Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1995 The ad rker side of Dixie: southern music and the seamier side of the rural South Cecil Kirk Hutson Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Folklore Commons, Music Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Hutson, Cecil Kirk, "The ad rker side of Dixie: southern music and the seamier side of the rural South " (1995). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 10912. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/10912 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthiough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproductioiL In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313.'761-4700 800/521-0600 The darker side of Dixie: Southern music and the seamier side of the rural South by Cecil Kirk Hutson A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department: History Major: Agricultural History and Rural Studies Approved; Signature was redacted for privacy. Signature was redacted for privacy. Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Graduate College Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1995 UMI Number: 9531748 UMI Microform 9531748 Copyright 1995, by DMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: SOUTHERN FEMICIDE 12 CHAPTER 2: DOMESTIC ABUSE 38 CHAPTER 3: VIOLENCE: SAVAGERY IN THE PRE-WORLD WAR II ERA 59 CHAPTER 4: VIOLENCE: BRUTALITY IN THE POST-WAR SOUTH 94 CHAPTER 5: GUNS 128 CHAPTER 6: FEUDING AND LYNCHING 165 CHAPTER 7: MOONSHINERS AND BOOTLEGGERS 198 CHAPTER 8: LIQUOR 221 CHAPTER 9: ILLEGAL DRUGS 24 6 CHAPTER 10: CONFEDERATE SYMBOLISM 273 CONCLUSION 305 NOTES 317 BIBLIOGRAPHY 419 MUSICOGRAPHY 482 1 INTRODUCTION This study investigates several issues in southern culture that have heretofore been largely ignored. Music has been, and still is, a major force in southern society, and for hundreds of years this mode of communi­ cation has reflected regional ideas as much as any social institution. In order for music to reflect southern culture, it must first speak the language of the region, exhibit regional cultural attributes, and accept the distinctive characteristics of the South. By so doing, music becomes culturally accepted and, therefore, it reinforces the messages, the opin­ ions, and the ideas of southern society. This study examines some of the rural cultural themes utilized in southern music. The principal cultural topics to be analyzed include racism, domestic violence, male control over women, drunkenness, brutality, murder, gun ownership, Confederate symbol­ ism, folk justice, and family honor. Since these themes are evident in folk music, early blues tunes, post-World War II country lyrics, and southern rock and roll of the late twentieth century, music illustrates the continuity of southern culture. This study will show, for example, that for generations southerners have continually called for law and order. In fact, music demonstrates that southerners often blamed the lax attitude of the courts for the high crime rates and, instead of depending on the legal system, they often took the law into their own hands. This was especially true when a family member had been the victim. In the late twentieth century, for example, when Charlie Daniels called for lynchings, and "an eye for an eye and a 2 tooth for a tooth," and when Hank Williams Or. claimed that he was going to shoot the man who killed his family, both artists sounded similar to the rural mountain balladeers of the nineteenth century. Not much had changed. In the eyes of these performers, vigilantism worked, and it should be used. Moreover, this study will explore other topics, such as illegal drug use, which have not been major themes in southern music. By doing so, it will address the question whether those southern African Americans who migrated to northern urban areas prior to the World War II deserved to be labeled cocaine fiends, or whether this was a racial stereotype created by northern whites. A The study of music and culture is a relatively new field, but there are basically three theories used to analyze this subject matter. First, there is the Marxist theory. This doctrine holds that the governing class controls the media and uses it to foster hegemonic ideas. Under this hypothesis the media controls the culture. I reject this philosophy because the music examined in this study was not written or approved by the elites of society. In fact, many of the southern folk, blues, country, and rock tunes ridiculed the so-called southern aristocracy. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries one of the last things a white southern planter wanted to see wander into his sharecropping community was an African American bluesman. In the eyes of sheriffs and planters alike, these musicians not only sang about things that blacks should not hear, but the authorities also believed bluesmen set bad examples for "their nig­ gers." Instead of wandering around the countryside playing music, most whites felt African Americans should work at manual labor. They should 3 pick cotton instead of guitar strings. The second theory holds that the media only reflects culture. In many incidences this particular assumption holds true, except when its advocates claim that the media has no effect on society whatsoever. On that basis, I reject this concept, since several modern psychological studies clearly indicate that the media does effect both society and individuals. The final theory suggests that music and culture have reciprocal relationships. According to this hypothesis, musical lyrics transmit social norms, and they are a significant socializ­ ing element. Music not only reflects what is occurring in a particular society, but it also influences how people within that society think and act. Based on the evidence presented by several social scientists, feminists and learning theorists, I accept this theory, especially in the O case of domestic violence."^ Musical lyrics are of value to historians because they are cultural artifacts of a community and a culture that allow scholars to examine the issues, problems, values, and ideas of the time period in which the lyrics were written. When dealing with gender issues, for example, song lyrics are excellent historical tools because they portray gender roles that illustrate how both males and females think and act, or are expected to act, within a given culture. The study of these kinds of lyrics are also important because the words demonstrate how southern men dealt with gender issues. Since musical lyrics reflect cultural attitudes, if the culture of the rural South approved of the domination of women by men, and if southern men physically abused women, these themes will appear in the region's music.. 3 4 Besides exploring domestic violence and gender control, this study will also examine how rural southerners responded to other important issues. During the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, for example, what were the major southern symbols, and how did southern songsters deal with losing this all-important war? Music allows scholars to determine if the common people were apologetic or unrepentant. Similarly, in the late nineteenth century how did folk balladeers deal with the increased rates of racial lynchings? Who did they blame for these acts, the victims or the victimizers? How did they explain the brutal mutilations and executions of African American males? By omitting certain realities, did these musicians promote racial hate? Furthermore, in this era of high murder rates, how did southerners view their murderous world? When someone was killed, who or what did they blame? Similarly, were the people shocked, or did they simply consider brutality a regrettable but indubitable fact of southern life? Moreover, how did African American and white women deal differently with domestic violence? Is it significant that in blues songs African American women often grabbed a firearm and fought back, but in folk music Caucasian women usually begged for mercy? This work will also investigate whether music promoted the new pro- gressivism of the modern South or advanced traditional cultural themes to become, like George Wallace, a conservative backlash to change.