Barrelhouse and Boogie
By Robbie Rhodes
I did a little research into these words about the music styles. The "barrel" is probably the smaller "pony barrel", filled with whisky or other spirits.
barrel house: A low drinking place. Slang, U.S. (Merriam Webster Dictionary, 1927)
barrelhouse: 1. A cheap drinking and usually dancing establishment; 2. A style of jazz characterized by a very heavy beat and simultaneous improvisation by each player. (Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, 1950s)
barrelhouse jazz: Rough-and-tumble, sleeves-rolled-up, knock-'em-down, hard-slugging, two-fisted jazz by a bunch of guys who know the score and love to play. A barrelhouse, according to Herbert Asbury in his colorful book, "The French Quarter", was the toughest kind of 19th century New Orleans guzzle-shop, consisting of a long, narrow, bare room with barrels along one wall, where the customers could fill a cup for only five cents. (From Columbia LP CL595, "Barrelhouse Jazz: Turk Murphy and His Jazz Band"; notes by George Avakian. circa 1952.)
boogie-woogie: A "boogie" is a bogie, a hobgoblin, anything magic. Witches, goblins, and other "boogies" dance to weird, disquieting music. So, music with something of the beat of the tom-toms in the bass is "boogie" music. "Woogie" is just a ricochet of "boogie." ("Why Do We Say It", author unknown, (c) 1985 Book Sales, Inc., New Jersey)
Robbie Rhodes
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