"Sock It to Me"

[Wilson Gray]

On Jun 17, 2005, at 12:15 AM, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Sock It to Me"
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> On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 22:00:56 -0400, Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
> wrote:
>
>> What I go by is what I think when I first hear a record by a person. I
>> blush to admit it, but when I first heard Chuck Berry, I thought that
>> he was some white, rock-a-billy stud, an amazing error, considering
>> that Chuck and I both grew up in St. Louis, we both lived there at the
>> beginning of his career, and he still maintains a home there.
>
> Considering that his first hit, "Maybellene", was a rewrite of the old
> hillbilly tune "Ida Red" (recorded by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
> inter alia), I wouldn't be surprised if he was at first hard to
> categorize
> for many listeners.

It's been said that Chuck's singing and playing was greatly influenced
by his two stretches at Jeff City, the (former?) state prison, where he
came into contact with hillbilly players and singers from the Missouri
Ozarks.

> So are there any noticeable St. Louis-isms in Chuck Berry's songs?
> I've
> always wondered if, say, "gunny sack" ("Johnny B. Goode"), "juke joint"
> ("School Days"), "wiggles like a glow worm" ("Roll Over Beethoven"), or
> "blowin' like a hurrican" ("Rock and Roll Music") were hallmarks of
> AAVE
> in the St. Louis region.

Well, the pronunciation "herrican" is one, but the phrase "blowing like
a hurricane" isn't. We'd say, "The hawk talks." "Gunny sack" is used
instead of "crocus sack." Mostly, it's Chuck's pronunciation that's
peculiar to St. Louis.

-Wilson Gray
>
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>