EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 03/21/2014:  15:45:10

Today's Tune of the Week is Arkansas Hoosier, which comes to us from Ozark fiddler George Mert Reves.  I learned of the piece last month when it was my local jam's own Tune of the Week.  I liked the tune itself, and I was intrigued by its seemingly oxymoronic title (for those who may not know, Indiana is known as the "Hoosier State", and its residents are commonly referred to as "Hoosiers").

 

GEORGE MERT REVES

 

George Mert Reves was a fiddler from the Ozark region of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.  I have been unable to uncover much information about him, other than that he was active in Arkansas in the 1960s.  (He may have been the George Mirt Reves I found who was born on March 15, 1894 in Arkansas and died on January 6, 1992 in Cookson, Oklahoma.  That George Reves gave his profession as "farmer" and spent much of his life moving back and forth between northern Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.) In 1964, his nephew Merle Reves made home recordings of George in Dennard, Arkansas, and it is from that session of about 30 tunes that we get Arkansas Hoosier.  As far as I know, the recordings were never released commercially, but they can be found on the Slippery Hill site.  slippery-hill.com/Arkansas/

(If my information is correct, Merle is in his early 80s and still living in Dennard, but I have not yet tried to contact him.  I have gotten in touch with a volunteer historian at the Van Buren County Library, who is doing some research for me - if she uncovers anything in the next week or so, I'll add it to this post.)

 

One unexpected "sighting" of George Reves and his fiddle playing can be found in the 1974 movie "Where The Red Fern Grows", a family film set in the Depression-era Ozarks. A little over an hour into the film George appears, playing Ragtime Annie for an impromptu buck dance at a campground during a coon hunt. I have not seen it, but from what I have read it seems likely that George's performance was recorded live, not overdubbed later.  He didn't get any screen credit for his work.  

 

"ARKANSAS HOOSIER"

 

As noted above, I assumed the title of the tune referred to both Arkansas and Indiana, and I wondered what kind of historical or demographic quirk had created a community of people known as "Arkansas Hoosiers".  It turns out, however, that the term "hoosier" predates its use as a nickname for Indiana.  The origin of the word is murky at best, as are the reasons it came to be applied to people from Indiana, but it is clear that it was around before 1828 (when it was first used in reference to that state) and that it has had various shades of meaning in the decades since. What, exactly, those meanings were or are is not always clear, but the definition given in the 1877 "Dictionary of Americanisms" is probably a good place to start: "a big, burly, uncouth specimen or individual; a frontiersman, countryman, rustic."

How and when the term "hoosier" came to be paired with "Arkansas" is also unknown - surely there were big, burly rustics in other states as well.  From the examples I have found, it seems that "Arkansas Hoosier" referred to a particular type of Arkansas resident, not to the state's population as a whole.  I've included a few of those examples, to give a sense of how the term was used back when George Reves was learning the tune that bears its name.

 

 

WPA sources

 

Several of the most interesting citations came from various Depression-era Works Progress Administration programs.

 

In 1938 Dorothea Lange, working as a WPA photographer, took a photo that she titled "Arkansas Hoosier".

 

Dorothea Lange –“Arkansas Hoosier” (1938) An “Arkansas Hoosier” born in 1855. Conway,Arkansas. “My father was a Confederate soldier. He give his age a year older than it was to get into the army. After the war he bought 280 acres from the railroad and cleared it. We never had a mortgage on it. In 1920 the land was sold,the money divided. Now,none of my children own their land. It’s all done gone,but it raised my family. I’ve done my duty–I feel like I have. I’ve raised twelve children”.

 

Another WPA project, "Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves", contains at least two uses of the term.

 

Laura Hart, a former slave from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, recalled:



I just can’t tell you when I was born ‘cause I don’t know. My mother said I was born on Christmas Eve morning. I’m a old woman. I was big enough to work in slave times. I was born in Arkansas. I’m an Arkansas Hoosier.  I was born at Fort Smith and brought here to Jefferson County and sold — my mother and three chillum.



I pulled corn, picked cotton, and drive the mule at the gin, just walked behind him all day. I’ve pulled fodder, pulled cotton stalks, shopped down corn stalks. I never worked in the house when I was a child while I was under the jurisdiction of the white folks.  My old master was Sam Carson and his wife was named Phoebe Carson, boy named Andrew and a daughter named Mary and one named Rosie.



We had plenty to eat and went to church on Sunday. After the white folks had their services we went in. The church was on his place right across the river. That’s where I was when freedom taken place.

 

Allen Johnson, 82, of Little Rock, Arkansas, gave his explanation of the term:

 

A slave was supposed to pick a certain mount of cotton I have heard.  They had tasks.  But we didn't pick cotton.  Way back in Georgia that ain't no cotton country.  Wheat, corn, potatoes, and things like that.  But in Louisiana and Mississippi, there was plenty of cotton.  Arkansas wasn't much of a cotton state itself. It was called a 'Hoojer' state when I was a boy.  That is a reference to the poor white man.  He was a 'Hoojer'.  He wasn't rich enough to own no slaves and they called him a 'Hoojer'.

 

 

Another example of the term provided by the WPA can be found in the October, 1936, issue of the magazine "Shucks", put out by the Nebraska Writers' Project, a regional program that was part of the Federal Writers Project.  It was filled with stories, poetry, and sketches that had been deemed "unsuitable" for inclusion in official Project publications, which were devoted to non-fiction writing.  Among the poems and short stories was Rudolph Umland's brief sketch "Arkansas Hoosier," a skillfully narrated story derived from Umland's travels as a hobo.

 

 

Other sources

 

"Hanging Judge" by Fred Harvey Harrington, a 1951 biography of Federal Judge Isaac Parker, who served in the 1880s and 1890s in Arkansas and Oklahoma, contains the following passage:  Andrew waited quite awhile, but he never saw the horse or the money. When his father stepped in to help, Belle Starr denounced the senior Crane as a  "damned old Arkansas Hoosier" who should "have kept his mouth shut".

 

"Tenth From the Top", a self-published memoir by Max E. Wells, recalls his time farming in the Midwest in the 1950s and 1960s.  At one point he writes:

Dad couldn't believe it [that hogs and sheep were being pastured together] and said "Son, you are the only one who bought an Arkansas Hoosier farm in Iowa.  Nobody should be able to do that."  He just shook his head, but he was grinning. He did agree later on that I had quite an operation.

 

 

St. Louis usage

The term "hoosier", sometimes combined with "Arkansas", was evidently particularly common in St. Louis.  In a paper entitled "The Word Hoosier" (a very thorough and detailed history of the word, for those who are interested indiana.edu/~librcsd/internet/...sier.html), Jeffrey Graf of the University of Indiana writes:

 

While "hoosier" may still be heard in areas of the south in its original, disparaging meaning of "uncouth rustic," the term seems to be slowly loosing currency. One important pocket of linguistic resistance, however, remains. Thomas E. Murray carefully analyzed the use of "hoosier" in St. Louis, Missouri, where it is the favorite epithet of abuse. "When asked what a Hoosier is," Murray writes, "St. Louisans readily list a number of defining characteristics, among which are 'lazy,' 'slow-moving,' 'derelict,' and 'irresponsible.'" He continues, "Few epithets in St. Louis carry the pejorative connotations or the potential for eliciting negative responses that hoosier does." He conducted tests and interviews across lines of age and race and tabulated the results. He found the term ecumenically applied. He also noted the word was often used with a modifier, almost redundantly, as in "some damn Hoosier." 

 

In a separate section Murray speaks of the history of the word and speculates on why Hoosier (in Indiana a "neutral or, more often, positive" term) should remain "alive and well in St. Louis, occupying as it does the honored position of being the city's number one term of derogation." A radio broadcast took up where Murray left off. During the program, "Fresh Air," Jeffrey Lunberg, a language commentator, answered questions about regional nicknames. He cited Elaine Viets, a Post-Dispatch columnist, as saying that in St. Louis a "Hoosier is a low-life redneck, somebody you can recognize because they have a car on concrete blocks in their front yard and are likely to have just shot their wife who may also be their sister." 

 

A 2006 Fiddle-L thread about the tune's name contains a post by Sean Ruprecht-Belt that supports Murray's analysis:  As a life long resident of the south side of St. Louis, I can attest...that growing up the worst thing you could call someone or be called was a dumb hoosier.  Given that and the typical derision between bordering states like Missouri and Arkansas....it wouldn't surprise me a bit if that's the origin of the "Arkansas Hoosier" name.

 

So to summarize, it appears that originally the word "hoosier" was a widespread derogatory term for a poor, uneducated, rural person, and that the southern term "Arkansas Hoosier" may have arisen due to the comparative poverty of that territory in relation to its neighbors - the richer, cotton-growing regions of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, and the important urban center of St. Louis.  A case of a plantation society and a center of trade and transportation looking down on small-time frontier farmers in the Ozarks, perhaps.  As often happens, however, the objects of the derision seem, in at least some instances, to have adopted the label as badge of stubborn pride and honor.



 

THE TUNE

 

Arkansas Hoosier is most commonly played in D.  The tune has a somewhat unusual AABCC structure - a short first part that's repeated, a bridge phrase that's not repeated, and a regular-length last part that is repeated.  Fiddle notation can be found in the Millner-Koken Collection (#718), but I have not yet tracked down any banjo tablature.

 

Audio and Video Versions

The 1964 recording of George Mert Reves: slippery-hill.com/M-K/GDAE/D/A...osier.mp3 (missing the first couple of notes on the first part)

Claire Millner and friends: youtube.com/watch?v=BwsaiX3jjJM (recording begins in the midst of the last part)

David Allen has posted his version on the Fiddlehangout: fiddlehangout.com/song/8693

 

The Cliffhangers, a group of Clifftop friends led by Mark Simos, included Arkansas Hoosier on their 2005 release "On The Edge"  devachan.com/joomla/Trilogy/Cl...otes.html

 

Jam version from the 2012 Sewellfest in Pikeville, TN: youtube.com/watch?v=C0ytCKo8euk

  

Edited by - EggerRidgeBoy on 03/21/2014 16:50:32

RG - Posted - 03/21/2014:  17:52:04

What a great tune!

LyleK - Posted - 03/22/2014:  19:11:19

Definitely a new one for me.  

And then there's the theory that the tune is actually "Arkansas Hussars" (see listserv.brown.edu/archives/cg...mp;P=4784), though the thought of Hungarian light calvary roaming through Arkansas seems a bit far-fetched.

Anyhow, I'm ponying up a version and tab (as that does seem to be unavailable elsewhere)

Arkansas Hoosier Tab

Arkansas Hoosier

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 03/24/2014:  15:20:39

quote:

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Originally posted by RG

What a great tune!

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Glad you liked it, RG!

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 03/24/2014:  15:36:44

quote:

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Originally posted by LyleK

Definitely a new one for me.  

And then there's the theory that the tune is actually "Arkansas Hussars" (see listserv.brown.edu/archives/cg...mp;P=4784), though the thought of Hungarian light calvary roaming through Arkansas seems a bit far-fetched.

Anyhow, I'm ponying up a version and tab (as that does seem to be unavailable elsewhere)

---

Yes, it was new to me, too. In the weekly email sent out by the jam leader, he described Arkansas Hoosier as "a tune that's been popular on the festival circuit for awhile and well worth learning even though it's a bit of a challenge".  I hadn't come across it until that jam session, but then I guess the fact that our local group was playing it could be considered a sign of its current popularity.

I, too, came across the "Hoosier = Hussar" theory, which probably makes sense when considering the tune The Wounded Hoosier.  As you note, it is somewhat more difficult to find a connection between Hungarian Hussars and Ozark farmers.

Thank you very much for posting your version, both the audio and the tablature.  I think this is the first time I have posted a TOTW that included neither a solo banjo version nor banjo tab.  I was actually considering two or three other tunes for this week's submission, but had to pass on them for one reason or another, and ended up going with Arkansas Hoosier as a bit of a last-minute emergency back-up tune.  I was assuming or hoping that I could find tab somewhere online or in my tune book collection, but never did.  So thanks again for helping to make this TOTW a bit more complete.

Edited by - EggerRidgeBoy on 03/24/2014 15:39:38

Don Borchelt - Posted - 03/25/2014:  07:25:13

This is definitely one of the best tunes I've heard lately, a great choice for TOTW.  A great version by Lyle, smooth like it is supposed to be.  It didn't come easy for me to figure it out; I've been working on it off and on since Friday, and as I've gone along, I've been taking out more notes than I have been putting in. I'm kind of happy with it now, though I still need to practice it for a few more years!  I worked mostly from the Cliffhangers fine version.  I have posted the tab of my three-finger arrangement on my webpage.

- Don Borchelt

VIDEO: Arkansas Hoosier (click to view)

Don Borchelt - Posted - 03/25/2014:  13:14:46

Oh yeah, ERB, I loved the discussion of the etymology of "hoosier." 

Nita - Posted - 03/25/2014:  15:33:52

Great tune choice. I was only familiar with the tune via Mark Simos & the Cliffhangers, and it's wonderful to hear the source, George Reves.  Ever since I first heard it on the Cliffhangers CD, it's a tune that's stuck with me. There's something special about it. - My father-in-law was a Hoosier from Indiana, and proud of that moniker. He became a flutist, composer, & conductor, but started out playing fife in his highschool marching band. It's only now I learn that Hoosier was very often a derogatory term.

BrendanD - Posted - 03/25/2014:  17:00:52

EggerRidgeBoy, thanks much for posting this tune, as well as all those references to the term "Arkansas Hoosier"! I'm the banjo player on that Cliffhangers recording of the tune, and it was my banjo-playing wife, Maxine Gerber, who suggested we record it. We have a homemade CD of field recordings of George Mert Reves, as well as one of his nephew, Merle Reves, and they both play this tune. My friend Paul Harnik (a wonderful fiddler and guitar player) located and visited Merle a few years ago on a cross-country driving trip when his family moved from California to North Carolina.

The Cliffhangers also recorded George Mert Reves' tune "Rare Up", though the version we recorded has morphed a bit, containing bits of versions from Kerry Blech and Bruce Greene, as well as Mark Simos's own variations on the tune; I like all the versions.

Now I've got to go back and listen to all the various "Arkansas Hoosier" recordings linked to in this thread!

Tamarack - Posted - 03/25/2014:  19:33:58

Every week brings another great tune and great story.

I lived in metro St. Louis in the 1980s -- the term "hoosier" was most often applied to people from south St. Louis. As the son of an Indiana native, I had never heard it in a derogatory form. I enjoyed reading Elaine Viets' columns -- she was careful to distinguish "Hoosier" (a proud son or daughter of Indiana) and "hoosier" (as described above...).

JanetB - Posted - 03/26/2014:  06:41:58

A great treasure on Slippery Hill you've uncovered, Brett.  I've enjoyed all the versions here.  This one is played in aDGBD.

My only playing friend from Arkansas is Molly Pyatt.  She could sing one Carter Family song after another and had their timing down pat.  She outlived three husbands, and not that long ago got hit by a big truck as she was walking out of her driveway.  Molly survived that and was walking around last I heard.  She'd be in her 80's by now.

Arkansas Hoosier

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 03/26/2014:  15:34:45

quote:

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Originally posted by Don Borchelt

This is definitely one of the best tunes I've heard lately, a great choice for TOTW.  A great version by Lyle, smooth like it is supposed to be.  It didn't come easy for me to figure it out; I've been working on it off and on since Friday, and as I've gone along, I've been taking out more notes than I have been putting in. I'm kind of happy with it now, though I still need to practice it for a few more years!  I worked mostly from the Cliffhangers fine version.  I have posted the tab of my three-finger arrangement on my webpage.

- Don Borchelt

---

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the tune (and the etymology discussion) so much, Don.  I enjoyed your version very much - thanks for working it out and posting it.

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 03/26/2014:  15:59:36

quote:

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Originally posted by Nita

Great tune choice. I was only familiar with the tune via Mark Simos & the Cliffhangers, and it's wonderful to hear the source, George Reves.  Ever since I first heard it on the Cliffhangers CD, it's a tune that's stuck with me. There's something special about it. - My father-in-law was a Hoosier from Indiana, and proud of that moniker. He became a flutist, composer, & conductor, but started out playing fife in his highschool marching band. It's only now I learn that Hoosier was very often a derogatory term.

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Like you, I never knew "Hoosier" as anything but a positive nickname for Indiana and its inhabitants - until researching this tune I didn't realize that at one time it had been used as a derogatory term (and evidently still is in some places).

How it came to be connected to Indiana is still, after all this time, quite the mystery.  I had over the years come across the most popular folk explanations, none of which really made too much sense (for instance, most people, no matter where they live, probably answer a knock on the door by asking "Who's there?").  It seems likely that the term was first applied in the negative sense ("rough, rustic, uncultured") to early settlers in Indiana, who then over time remade it into a positive description ("tough, proud, independent").  However, one would think that the term could have been - and almost certainly was - applied to other frontier setters of the time in Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, etc., leaving unanswered the question of how it came to be associated with only one state. The ultimate derivation of the word "hoosier" itself - regardless of its past or current meanings - is also unclear.

(In case you are interested in learning more, the paper by Jeffry Graf mentioned in the post - indiana.edu/~librcsd/internet/...sier.html - discusses in great detail all the various theories and possibilities regarding the word's connection to Indiana.)

I'm glad you enjoyed the tune's appearance as a TOTW.

Edited by - EggerRidgeBoy on 03/26/2014 15:59:52

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 03/26/2014:  16:04:06

quote:

---

Originally posted by BrendanD

EggerRidgeBoy, thanks much for posting this tune, as well as all those references to the term "Arkansas Hoosier"! I'm the banjo player on that Cliffhangers recording of the tune, and it was my banjo-playing wife, Maxine Gerber, who suggested we record it. We have a homemade CD of field recordings of George Mert Reves, as well as one of his nephew, Merle Reves, and they both play this tune. My friend Paul Harnik (a wonderful fiddler and guitar player) located and visited Merle a few years ago on a cross-country driving trip when his family moved from California to North Carolina.

The Cliffhangers also recorded George Mert Reves' tune "Rare Up", though the version we recorded has morphed a bit, containing bits of versions from Kerry Blech and Bruce Greene, as well as Mark Simos's own variations on the tune; I like all the versions.

Now I've got to go back and listen to all the various "Arkansas Hoosier" recordings linked to in this thread!

 

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Thank you for those Cliffhangers CDs - I discovered them as a result of researching this tune.

I'll have to check out "Rare Up" - George Reves seems to be one of those relatively obscure fiddlers who, fortunately, was able to pass down to us a handful of wonderful tunes we might not know of otherwise.

EggerRidgeBoy - Posted - 03/26/2014:  16:09:26

quote:

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Originally posted by Tamarack

Every week brings another great tune and great story.



I lived in metro St. Louis in the 1980s -- the term "hoosier" was most often applied to people from south St. Louis. As the son of an Indiana native, I had never heard it in a derogatory form. I enjoyed reading Elaine Viets' columns -- she was careful to distinguish "Hoosier" (a proud son or daughter of Indiana) and "hoosier" (as described above...).

---

One of the things I like most about tune research - whether doing my own or reading that done by others - is the somewhat random but often very interesting bits of information it uncovers, whether biographical, historical, linguistic, cultural, scientific, or otherwise.  You just never know where a tune is going to lead you.

Glad you enjoyed this tune and its story.