Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South

by Patrick Huber

Overview

Contrary to popular belief, the roots of American country music do not lie solely on southern farms or in mountain hollows. Rather, much of this music recorded before World War II emerged from the bustling cities and towns of the Piedmont South. No group contributed more to the commercialization of early country music than southern factory workers. In Linthead Stomp, Patrick Huber explores the origins and development of this music in the Piedmont’s mill villages.

Huber offers vivid portraits of a colorful cast of Piedmont millhand musicians, including Fiddlin' John Carson, Charlie Poole, Dave McCarn, and the Dixon Brothers, and considers the impact that urban living, industrial work, and mass culture had on their lives and music. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including rare 78-rpm recordings and unpublished interviews, Huber reveals how the country music recorded between 1922 and 1942 was just as modern as the jazz music of the same era. Linthead Stomp celebrates the Piedmont millhand fiddlers, guitarists, and banjo pickers who combined the collective memories of the rural countryside with the upheavals of urban-industrial life to create a distinctive American music that spoke to the changing realities of the twentieth-century South.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469621913
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	12/01/2014
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	440
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Patrick Huber is professor of history at Missouri University of Science and Technology and the author or editor of five books, including The Hank Williams Reader.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface
Introduction
1 King of the Mountaineer Musicians: Fiddlin' John Carson
2 Rough and Rowdy Ways: Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers
3 Cain't Make a Living at a Cotton Mill: Dave McCarn
4 A Blessing to People: The Dixon Brothers, Howard and Dorsey
Epilogue
Appendix A. Directory of Southern Textile Workers Who Made Hillbilly Recordings, 1923-1942
Appendix B. Discography of Southern Textile Workers' Commercial Recordings, 1923-1942, Reissued on CD
Notes
Bibliography
Discography
Acknowledgments
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Patrick Huber has uncovered a hitherto unexplored influence on the development of early country music: southern textile mill workers. He weaves the multiple threads of his research—in history, sociology, discography, and genealogy—into an absorbing narrative and a persuasive argument.—Tony Russell, author of Country Music Originals: The Legends and the Lost

This marvelous, groundbreaking book makes an immediate and major contribution. Huber's original and creative approach makes the biographies of Carson, Poole, McCarn, and the Dixons come alive with personal and local detail, letting them stand for the working-class experiences of their milieu. This book will directly impact the historiography of country music and change the way these artists are understood within conventional music historical narratives.—Aaron A. Fox, author of Real Country: Music and Language in Working-Class Culture

Editorial Reviews

“A new, canny take on Old, Weird America, this colorful, contrarian book does much to dispel a spate of antediluvian tropes, musical and otherwise.”—The Atlantic

“With respect and passion, Huber puts . . . pioneering artists in well-deserved perspective, gracefully illuminating the birth of an American art form.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Well-researched, carefully argued, and beautifully written. . . . An impressive contribution to our understanding that country music was not born in some pristine corner of America, untouched by the winds of change. . . . A splendid account of [country music’s] development in the vital crucible of the Piedmont South.”—American Historical Review

“A splendid book . . . One of its principle achievements, due to its author’s subtle but insistent writing, is to encourage the seeking out of [the performers'] work. Huber provides a very useful discography, rightly flagging up the sterling work done by labels such as Document, County and Bear Family in the dissemination of early country music recordings.”—Journal of Popular Music

“Compelling. . . . An excellent first foray into an important but often overlooked chapter in the history of American popular music.”—Studies in American Culture

“Huber’s reverential and enlightening descriptions of country music’s pioneers leave readers yearning for their actual recordings. Fortunately, an appended discography and directory of other early hillbilly musicians direct readers to more foot-stomping tunes..”—Our State

“A fascinating history of Piedmont textile workers and their role in the development of country music. . . . Opens a window on a new view of country music. Recommended.”—CHOICE

“In this groundbreaking study of the derivation of hillbilly music . . . Huber comprehensively explores the working-class origins and early development of the idiom. . . . Four colorful biographical chapters . . . form the meat of the book. . . . A fascinating glimpse into some hitherto unexplored territory.”—Sing Out!

“Interesting and evocative. . . . Lays out squarely the early history of the hillbilly-music industry. . . . Informative.”—Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

“Should be a part of any book collection, particularly for Huber’s focus on the Southern industrial relations that made the music possible.”—West Virginia History

From the Publisher