Re: (Boom Boom) The Boogie

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

> I found a very good article on the boogie woogie beat that said ?the 
> great
> American bluesman Leadbelly heard an old-time Louisiana piano player 
> who
> called himself ?Pine Top? playing boogie woogie. Leadbelly picked up 
> Pine
> Top's rhythmic style and imitated it on his guitar. L

  Willie "Pinetop" Smith was born in a Bordello. No, not what you think, 
his mother was the COOK. He learned to play by resting his little hands 
on the keys, while the "rolls" went through their cycle. Eventually, he 
"Beat" the rolls (sort of a John Henry versus the steam powered mining 
drill type of deal).
  They say that if he had lived, he would have been the best there ever 
was. His life was cut short by (I believe) a Liver ailment (Bix 
Beiderbeck had a Kidney Ailment?). No, it wasn' from drinking. From 
what I remember Pinetop was only 23 yrs old, Soooo, Old time Louisiana 
piano player, might just be literary liberty. Perhaps when they wrote 
old time, they meant a long time BEFORE Ledbetter.  Sort of why I 
posted the other week that I'm very skeptical about ANYTHING. Hey, 
maybe it's just me........I can't help myself
P.S. I still do his "Boogie". It requires being able to get all 4 notes 
out of the #3 draw.

  smokey-joe