to 10 years ago would start showing up in country music as they grew up.

There have been similar compilations of 60s, 70s and 80s songs overlaid that use different recurring chord pattern... I think its part of what makes one genre and era different from another


My 2cents worth. But then, I've been accused of being the person who put the "anal" in "analysis", so take it with a grain of salt.