[Ads-l] The truth about _boogie-joogie_

[Wilson Gray]

There are similar recordings - WRT the words - with the title, "Stop
Boogie-Woogie."

On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 2:15 PM, Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com> wrote:

> I've read:
> http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/05/pine-top-smith-
> pinetops-boogie-woogie.html
>
> That Clarence "Pine Top" Smith recorded the first song with the term
> "Boogie Woogie" in it, "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie"
> in 1928. Pretty clear (to me) from the way he uses it in the song that he
> didn't invent the term.
> I want all of you all to know this is Pine Top's Boogie Woogie
> I want everybody to dance 'em just like I tell you
> And when I say "Hold yourself" I want all of you to get ready to stop
> And when I've said "Stop", don't move
> And when I say "Get it", I want all of you all to do a boogie woogie
> Hold it now
> Stop
> Boogie woogie
> That's what I'm talkin' 'bout
>
> On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 10:01 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > According to HDAS, _boogie-joogie_ dates from 1957 - cited from _Corner
> > Boy_, a novel by fellow-St. Louisan and fraternity-brother Herbert
> Simmons
> > - and is a BE alt-term for _boogie-woogie_. There is a further cite,
> with a
> > different meaning, from 1974, about which I have no comment. According to
> > Green's, in addition to the cite from Simmons, defined as "boogie-Woogie
> > music," there is also another cite from 1957, the title of an
> instrumental
> > recording by another fellow-St. Louisan, the R&B saxophonist, Talmadge
> > "Tab" Smith. Green's also supplies the 1974 cite.
> >
> > Jesse Dillon "Spider" Burk/Burke/Burks - a native of The Lou who was a
> > graduate of Virginia's Hampton Institute, BTW, Margaret - was the first
> > black DJ in Saint Louis, beginning ca. 1946, and possibly the first in
> the
> > entire state of Missouri. He specialized in be-bop, music which, as he
> > characterized it in his patter, comprised "the cooler and the goner
> things"
> > that "took the ship out of the bottle and made it stand for a brand-new
> > sound!"
> >
> > Unfortunately, teen-agers, the backbone of any DJ's success, going back
> to
> > Darrell "Downbeat" Turner, a.k.a. "DDT," who introduced me to the term,
> > "d[isk-]j[ockey], were not particularly interested in what was cool, much
> > to Spider's chagrin. He had to dedicate a portion of his show
> specifically
> > to what he called "gut-bucket music," for which he felt nothing but
> > contempt. In those days, the standard school-day went from 9:00a.m. to
> > 3:00p.m.
> >
> > So, at 3;30, Spider began the portion of his show that he called, "The
> > After-School Swing Session," which he always introduced with the
> following
> > patter:
> >
> > "Let's take a stroll, down the alley behind my house! For *these* are the
> > _boogie-joogie_ sounds!"
> >
> > That is to say, _boogie-joogie_ originated as Spider Burks's contemptuous
> > adjective for the kind of "sounds" that, in those days, had no particular
> > name, but which, today, are called "rhythm and blues," "R&B," "doo-wop,"
> > "soul," "city blues," "urban blues," "golden oldies," "oldies but
> goodies,"
> > etc., and, especially, country blues. The etymon is clearly
> _boogie-woogie_
> > crossed with, possibly, _joog_, unused in StL, but, as noted, Spider went
> > to college out of town.
> >
> > Needless to say, both Herbert Simmons and Tab Smith, and any other black
> > St. Louisan from back in the day, would have long since been familiar
> with
> > "boogie-joogie" and been aware of its origin.
> >
> > In the '50's, there was a term of opprobrium: "off-the-wall,
> boogie-joogie
> > Santa Claus." I didn't understand its point and I was too cool to ask. It
> > didn't catch on, in any case.
> >
> > All night long blowin' be-bop sounds
> > And that jive ain't moved a soul
> > Then somebody put on the low-down blues
> > And the joint jumped ready to roll!
> > - "Talk About a Party"
> > Boogaloo & His Gallant Crew
> > 1956
> >
> > AFAIK, the use of "Boogaloo" as his stage-name by Kent Harris predates
> all
> > other uses of the word.
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > -Wilson
> > -----
> > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > -Mark Twain
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
>
> a
>
> Andy Bach,
> afbach at gmail.com
> 608 658-1890 cell
> 608 261-5738 wk
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org