I have Hee Haw on auto record on Directv.
I watch it at a later time and can zip through stuff and go to some gem performances like Mr. Acuff and the Real Hillbilly Band with Earl,Byron Berline,Marty Stuart,John Hartford and Norman Blake.
With the state of Country and Bluegrass music through the 60s and 70s and then the "Disco Age" it's a wonderful it got on at all.
If you grew up in the South when Hee Haw was on, you (or your parents or your grandparents) probably watched it. Southerners find it touching that others are offended on our behalf, but we like that kind of stuff. We bought tons of Jeff Foxworthy albums and religiously watched Andy Griffith, Beverly Hillbillies, and Green Acres.
As far as hillbilly stereotypes, they, alone with the "hillbilly mystique," are the number one driver of interest in bluegrass music. Where would bluegrass be without Beverly Hillbillies, Deliverance, and middle and upper-class northern college students deeming bluegrass (which had been a popular form of country music in the 40s and 50s) "folk" music?
Rural Ontario folks watched HeeHaw , Green Acres, Bev Hllblls, & such with ribald laughter. My ex in-laws were back country farm folks and they loved those shows. Bluegrass wasn’t very prominent a la southern style but there were popular fiddle-based groups around, old time fiddling being gold in the hayfields. (HeeHaw’s Gordie Tapp and Don Harron (Charlie Farquarson) tapped ! into Canadian rural jargon and lifestyle for their humour).
As for norteastern folk fans, methinks that when bluegrass got left behind after country became more electric and “uptown”, the acoustic sounds of bluegrass music captured their hearts. I recall reading about the Osborne Brothers doing a show at Antioch College (if I remember right) in Ohio in 1960 and the students were asking them to play the old Appalachian songs rather than their more progressive tunes.
Edited by - chuckv97 on 11/16/2024 16:49:27
I would occasionally watch all the aforementioned television shows. My parents were born and raised in Kentucky on farms. as adults they moved to the "city" for employment. They watched some of those shows and never found them insulting. Their parents remained on the farms when they could no longer work the farms they had to move to town for the convenience. No one I knew found those programs to be insulting. We all knew people that bore some of the characteristics portrayed on these shows. While not a musician, Jerry Clower told humorous stories about rural people that no one I know found insulting.
quote:
Originally posted by banjoyNo, you're not alone Brian. I grew up with Beverly Hillbillies and HeeHaw. Most folks gloss over HeeHaw as an influence, I agree, but not me. It definitely caught my ear. As did it yours, apparently.
I had no idea until years later that Roy Clark did NOT play the HeeHaw introduction ... because the way they edited together the intro, ending up on Roy doing the tag lick ending. It was years before I learned that Bobby Thompson, who grew up in Converse, SC, about 10 miles from where I grew up, did the intro theme.
Regarding Hillbilly Blackface, I simply don't see it that way. My dad was born and raised in Brush Creek, TN, about as country as you can get, got his PhD at Vanderbilt. He never missed HeeHaw, it was one of his favorite shows. No country person I know ever felt the show was derogatory, on the contrary ... my grandpa and grandma (rural TN) loved the show as did all my farming uncles and aunts.
Got my attention when you said Brush Creek, Tn. I'm just down the road in Hickman,Tn.
We watched Hee Haw. Always listened to country music in the car with dad. He would talk abour growing up on the farm in SW Pa. He'd tell how the highlight of the week was getting your work done, and getting your Saturday night bath in time for the Grand Ole Opry on the radio, in the 30's.
Hee Haw was part of our Saturday night like the Opry was for him.
Hee Haw was just as popular in Maine as Tennessee.
People are basically the same,everywhere.
IF there is a lack of respect, I figure it's probably rooted in people being "too good" of a player. I'm so far down the totem pole anybody playing a recognizable tune sounds pretty good. 
Most of the lack of respect was toward the writers rather than the music.
The "jokes" were either totally worn out or just not funny.
My parents used to be in Minstrel Shows in the 40s and very early 50s and the quality of humor was similar and even copied from much of that.
Speaking of ridiculing hillbillies, anyone seen the latest AllState commercial??? I guess we're still fair game in this era of wokeness.
Remember the Three Stooges? How about the Honeymooners? I Love Lucy maybe? The great thing about TV is that comedy makes us all look equally dumb. The south had no monopoly on goofballs. I grew up in New York, but we were all glued to the TV when Hee Haw was on. The last concert I took my aging dad to was to see Roy Clark, and he sure loved it. Hee Haw combined comedy with some great music, and so it was a hit all over. A great formula. Not much more to it than that.
"All In The Family" was a fun poke at northerners ... New Yorkers ... my mom loved the show, she was born in Brooklyn.
quote:Originally posted by banjoyNo, you're not alone Brian. I grew up with Beverly Hillbillies and HeeHaw. Most folks gloss over HeeHaw as an influence, I agree, but not me. It definitely caught my ear. As did it yours, apparently.
I had no idea until years later that Roy Clark did NOT play the HeeHaw introduction ... because the way they edited together the intro, ending up on Roy doing the tag lick ending. It was years before I learned that Bobby Thompson, who grew up in Converse, SC, about 10 miles from where I grew up, did the intro theme.
Regarding Hillbilly Blackface, I simply don't see it that way. My dad was born and raised in Brush Creek, TN, about as country as you can get, got his PhD at Vanderbilt. He never missed HeeHaw, it was one of his favorite shows. No country person I know ever felt the show was derogatory, on the contrary ... my grandpa and grandma (rural TN) loved the show as did all my farming uncles and aunts.
Rob Loree I see you used your first post to quote my earlier post, I'm not sure why. Um, welcome to the Hangout...?
But yes, my dad, from Brush Creek, TN loved HeeHaw, and my mom, from Brooklyn, NY, loved All In The Family. Equal opportunity disrespect, I guess LOL.
Ya, sorry. I meant to comment but couldn't figure out how to do it. Again, sorry.
