The
roots of this genre lie in the Piney Woods of northeast Texas dating
back to the late 19th century. What became boogie-woogie
began in African-American communities in the late 1870s and evolved
from there. Oral histories that were gathered in the 1930s from some
of the oldest living Americans, both African-Americans and white
Americans, showed a widespread consensus that revealed that
boogie-woogie piano was first played in Texas in the early 1870s.
Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941), African-American ragtime and jazz
pianist, bandleader, and composer said he first heard boogie-woogie
on a piano early in the 20th century. Influenced by blues
and ragtime, the genre evolved and spread out as time went on. In
turn, it had an influence on other genres, country and western music
one of them. Boogie-woogie, initially played on the piano, eventually
found its way to the guitar. African-American folk and blues singer
and musician Lead Belly (1888-1949) was known for his proficiency on
the 12 string guitar. He was among the first guitar players to adapt
the rolling bass of the piano for the guitar. Lead Belly was born in
Mooringsport, Louisiana and raised in Harrison county, Texas. He said
he first heard a boogie-woogie piano in the area of Caddo Lake in
northeast Texas in 1899. Another time he heard boogie-woogie coming
from a piano was in Shreveport, Louisiana's Fannin Street district.
White country musician Merle Travis (1917-1983) played a role in
marrying country music and boogie-woogie. He learned his guitar style
from his father's barber Ike Everly (1908-1975; father of Don (1937-2021) and
Phil (1939-2014)). His picking style was called “Travis picking”
which was born during his boogie-woogie period and changed guitar
playing in America. It involved picking bass with one finger while
picking the melody at the same time.
Jelly Roll Morton "Boogie Woogie Blues"
Merle Travis and "Cannonball Rag"
Hillbilly
Boogie:
Fads
come and go and boogie-woogie, considered a fad, had just about gone
away in the late 1930's into the early 1940's. After WWII the genre
was resurrected in country music where it was called hillbilly
boogie. It wasn't much of a stretch since there was already a
relationship between country music and boogie-woogie. Rock historian
Ed Ward (from an interview transcript from NPR dated Nov. 15, 2011)
gives the credit for hillbilly boogie to Arthur Smith who, Ward says,
started it all in 1945. Smith's Hot Quintet, having some time
remaining in a recording session, recorded “Guitar Boogie” on a
lark. The song became a hit and for the rest of his life Smith was
billed as Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith (1921-2014). However,
according to an article at WikiZero, musicians who played country
music began recording boogie music in 1939. This came after Johnny
Barefield (1909-1974) recorded “Boogie Woogie”, also in 1939. The
Delmore Brothers (Alton (1908-1964) & Rabon (1916-1952)) embraced the boogie-woogie style sometime in the
1940s. With their influence hillbilly boogie found itself at home
among musicians recording country music. Their “Freight Train
Boogie” was said to be part of the joint evolution of country music
and the blues that culminated into rockabilly. While hillbilly boogie
and country music were becoming great friends, Western swing was
evolving even more in Texas and Louisiana. In those places polka and
a bit of jazz were tossed into the music mix that included hillbilly
boogie.
Arthur Smith and Guitar Boogie
Rockabilly:
Rockabilly
draws on two major influences: country music and rock music. At the
time rockabilly was born rock music usually referred to the rhythm
and blues music made by African-American musicians. Rockabilly's
roots lie in the American South. There, for decades before rockabilly
was a twinkle in anyone's eye, the music played by African-Americans
and that played by white Americans had mixed and mingled. Sun Records
recorded some of the best examples of rockabilly music. Their roster
included Elvis (do you really need a last name? (1935-1977)), Carl Perkins (1932-1998),
Johnny Cash (1932-2003) and Jerry Lee Lewis (1935-). While men dominated rockabilly there
were two women who held their own against them: Wanda Jackson (1937-) and
Brenda Lee (1944-). Jackson sung a song entitled “Rockabilly Fever”,
written by Carl Perkins, which gives this description of rockabilly:
“We
took a little country music, put some pop in, and dressed it up in
soul.”
Rockabilly
songs are a vivacious high-energy take on a blues chord progression.
In a rockabilly band there would be three or four members. There
would be two guitars, one electric and one acoustic. The former would
handle lead duties and the latter held rhythm duties. From hillbilly
boogie lead guitars adopted a heavy twang. The upright bass was often
played by slapping rather than plucking. Some guitarists, like Carl
Perkins, also sang. Drumming wasn't often considered because the bass
could double as both rhythm and percussion.
Rockabilly
singers had different styles of singing. For instance, the deep,
overheated sound of R & B and blues singers was favored by Elvis
and Gene Vincent (1935-1971). Others, however, could be rather eccentric, like
Charlie Feathers (1932-1998). He included vocal tricks and tics in his singing
such as hiccups and croons.
Carl Perkins singing "Honey Don't"
Wanda Jackson singing "Hard Headed Woman"
Western
Swing:
This
sub-genre of country music began in the late 1920's in the West and
the South with regional western string bands. It grew out of jazz but
was actually a mix of rural, cowboy, polka, old-time, Dixieland jazz,
and blues music which was blended with swing. It was played by a hot
string band accompanied by drums, saxophones, pianos and, most
notably, the fiddle and the steel guitar. The stringed instruments
were electrically amplified and this gave the music a distinctive
sound. Don't try and marry Western swing bands with the big swing
bands of the same era. The two do differ. In Western swing bands,
even if heavily orchestrated, the fiddle would most always take the
lead, though the steel guitar could also take the lead, and other
instruments, even the vocals, followed it. Unlike the horn laden big
swing bands, who arranged and scored their own music, Western swing
bands freely improvised. This improvisation occurred either by the
band as a whole or by the vocalist. Country singer and musician Merle
Travis defined Western swing thus:
"Western
swing is nothing more than a group of talented country boys,
unschooled in music, but playing the music they feel, beating a solid
two-four rhythm to the harmonies that buzz around their brains. When
it escapes in all its musical glory, my friend, you have Western
swing."
During
the 1930's and 1940's Western swing's unique up-beat style drew large
crowds to dance halls and night clubs in Texas, Oklahoma, and
California. Unfortunately, in 1944 a war-time 30% federal excise tax
was levied against dance halls and nightclubs that allowed dancing.
Even though it was later dropped to 20% “no dancing” signs
remained posted and, in essence, was the death knell for Western
swing. The war-time tax is believed to have curtailed public dancing
as a recreational activity. Well, not quite. Recordings by Bob
Wills, Spade Cooley and others were ever popular after the war. Folks
could dance again in public if they wanted to but then again, they could
dance at home as well.
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, feat. Joe Andrews singing "Deep Water"
I
think the key component to all four genres is the instruments. In
boogie-woogie it's the rousing way a piano is played. Hillbilly
boogie and Western swing have four stringed instruments in common:
acoustic, electric and steel guitars and the standup bass. However,
Western swing has the fiddle which would be as prominent as the steel
guitar. Later, in rockabilly, there would just be heavy bass lines
and no percussion.
So
while each genre grew out of another, influenced another, or was
influenced by another, they developed in such a way to make each
music genre their own by deciding which elements to keep and which
ones to let go of.
