Boogie-woogie is a style of piano-based blues that became very popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but originated much earlier, and was extended from piano, to three pianos at once, guitar, big band, and country and western music, and even gospel. The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles A big band is a type of Musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. This article is about the canonical books of the New Testament Whilst the blues traditionally depicts sadness and sorrow, boogie-woogie is associated with dancing. The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic The lyrics of one of the very earliest, "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie", consist entirely of instructions to dancers:

Now, when I tell you to hold it, I don't want you to move a thing. Clarence Smith, better known as Pinetop Smith or Pine Top Smith ( 11 June, 1904 - 15 March, 1929) was an influential American

And when I tell you to get it, I want you to Boogie Woogie!

It is characterized by a regular bass figure, an ostinato and the most familiar example of shifts of level, in the left hand which elaborates on each chord, and trills and decorations from the right hand. A bassline (also spelled bass line) is the term used in many styles of Popular music, such as jazz blues funk and electronic Music for the low-pitched In Music, an Ostinato (derived from Italian: "stubborn" see also Oscillation) is a motif or phrase which is persistently A level (van der Merwe 1989 also "tonality level" Kubik's "tonal step" and John Blacking 's " Root progression " is a temporary

It is not strictly a solo piano style, but is also used to accompany singers and as a solo part in bands and small combos. It is sometimes called "eight to the bar", as much of it is written in common time (4/4) time using eighth notes (quavers) (see time signature). In Musical notation, a bar or measure is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration The time signature (also known as " meter signature" is a notational convention used in Western Musical notation to specify how many beats The time signature (also known as " meter signature" is a notational convention used in Western Musical notation to specify how many beats 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. A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence) is a series of chords played in order

For the most part, boogie-woogie tunes are twelve-bar blues, although the style has been applied to popular songs like "Swannee River" and hymns like "(Just a) Closer Walk with Thee. "Old Folks at Home" also known by the words of its first line "(Way Down Upon the Swanee River" is a song written in 1851 by composer Stephen Foster, to be "

Typical boogie woogie bassline:

History

The origin of the term boogie-woogie is unknown, according to Webster's Third New International Dictionary. Webster's Dictionary is the name given to a common type of English language dictionary in the United States. The Oxford English Dictionary states that the word is a redoubling of boogie, which was used for rent parties as early as 1913. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English A rent party (sometimes called a House party) is a social occasion where tenants hire a musician or band to play and pass the hat to raise money to pay their rent originating The term is often hyphenated. A hyphen ( -) is a Punctuation mark It is used for both Words to join and to separate Syllables It is often confused with the dashes Blues historian Robert Palmer wrote that the boogie-woogie style bass pattern may have been created in the logging and turpentine camps and oil boomtowns of Texas, Louisiana, and the Mississippi Delta circa 1900. Robert Franklin Palmer Jr ( June 19, 1945 &ndash November 20, 1997) was a 20th century American writer Musicologist, A boomtown is a Community that experiences sudden and rapid population and Economic growth. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America The Mississippi Delta is the distinct northwest section of the state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers Technically Palmer also reports that Willie Dixon told Karl Gert zur Heide, author of "Deep South Piano" that in Mississippi before the term boogie was used, the eight to the bar piano patterns were called "Dudlow Joes". William James "Willie" Dixon ( July 1, 1915 &ndash January 29, 1992) was a well-known American Blues Bassist ^[1][2] ref.

In an interview with NPR blues singer and pianist Marcia Ball stated that "Boogie woogie started out with a bunch of different names, depending on where you were. Marcia Ball (born March 20 1949, Orange, Texas) is an American Blues Singer and Pianist, born Apparently there was a song by a guy named Dudlow, Joe Dudlow. He’s the first guy that a lot of them heard that was playing that kind of um… [playing]. And so they called it that for a while, Dudlow Joe. " [1] The precise origin of boogie-woogie piano is, however, uncertain; it was no doubt influenced by early rough music played in honky tonks in the Southern United States. A honky tonk (also called a honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is a type of bar with musical entertainment that is common in the Southwestern The Southern United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South &mdashconstitutes a large distinctive W.C. Handy and Jelly Roll Morton both mentioned hearing pianists playing this style before 1910. William Christopher Handy ( November 16 1873 &ndash March 28 1958) was a Blues Composer and Musician, often Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton ( ca September 20, 1885 or October 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941) was an Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting According to Clarence Williams, the style was started by Texas pianist George W. Thomas. George Washington Thomas Jr (born 1885 Houston Texas - died according to differing sources in March 1930 Chicago, Illinois or 1936 Washington Thomas published one of the earliest pieces of sheet music with the boogie-woogie bassline, "New Orleans Hop Scop Blues" in 1916, although Williams recalled hearing him play the number before 1911. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The term "boogie" itself was in use very early, as in Wilbur Sweatman's "Boogie Rag" recorded in April, 1917. Wilbur C Sweatman ( Brunswick Missouri, February 7 1882 - New York City, March 9, 1961) was an African-American link

'The Fives', which was composed by George and Hersal Thomas from Texas, was copyrighted in 1921 and published in 1922, deserves much credit for the development of modern Boogie Woogie. All modern Boogie Woogie bass figures can be found in "The Fives," including swinging, walking broken-octave bass, shuffled (swinging) chord bass (of the sort later used by Ammons, Lewis, and Clarence "Pine Top" Smith), and the ubiquitous "oom-pah" ragtime stride bass. ^[3]

A song titled "Tin Roof Blues" was published in 1923 by the Clarence Williams Publishing Company. Compositional credit is given to Richard Jones. The Jones composition uses a boogie bass in the introduction with some variation throughout. ^[4][5] In February of 1923 Joseph Samuels' Tampa Blue Jazz Band recorded the George W. Joseph Samuels (possibly died in July 1953; see below was an American Musician and Bandleader, who is today virtually only known through his Thomas number "The Fives" for Okeh Records, considered the first example of jazz band boogie-woogie. Okeh Records began as an Independent record label based in the United States of America in Jimmy Blythe's recording of "Chicago Stomps" from April of 1924 is sometimes called the first complete boogie-woogie piano solo record. Jimmy Blythe ( May 20 1901 - June 21 1931) was an influential American Jazz and Boogie woogie Pianist Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The first boogie woogie hit was "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" by Pinetop Smith (1928 in music) recorded in 1928 and first released in 1929. Clarence Smith, better known as Pinetop Smith or Pine Top Smith ( 11 June, 1904 - 15 March, 1929) was an influential American Events April 27 - Igor Stravinsky 's ballet Apollon musagète is premiered in Washington September 11 Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Pinetop's record was the first boogie-woogie recording to be a commercial hit, and helped established boogie-woogie as the name of the style. It was closely followed by another example of pure boogie-woogie, "Honky Tonk Train Blues" by Meade Lux Lewis, recorded by Paramount Records; 1927 in music, first released in March of 1930. Meade Anderson "Lux" Lewis ( September 3, 1905 – June 7, 1964) was a United States pianist and composer noted for his work Meade Anderson "Lux" Lewis ( September 3, 1905 – June 7, 1964) was a United States pianist and composer noted for his work Paramount Records was an American Record label, best known for its recordings of African-American Jazz and Blues in the 1920s and Events January 8 - Alban Berg 's Lyric Suite is premiered in Vienna. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The performance emulates a railroad trip, perhaps lending credence to the "train theory".

Late 1930s: Carnegie Hall

Boogie-woogie gained further public attention in 1938 and 1939, thanks to the From Spirituals to Swing concerts in Carnegie Hall promoted by record producer John Hammond. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. From Spirituals to Swing was the title of two influential concerts presented by John Hammond in Carnegie Hall on 23 December 1938 and 24 December 1939 Carnegie Hall (generally ˌkɑrnɨgi ˈhɔːl is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing John Henry Hammond II ( December 15, 1910 – July 10, 1987) was a Record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the The concerts featured Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner performing Turner's tribute to Johnson, "Roll 'Em Pete", as well as Meade Lux Lewis performing "Honky Tonk Train Blues" and Albert Ammons playing "Swanee River Boogie'. Peter (Pete Johnson ( 24 March 1904 - 23 March 1967) was an American Jazz Pianist, best known as a leading For the Ice hockey player see Joe Turner Big Joe Turner (born Joseph Vernon Turner Jr "Roll 'Em Pete" is a Rhythm and blues song originally recorded in 1938 by Big Joe Turner and pianist Pete Johnson. Meade Anderson "Lux" Lewis ( September 3, 1905 – June 7, 1964) was a United States pianist and composer noted for his work Albert Ammons ( September 23 1907 — December 2 1949) was an American Pianist.

These three pianists, with Turner, took up residence in the Café Society night club in New York City where they were popular with the sophisticated set. The City of New York They often played in combinations of two and even three pianos, creating a richly textured piano performance.

1930s-1940s: Swing

After the Carnegie Hall concerts, it was only natural for swing bands to incorporate the boogie woogie beat into some of their music. One of the first to do this was the Will Bradley orchestra, starting in 1939, which got them a string of boogie hits such as the original versions of "Beat Me Daddy (Eight To The Bar)" and "Down The Road A-Piece," both 1940, and "Scrub Me Mamma With A Boogie Beat," in 1941. Wilbur Schwichtenberg ( July 12, 1912 – July 15, 1989) was an American Trombonist and Bandleader who performed The Andrews Sisters sang some boogies, and Tommy Dorsey's band had a hit with an updated version of Pine Top's Boogie Woogie in 1938, which was the Swing Era's second best seller, only second to Glenn Miller's "In the Mood". Tommy Dorsey ( November 19 1905 &ndash November 26 1956) was an American Jazz Trombonist, Trumpeter The Swing Era was the period of time (1935&ndash1946 when Big band Swing music was the most popular music in America. Alton Glenn Miller ( March 1 1904 &ndash presumably December 15 1944) was an American Jazz musician and " In the Mood " is a song popularized by the American bandleader Glenn Miller in 1939 and one of the best-known arrangements of the Big band era After the floodgates were open, it was expected that every big band should have one or two boogie numbers in their repertoire, as the dancers were learning to jitterbug and do the Lindy Hop, which required the boogie woogie beat. Jitterbug can be used as a Noun to refer to a swing dancer or various types of Swing dances e Lindy Hop is an African American dance that evolved in New York City in 1927

Derivative forms

In 1939 country artists began playing boogie woogie when Johnny Barfield recorded "Boogie Woogie". "Cow Cow Boogie" was written for, but not used in, the 1942 movie "Ride 'em Cowboy". This song by Benny Carter, Gene DePaul, and Don Raye successfully combined Boogie Woogie and Western, or Cowboy music. Bennett Lester Carter (born August 8, 1907 in Harlem New York; died July 12, 2003 in Los Angeles California) was Gene de Paul ( June 17, 1919 - February 27, 1988) was an American Pianist, Composer and Songwriter Don Raye ( March 16, 1909 - January 29, 1985) born Donald MacRae Wilhoite Jr The lyrics leave no doubt that it was a Western Boogie Woogie. It sold over a million records in its original release, and has now been recorded many times. [2]

The trickle of what was initially called Hillbilly Boogie, or Okie Boogie (later to be renamed Country Boogie), became a flood beginning around late 1945. One notable country boogie from this period was the Delmore Brothers "Freight Train Boogie", considered to be part of the combined evolution of country music and blues towards rockabilly. Alton (1908-1964 and Rabon Delmore (1916-1952 billed as The Delmore Brothers, were Country music pioneers and stars of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1930s Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of Rock and roll music and emerged in the early 1950s In 1948 Arthur Smith achieved Top 10 US country chart success with his MGM Records recordings of "Guitar Boogie" and "Banjo Boogie", with the former crossing over to the US pop chart, introducing many people to the potential of the electric guitar. Arthur Smith (born April 1, 1921 in Clinton South Carolina) is an American musician and songwriter MGM Records was a Record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film studio in 1946 [3] The Hillbilly Boogie period lasted into the 1950s, the last recordings of this era were made by Tennessee Ernie Ford with Cliffie Stone and his orchestra with the great guitar duo Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West. Ernest Jennings Ford ( February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991) better known by the Stage name Tennessee Ernie Ford, was Cliffie Stone (born Clifford Gilpin Snyder March 1 1917, Burbank, California – January 17 1998) was a country Jimmy Bryant ( March 5, 1925 &ndash September 22, 1980) was a prominent American session Guitarist. Wesley Webb "Speedy" West ( January 25, 1924 – November 15, 2003) was an American Pedal steel guitarist Bill Haley and the Saddlemen recorded two boogies in 1951. This article is specifically about the singer For detailed information about his rock and roll group see Bill Haley & His Comets.

The boogie beat has continued in country music through the end of the twentieth century. The Charlie Daniels Band (whose earlier tune "The South's Gonna Do It Again" uses boogie-woogie influences) released "Boogie Woogie Fiddle Country Blues" in 1988,[4] and three years later in 1991 Brooks & Dunn had a huge hit with "Boot Scootin' Boogie". Charlie Daniels (born October 28, 1936 in Wilmington, North Carolina) is an American musician famous for his contributions to Brooks & Dunn are an American Country music duo consisting of Singer-songwriters Kix Brooks (born Leon Eric Brooks III May 12, 1955 "Boot Scootin' Boogie" is a single released in 1992 by the American Country music duo Brooks & Dunn. [5]

More representative examples can be found in some of the songs of Western Swing pioneer Bob Wills, and subsequent tradition-minded country artists such as Asleep At The Wheel, Merle Haggard, and even George Strait.

The popularity of the Carnegie Hall concerts meant work for many of the fellow boogie players and also led to the adaptation of boogie-woogie sounds to many other forms of music. Tommy Dorsey's band had a hit with "T. Tommy Dorsey ( November 19 1905 &ndash November 26 1956) was an American Jazz Trombonist, Trumpeter D. 's Boogie Woogie" as arranged by Sy Oliver and soon there were boogie-woogie songs, recorded and printed, of many different stripes. Melvin "Sy" Oliver (born December 17, 1910 in Battle Creek Michigan &mdash died May 28, 1988 in New York City Most famously, in the big-band genre, the ubiquitous "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," which was revamped recently by Christina Aguilara as her 2006 hit, "Candy Man. "

In the many styles of blues, especially Chicago blues and (more recently) West Coast blues, most pianists were influenced by, and employed, the traditional boogie woogie styles. Some of the earliest and most influential were Big Maceo Merriweather and, later, Sunnyland Slim (perhaps the greatest of all Chicago blues pianists). Otis Spann and Pinetop Perkins, two of the best known blues pianists, are heavily boogie-woogie influenced, with the latter taking both his name and signature tune from Pinetop Smith.

The boogie-woogie fad lasted from the late 1930s into the early fifties,^[6] and made a major contribution to the development of jump blues and ultimately to rock and roll, epitomized by Jerry Lee Lewis. Jump blues is a type of Up-tempo Blues music influenced by Big band sound Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African Jerry Lee Lewis (born September 29, 1935) is an American Rock and roll and Country music Singer, Songwriter Boogie woogie is still to be heard in clubs and on records throughout Europe and North America.

In classical music, the composer Conlon Nancarrow was also deeply influenced by boogie-woogie, as many of his early works for player piano demonstrate. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance Conlon Nancarrow (born October 27 1912 &ndash August 10 1997) was a U The player piano is a self-playing Piano, containing a pneumatic mechanism that plays on the piano action pre-programmed Music via perforated paper rolls "A Wonderful Time Up There" is a boogie woogie gospel song. Povel Ramel's first hit in 1944 was Johanssons boogie-woogie-vals where he mixed boogie-woogie with waltz. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The waltz is a ballroom and folk Dance in time, performed primarily in Closed position. John Lee Hooker took the Boogie-woogie style over to guitar from piano, creating the Boogie song "Boogie Chillen". John Lee Hooker ( August 22, 1917 &ndash June 21, 2001) was an influential American Post-war Blues singer Boogie is a repetitive Swung note or Shuffle Rhythm, "groove" or pattern used in Blues which was originally played " Boogie Chillen' " is an Electric blues song written by John Lee Hooker.

Beginning in the 1970's, and continuing to this day, artists such as George Frayne (Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen), keep (mostly) traditional boogie style alive with songs such as "Rock That Boogie", "Too Much Fun", "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", and others. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen was a Country rock band formed in 1967 in Ann Arbor Michigan. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century Jools Holland has been instrumental in keeping the boogie-woogie tradition alive. Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English Pianist, Bandleader

See also

• Boogie
• List of Boogie-Woogie musicians
• [Boogie Woogie the Movie]

References

1. ^ "Deep Blues" by Robert Palmer 1981 page 150
2. ^ E. Boogie is a repetitive Swung note or Shuffle Rhythm, "groove" or pattern used in Blues which was originally played Among the many boogie-woogie musicians are not only Blues players but Rock and roll, and Country musicians as well and at least one classical Simms Campbell, “Blues,” in Jazzmen, ed. F. Ramsey and C. E. Smith (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1939) 112-113
3. ^ History of Boogie Woogie Retrieved April 11, 2008
4. ^ see section on Tin Roof Blues
5. ^ http://dippermouth.blogspot.com/2007/09/jazzin-babies-blues.html additional information on this song and songs based on it]
6. ^ "Deep Blues" by Robert Palmer 1981 page 130

External links

Resources

• The Boogie Woogie Foundation (contains extensive article on the history of Boogie Woogie)
• Boogie Woogie Piano Articles
• All Things Boogie

Festivals

• International Boogie Woogie Festival Netherlands
• International Boogie Woogie Festival Switzerland