The Origins of Boogie Woogie Music
In the year 1939, E. Simms Campbell, an African American historian, penned the words, “The origins of Boogie Woogie piano playing can be traced back to the lumber and turpentine camps of Texas, as well as the sporting houses in that state.”
Campbell described Boogie Woogie power piano playing as having “a rapid, rolling bass that imbues the piece with an undercurrent of immense strength.”
In the years preceding and following 1900, the vast forests of longleaf pines in East Texas were scattered with camps occupied by men who toiled tirelessly to harvest resin for turpentine production.
However, once night fell and weekends arrived, these camps became infamous for their drunken brawls, deceitful card games, and deadly knife fights. Amidst this chaos, a truly American form of music began to take shape — the Boogie Woogie. Within the camps, there were always barrelhouses, where barrels were crafted and filled with resin. Come Saturday nights, planks of lumber were placed atop the barrels, transforming them into makeshift bars.
Thus, even before Boogie Woogie made its mark on music history, the style of piano playing was referred to as “barrelhouse piano.”
Dr. John Tennison, the founder of the Boogie Woogie Foundation in San Antonio, believes that brothers Hersal and George W. Thomas were instrumental in bringing the Boogie Woogie style from the barrelhouses of East Texas to Houston, and subsequently to New Orleans and Chicago.
In Texas, the term “Booger Rooger” was used by blues guitarist Blind Lemon Jefferson as early as 1917–18. However, the earliest evidence of “Boogie Woogie” as a descriptor for piano music was found in the 1923 reprint of George Thomas’ “New Orleans Hop Scop Blues,” where Clarence Williams wrote that although Boogie Woogie originated in Texas, it was not given that name until George Thomas heard it, further developed the style, and first published “New Orleans Hop Scop Blues” in 1916.
Chester Norris, a former boss of a turpentine camp in Broaddus, referred to turpentiners as “the most vicious people to ever live.” According to him, they would kill each other, typically one or two individuals every Saturday night. If gambling and a barrelhouse were not available, they would move on to camps where such amenities existed.
Norris acknowledged the innate musical sense possessed by the black turpentine workers. “They could create music while fitting the hoops on wooden staves,” he remarked.
Early Boogie Woogie musicians drew inspiration from the sounds emitted by steam locomotives that passed through the turpentine and lumber camps of East Texas.
In a 1988 British television broadcast centered on Boogie Woogie, music historian Paul Oliver stated, “The conductors were accustomed to the logging camp pianists hopping on board, sharing a few tales, disembarking at another logging camp, and playing for eight hours straight. Through this method, the music spread throughout Texas and eventually beyond.” Music historian Alan Lomax also wrote in 1993, “Nameless black musicians, yearning to escape their troubles, incorporated the rhythms of steam locomotives and the mournful wails of their whistles into the new dance music they performed in jukes and dance halls. Boogie Woogie forever revolutionized piano playing as these talented black pianists transformed the instrument into a polyrhythmic railroad train.”
