Pre-SJICC leadup column

1. Texarkana , 2017-02-12 Cropped page Page: 1C
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Eventually, around 2008 or so, he “They’re always trying to buy a neck want one to look like in just minutes.
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COLUMN | MUSIC HISTORY
“There is every reason for us to know
something about Africa and to under-
stand its past and the way of life of its
peoples. Africa is a rich continent that
has for centuries pro-
vided the world with
art, culture, labor,
wealth, and natural
resources.”—George
C. Bond, Ph.D.,
Director, Institute
of African Studies,
Columbia University
It’s Black History
Month, we are mov-
ing towards the Scott
Joplin Centennial,
and it’s also a good
time to clarify why
the 4-4-0 “American
Classic” locomotive with Texas
& Pacific markings and the “5” on
the front graces the Regional Music
Heritage Center logo. The accom-
panying map is thanks to Dr. John
Tennison as is the bulk of the material
in this article.
Everyone, especially the people
of Texarkana and the surrounding
area, should recognize that the three
most popular forms of music associ-
ated with American culture world-
wide have a direct lineage to Boogie-
Woogie and therefore our region. We
are the fountainhead of American
music. Here’s why.
“The first Negroes who played what
is called boogie woogie, or house-rent
music, and attracted attention in city
slums where other Negroes held jam
sessions, were from Texas. And all
the Old-time Texans, black or white,
are agreed that boogie piano players
were first heard in the lumber and
turpentine camps, where nobody was
at home at all. The style dates from
the early 1870s. Even before ragtime,
with its characteristic syncopation
and forward momentum, was picked
up by whites in the North, boogie was
a necessary factor in Negro existence
wherever the struggle for an econom-
ic foothold had grouped the ex-slaves
in segregated communities (mostly
in water-front cities along the Gulf,
the Mississippi and its tributaries),”
according to “That Crazy American
Music” a book by Elliot Paul, pub-
lished in 1957.
That quote originates from a long
time before Dr. Tennison’s research,
but is consistent with his findings
that the origin of Boogie-Woogie was
in and around Marshall, Texas. In
1986, Lee Ree Sullivan of Texarkana
told Dr. Tennison that he was familiar
with “Fast Western” and “Fast Texas”
as terms to refer to Boogie-Woogie
in general, but not to denote the use
of any specific bass figure used in
Boogie-Woogie.
Sullivan said “Fast Western” and
David
Mallette
Columnist
Illustration courtesy David Mallette
See MALLETTE on Page 3C
Our region is fountainhead of American popular music
See BRALEY on Page 3C

2. Texarkana , 2017-02-12 Cropped page Page: 3C
Copyright 2016 Olive Software 2017-03-10 13:06:22
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Judge Leon and Beth Pesek of
Texarkana,TXannouncement the
engagement of their daughter,
Katie Elizabeth Pesek, to Eric
Dean Osburn, son of Phillip and
Laquita Osburn of Texarkana,AR.
Miss Pesek is a 2014 graduate of
Ouachita Baptist University.
She is currently seeking her
master’s degree at Texas A&M
University—Texarkana and plans
to graduate in May 2017.
Katie is employed at Edward D.
Trice Renaissance Elementary
Magnet School teaching graphic
design and broadcasting.
Eric is a graduate of Texarkana
College Nursing Program and
is currently employed as a RN
surgical nurse by Christus St.
Michael Health System.
The wedding will be July 1st
in Texarkana,TX.
Pesek-Osburn
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shapes vary slightly, according
to the builder’s wishes. He came
up with a shape.
guitar works, and maybe that’s
broadened my thinking a little
bit,” Braley said.
“Fast Texas” were terms
that derived from the “Texas
Western” Railroad Company
of Harrison County, but which
did not build track until after
later changing its name to
“Southern Pacific” on Aug.
16, 1856. Although the “Texas
Western” Railroad Company
changed its name to “Southern
Pacific,” Sullivan said the name
“Texas Western” stuck among
the slaves who were used to
construct the first railway hub
in northeast Texas. The Texas-
based Southern Pacific Railroad
was bought out by the new-
ly-formed Texas and Pacific
Railroad on March 21, 1872.
According to Sullivan,
slaves had access to pianos on
Sundays in some white church-
es after services. Sullivan said
that, as far as he knew, prior to
the Civil War, Sunday was the
only day of the week on which
slaves formally congregated at
churches to play piano music
in Northeast Texas. Sounds of
steam locomotives could have
served as musical inspiration
even before African-Americans
had easy access to pianos.
A preponderance of evidence
points towards a Texas origin in
our region for Boogie-Woogie
and June 19, 1865, as a key date
in that development. This
date, known as “Juneteenth” in
Texas, celebrates the date that
news that the war had ended
emerged and that the enslaved
were now free. This great news
would be expressed by African-
Americans in ways that impact-
ed the development of Boogie-
Woogie:
1. Expressing freedom of trav-
el
2. Engaging in musical expres-
sion and experimentation
3. Communicating musical
ideas with each other
4. Greater access to pianos
and other items of previously
limited availability
Another thing prior to June
19, 1865, that was relevant to the
development of Boogie-Woogie
were the sounds of steam loco-
motives. These sounds would
have been heard by slaves work-
ing on railroad construction.
Dr. Tennison has recorded a
Boogie-Woogie synchronized
with an authentic T&P steam
locomotive sound that clearly
supports the idea that Boogie-
Woogie developed as a unique
expression of the African-
American musical traditions
combined with the sounds of
the railroad. The big “5” on the
locomotive on the RMHC logo
is a tribute to the “Fives,” a very
early Boogie-Woogie piece writ-
ten down by Hersal Thomas and
George W. Thomas. It contains
several of the basic bass figures
developed in the 1870s, several
decades before the “Fives” was
published.
As to those lines, part of
the evidence for the origin of
Boogie-Woogie in our region
is the earliest bass lines. These
include the “Marshall” bass
line, the “Texas & Pacific,” the
“Swampoodle,” the “Texarkana
& Northern, the “Black
Diamond,” the “Waskom,” the
“Shreveport,” the “Greenwood,”
the “Big Sandy,” and the “Tyler
Tap.”
Little question remains that
Boogie-Woogie originated
mainly within a 100-mile radius
of our area, and it’s also clear
that, while jazz and rock ‘n’ roll
might exist in some form with-
out Boogie-Woogie, they would
be very different without our
region and Boogie-Woogie.
David A. Mallette is executive
director of the Regional Music
Heritage Center in Texarkana,
Ark. For further information,
visit www.texarkanarmhc.org .
Mallette
Continued from Page 1C
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