Some of the players he heard were Dave Alexander, who recorded for Decca in 1937 as "Black Ivory King", and a piano player called Pine Top (not Pine Top Smith, who was not born until 1904, but possibly Pine Top Williams or Pine Top Hill.) Lead Belly was among the first guitar-players to adapt the rolling bass of boogie-woogie piano. Lead Belly also said he heard boogie-woogie piano in the Fannin Street district of Shreveport, Louisiana. He said it influenced his guitar-playing. Lead Belly, who was born in Mooringsport, La., and grew up in Harrison County, Texas, in the community of Leigh, said he first heard boogie-woogie piano in the Caddo Lake area of northeast Texas in 1899. Jefferson may have heard the term from Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, who played frequently with Jefferson. Tennison has recognized these 1919 recordings as the earliest sound recordings which contain a boogie-woogie bass figure.īlind Lemon Jefferson used the term "Booga Rooga" to refer to a guitar bass figure that he used in "Match Box Blues". The 1919 recordings (two takes) of " Weary Blues" by the Louisiana Five contained the same boogie-woogie bass figure as appears in the 1915 "Weary Blues" sheet music by Artie Matthews. None of these sheet music or audio recording examples contain the musical elements that would identify them as boogie-woogie. "Boogie" next occurs in the title of Wilbur Sweatman's April 1917 recording of "Boogie Rag". The Oxford English Dictionary states that the word is a reduplication of boogie, which was used for " rent parties" as early as 1913. (In 1880, "The Boogie Man" had occurred as the title of published music.) The first use of "Boogie" in a recording title appears to be a "blue cylinder" recording made by Edison of the "American Quartet" performing "That Syncopated Boogie Boo" in 1913. In 1901, "Hoogie Boogie" appeared in the title of published sheet music, the first known instance where a redoubling of the word "Boogie" occurs in the title of published music. In sheet music literature prior to 1900, there are at least three examples of the word "boogie" in music titles in the archives of the Library of Congress. The African origin of these terms is consistent with the African-American origin of the music. Bantu term "Mbuki Mvuki" (Mbuki: "to take off in flight" Mvuki: "to dance wildly, as if to shake off one's clothes"). West African word "Bogi" (which means "to dance").Mandingo word "Booga" (both of which mean "to beat", as in beating a drum).Several African terms have been suggested as having some interesting linguistic precursors to "boogie": Among them are the: The chord progressions are typically based on I– IV– V– I (with many formal variations of it, such as I/ i– IV/ iv– v/ I, as well as chords that lead into these ones).įor the most part, boogie-woogie tunes are twelve-bar blues, although the style has been applied to popular songs such as " Swanee River" and hymns such as " Just a Closer Walk with Thee". It is sometimes called "eight to the bar", as much of it is written in common time ( 4Ĥ) time using eighth notes ( quavers) (see time signature). The genre had a significant influence on rhythm and blues and rock and roll.īoogie-woogie is characterized by a regular left-hand bass figure, which is transposed following the chord changes.īoogie-woogie is not strictly a solo piano style it can accompany singers and be featured in orchestras and small combos. While standard blues traditionally expresses a variety of emotions, boogie-woogie is mainly dance music (although not usually played for the competitive dance known as boogie-woogie (dance), a term of convenience in that sport). It was eventually extended from piano to piano duo and trio, guitar, big band, country and western music, and gospel. Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since the 1870s.
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