Holler Blues

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Holler Blues refers to blues songs that are sung in the holler style, or the field holler style. Field hollers are also referred to as whoopings, arhoolies, and hollers. They began as vocal communications among slaves on plantations, which were not expressed by a group but by individuals. Hollers were used to communicate feelings or messages, and, as Frederick Douglass has written, were often melancholic and marked by vocal gymnastics. As the holler became rare, it’s aesthetic and qualities live on in blues songs. [1]

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The field holler or field call is mostly a historical type of vocal music sung by field slaves in the United States to accompany their tasked work, to communicate usefully, or to vent feelings. It differs from the collective work song in that it was sung solo, though early observers noted that a holler, or ‘cry’, might be echoed by other workers. Though commonly associated with cotton cultivation, the field holler was also sung by levee workers, and field hands in rice and sugar plantations. Field hollers are also known as corn-field hollers, water calls, and whoops. An early description is from 1853 and the first recordings are from the 1930s. The holler is closely related to the call and response of work songs and arhoolies. The Afro-American music form ultimately influenced strands of African American music, such as the blues, rhythm and blues and negro spirituals.

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References

  1. Alexander, Leslie. M. Rucker, Walter, Jr. eds. Encyclopedia of African American History. ABC-CLIO (2010). ISBN   9781851097746. page 196.