Word: hillbillyism
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For 40 years the term "hillbilly music" has been used as a rubric covering a fantastic variety of sub-forms: old-time, familiar tunes, Dixie, mountain, sacred, gospel, country, cowboy, western, country-western, hill and range, western swing, Nashville, rockabilly, bluegrass. And every time a Northerner hears a hint of...
The term "Hillbilly" is an Americanism, dating from somewhere around the early 1900's. It may derive from two Scottish colloquialisms, "hill-folk," and "billie," the former used pejoratively, designating a rebel against Charles II, the latter used in Scots dialect as a synonym for "fellow" or "comrade."
Guralnick takes the reader many places: in Chicago, to Muddy Waters' house, to the moribund offices of Chess and to the hospital for a visit with Howling Wolf; to Newport, 1964, for the dramatic recovery of Skip James; to backwoods Louisiana, for "a real country supper" with Robert Pete Williams...
Ragging the Hillbilly. With all its variety, the role bears some surprising resemblances to Oates' own life. He was born in Depoy, Ky., a poverty pocket in the coal-mining district. When the family lost its general store during the Depression, his father went to work at odd jobs...
When he was 13, Warren moved with his family to Louisville, where he was ragged by his classmates for being "a hillbilly who dressed funny." Lonely, he spent most of his time in trouble at school, hanging out at the roller rink and getting into fistfights. At 18, Oates joined...