Hootenanny
Encyclopedia
Hootenanny is an Appalachia
n colloquialism that was used in early twentieth century America
to refer to things whose names were forgotten or unknown. In this usage it was synonymous with thingamajig or whatchamacallit, as in "hand me that hootenanny." Hootenanny was also an old country word for "party". Now, most commonly, it refers to a folk-music party.
"Hootenanny" was also used by the leadership of early firefighting battalions to describe a "meeting of the minds" or higher ups of various department heads. The term has trickled down to working companies and is now used, with some frequency, at working incidents and other circumstances that require a focused discussion between key individuals. Most recently it was adopted for use during the annual Fire Department Instructors Conference. Logistics professionals for the conference employ the word to call together the required personnel needed to accomplish the prodigious assignments placed on them.
, in various interviews, he first heard the word hootenanny in Seattle, Washington in the late 1930s. It was used by Hugh DeLacey’s New Deal
political club to describe their monthly music fund raisers. After some debate the club voted in the word hootenanny, which narrowly beat out the word wingding. Seeger, Woody Guthrie
and other members of the Almanac Singers
later used the word in New York City to describe their weekly rent parties
, which featured many notable folksingers of the time. In a 1962 interview in Time Joan Baez
made the analogy that a hootenanny is to folk singing what a jam session
is to jazz.
era, the club The Bitter End
at 147 Bleecker Street
in Greenwich Village
had hootenannies every Tuesday night, that featured an open mike and welcomed performers known and unknown, young and old.
The Hootenanny is an annual one-day rockabilly
music festival held at the Oak Canyon Ranch in Irvine, California, which also incorporates a vintage car show.
For years there have been online Hootenannys. The most long-standing example is Small Talk At The Wall, which has been going since 1999.
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n colloquialism that was used in early twentieth century America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to refer to things whose names were forgotten or unknown. In this usage it was synonymous with thingamajig or whatchamacallit, as in "hand me that hootenanny." Hootenanny was also an old country word for "party". Now, most commonly, it refers to a folk-music party.
"Hootenanny" was also used by the leadership of early firefighting battalions to describe a "meeting of the minds" or higher ups of various department heads. The term has trickled down to working companies and is now used, with some frequency, at working incidents and other circumstances that require a focused discussion between key individuals. Most recently it was adopted for use during the annual Fire Department Instructors Conference. Logistics professionals for the conference employ the word to call together the required personnel needed to accomplish the prodigious assignments placed on them.
Origin
According to Pete SeegerPete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, in various interviews, he first heard the word hootenanny in Seattle, Washington in the late 1930s. It was used by Hugh DeLacey’s New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
political club to describe their monthly music fund raisers. After some debate the club voted in the word hootenanny, which narrowly beat out the word wingding. Seeger, Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
and other members of the Almanac Singers
Almanac Singers
The Almanac Singers were a group of folk musicians who, as their name indicates, specialized in topical songs, especially songs connected with the labor movement...
later used the word in New York City to describe their weekly rent parties
Rent party
A rent party is a social occasion where tenants hire a musician or band to play and pass the hat to raise money to pay their rent, originating in Harlem during the 1920s. The rent party played a major role in the development of jazz and blues music...
, which featured many notable folksingers of the time. In a 1962 interview in Time Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
made the analogy that a hootenanny is to folk singing what a jam session
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
is to jazz.
Events
During the early 1960s at the height of the Folk MusicFolk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
era, the club The Bitter End
The Bitter End
The Bitter End is a nightclub in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened its doors in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to The Other End during the 1970s...
at 147 Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is a street in New York City's Manhattan borough. It is perhaps most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street is a spine that connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was once a major center for American bohemia.Bleecker...
in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
had hootenannies every Tuesday night, that featured an open mike and welcomed performers known and unknown, young and old.
The Hootenanny is an annual one-day rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
music festival held at the Oak Canyon Ranch in Irvine, California, which also incorporates a vintage car show.
For years there have been online Hootenannys. The most long-standing example is Small Talk At The Wall, which has been going since 1999.
Recordings
- Surfin' Hootenanny is a surf pop/rock song written by Lee HazlewoodLee HazlewoodLee Hazlewood , born Barton Lee Hazlewood was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s.Hazlewood had a distinctive baritone voice that added an ominous...
(tune) and Al CaseyAl Casey (rock & roll guitarist)Alvin W. Casey was an American guitarist. He was mainly noted for his work as a session musician, but also released records and scored three Billboard Hot 100 hits in the United States...
, and performed by Al Casey with The K-C-Ettes (aka The BlossomsThe BlossomsThe Blossoms were a backing group from California. They had a recording career in their own right and were to the American West Coast what The Sweet Inspirations were to the East Coast and The Andantes were for Motown.-Early years:...
). It opens the Al Casey's 1963. album Surfin' Hootenanny (issued as LP record by Sundazed Music Inc.). The song re-appeared in 1996. (in remastered version) as track 15 of Cowabunga! Set 2: Big Waves (1963.) compilation. Cowabunga! Set 2: Big Waves (1963.) is a second disc from Rhino Records' Cowabunga! The Surf Box 4 CD set compilation that contains most famous songs from the four-decade long history of surf musicSurf musicSurf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
.
- EelsEels (band)Eels is an American indie rock band formed by singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E...
released an album titled Shootenanny!Shootenanny!Shootenanny! is a 2003 studio album by Eels. The name comes from a neologism coined by Eels front-man, Mark Oliver Everett, for "a social gathering at which participants engage in folk singing and sometimes dancing [a hootenanny], but mostly the shooting of guns.""Saturday Morning" was released...
- The rock and roll band The Replacements released their second album in 1983, entitled Hootenanny on Twin/Tone RecordsTwin/Tone RecordsTwin/Tone Records was a record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that operated from 1977 until 1994 and helped several local groups receive national attention. The label was born from the Minneapolis punk rock music scene, which included venues like Jay's Longhorn Bar. The label was begun by...
(see Hootenanny (album)).
- The band WeezerWeezerWeezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
had a Hootenanny tour in 2008 which allowed fans to play songs with the band.
- The New Zealand rock band HLAHHLAHHLAH is a rock band from Wellington, New Zealand.-History:HLAH formed in Wellington, originally consisting of Nigel Regan, Mark Hamill, Nigel Beazley and Andrew Durno....
released a single entitled Hootenanny (which also appears on their 1996 album Double Your Strength, Improve Your Health, & Lengthen Your LifeDouble Your Strength, Improve Your Health, & Lengthen Your LifeDouble Your Strength, Improve Your Health, & Lengthen Your Life is the third full-length album released by New Zealand band, HLAH.-Track listing:# "Keith"# "Beige Overalls for the Tradesman"# "Jelly Bag"# "Alien Wheeler"# "Cornbag Rides Again"...
on the Wildside RecordsWildside RecordsWildside Records is an independent New Zealand record label, owned and run by former Rip It Up magazine editor, Murray Cammick.-Current artists include:*Shihad*Slim*Graham Brazier...
label) in 1997.
- A song called We Are Having a Hootenanny appears on The Magnetic FieldsThe Magnetic FieldsThe Magnetic Fields is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt...
's 2010 album RealismRealism (The Magnetic Fields album)Realism is an album by The Magnetic Fields. It was officially released on January 26, 2010 by Nonesuch Records.Described by songwriter Stephin Merritt as "my folk album", the instrumentation of Realism is largely acoustic, stark in contrast to the band's previous album, Distortion, released in 2008...
.
- The album The Repercussions of Angelic Behavior by Rieflin, GunnTrey GunnTrey Gunn is an American musician, known for his membership in progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick.-Biography:...
and FrippRobert FrippRobert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
contains a track entitled Hootenanny At The Pink Pussycat Cafe.
- Reggae legends The Wailers recorded a song called "Hoot Nanny Hoot", sung by Peter Tosh available on Peter Tosh's cd "The Toughest".
- Swedish sixties Folk band "Hootenanny Singers" included Björn Ulvaeus, who later was a member of ABBA.
Television
Several different television shows are named and styled after it, including:- HootenannyHootenanny (US TV Show)Hootenanny was a musical variety television show broadcast in the United States on ABC from April 1963 to September 1964. The program was hosted by Jack Linkletter...
, an early 1960s musical variety show broadcast on ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 2007 a set of 3 DVDs called "The Best of Hootenanny" was issued, culled from the 1963-64 ABC-TV seriesHootenanny (US TV Show)Hootenanny was a musical variety television show broadcast in the United States on ABC from April 1963 to September 1964. The program was hosted by Jack Linkletter...
. It contained clips of performances by The Chad Mitchell Trio, The LimelitersThe LimelitersThe Limeliters are an American folk music group, formed in July 1959 by Lou Gottlieb , Alex Hassilev , and Glenn Yarbrough . The group was active from 1959 until 1965, when they disbanded. After a hiatus of sixteen years Yarbrough, Hassilev, and Gottlieb reunited and began performing as...
and The New Christy Minstrels, and even Woody AllenWoody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
as a stand-up comedian. - In 1963 and 1964 there was a BBC 1 show called "The Hoot'nanny Show", recorded in Edinburgh. (Ref: ). Two albums with the same title were released, with contributions from Archie FisherArchie FisherArchie Fisher MBE is a Scottish folk singer and song writer.-The early years:Archie Fisher was born in Glasgow on 23 October 1939 into a large singing family. His sister Cilla Fisher is also a professional singer, as was his late sister Ray. In 1960 he moved to Edinburgh and appeared regularly at...
, Barney McKenna (before he joined The DublinersThe DublinersThe Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
), and The CorriesThe CorriesThe Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. Although the group was a trio in the early days, it was as the partnership of Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne that it is best known.-Early years:...
. - In the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Jools' Annual Hootenanny, a special New Year's Eve edition of Later... with Jools Holland featuring a wide selection of musicians, has been broadcast every year since 1993. - In The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, season 20 episode 6 “Homer and Lisa exchange cross words”, it’s a word that has disappeared from the dictionary according to the organizers of the crossword tournament. - In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 3, the scoobies decide to throw Buffy a Hootenanny.
- In one of the cartoons starring Tex Avery as the narrator (farm of the future) near the end he describes that they crossed an owl and a goat, therefore a hoot-nanny (nanny being one term for a goat).