418 PART 4 | SINCE WORLD WAR II
HANK WILLIAMS AND HONKY-TONK
Western swing, the jazz-infl ected dance music of the Southwest, was not the
only musical style to arise from the beer halls that offered diversion to people
who worked hard and played hard. Another style, emerging just before the war
and increasing in popularity through the 1940s and 1950s, took its name from
those rough-and-tumble institutions of entertainment: honky-tonk music. Like
Western swing, honky-tonk used electric guitar and amplifi ed pedal steel gui-
tar (an electrifi ed version of the Hawaiian lap guitar, with multiple necks and
pedals that change the pitch of certain strings), along with acoustic instruments
such as fi ddle, to deliver a loud, danceable beat. But in place of jazz infl uences,
honky-tonk hewed closer to traditional ballad styles and kept the emphasis on
the singer.
The lyrics of honky-tonk songs refl ect the concerns of their listeners. Some
songs comment on the laboring man’s industrialized working conditions,CD 3.12 Listening Guide 17.1“It’s Mighty Dark to Travel” BILL MONROE AND
HIS BLUE GRASS BOYStiming section text comments1:43 instrumental
chorusMandolin solo, much as at the beginning.1:56 verse 3 Traveling down this
lonesome highway
Thinking of my love who’s
gone...Flatt’s vocal solo, with mandolin, fi ddle, and banjo
providing furious collective improvisation.2:08 chorus It’s mighty dark for me to
travel...Vocal duet.2:22 instrumental
chorusFiddle solo, in “breakdown” style (see chapter 14).2:34 chorus It’s mighty dark for me to
travel...Final vocal duet.Listen & Refl ect
- Like bebop in relation to swing, bluegrass continues earlier string-band styles, but with a
generally faster tempo, greater emphasis on virtuosity, and heightened intensity (despite
the impassive vocal delivery). What aspects of American life in the 1940s might have
contributed to the appeal of these new, supercharged styles?
honky-tonk lyrics172028_17_412-439_r3_sd.indd 418 23/01/13 10:58 AM