Honky tonk

The Honky thin-bars were simple establishments, especially deep in the south and south-west, which offered alcoholic drinks to people from the working class. They also provided a venue for pianists and small ensembles, and sometimes even centers of prostitution.

The differences between honky thin-bars, saloons, and dancing venues were often blurred, especially in cattle-breeding or mining towns, military forts and oil fields in the west. As the variety of entertainment venues disappeared, the honkas subtly became associated with low-class bars serving ordinary people. Being similar to the definition of “ beer joint ” and other similar terms, honky thin bars served beer or spirits and could also have a stage and a dance floor. Many of them were equipped with jukeboxes .

The first musical genre known as honky tonk was the kind of piano game in the style of ragtime , with an enhanced rhythm, sometimes even knocking out of the motive of the composition. Thus, honky tonk had a strong influence on the piano-style boogie-woogie , as shown by compositions by Jelly Morton's “Honky Tonk Music” of 1938 and Med Lewis's “Honky Tonk Train Blues”, which he recorded many times since 1927 until the 1950s. Another legendary honky tonk pianist was New Orleans native Fats Domino , whose songs “Blueberry Hill” and “Walkin 'to New Orleans” became hits on popular music charts .

Before World War II , the music industry defined the honky honky that was played from Texas and Oklahoma to the Pacific coast as a hillbilly style. Later it began to be considered the main style of country music, developed in Nashville with the advent of Western swing . Initially, in the honky tonk style, they used the guitar, violin, double bass, and steel (ukulele) guitar ( eng. Steel guitar ). Honky Tonk was also one of the first country styles to use electric guitars. The vocals were usually rude and nasal, as, for example, the famous performers Floyd Tillman and Hank Williams . However, later a clean and clear sound came from singers such as George Jones and Johnny Paychek . The texts described the life of the working class. Very often the tragic themes of lost love, betrayal, loneliness, alcoholism and self-pity were used. An example is Ted Duffin ’s song “Born to Lose”.

During World War II , honky tonk was popularized by Ernest Tabb (I'm Walking The Floor Over You), who brought his style to Nashville and became the first artist to use an electric guitar on the Grand Ole Opry . The 1950s became the golden age of honky tonk, thanks to the massive popularity of artists such as Webb Pierce , Hank Loklin , Lefti Frizzell , George Jones and, of course, the legendary Hank Williams . In the late 1950s, rockabilly , which combined honky tonk country with rhythm and blues style and smooth Nashville sound, completed the dominance of pure honky tonk.

In the 1970s, the " outlaw " country style was one of the most popular music genres. And its variety - the rough honky tonk, presented by such artists as Gary Stewart , Waylon Jennings , Willy Nelson , David Allan Coe and Billy Joe Shiver , in fact, created the direction of the "alternative" country in the 1990s. In the 1980s, the revived sleek honky tonk grabbed the music charts. In the middle of the decade, a pop-oriented version of honky tonk, created by George Straight and Dwight Yokam , became widely popular. And really mass it becomes in the early 90's, with such singers as Garth Brooks , Alan Jackson , Clint Black . Later, country draws closer to pop music and moves away from its roots, which, however, does not interfere with its popularity, as can be seen in the examples of such singers as Shania Twain and Faith Hill .