#COUNTRY MUSIC BAR SAN FRANCISCO MOVIE#

Honky-tonks were rough establishments, providing country music in the Deep South and Southwest and serving alcoholic beverages to a working-class clientele. The honky tonk, as a matter of fact, was the predecessor of the present-day cabaret or night club, the principal differences being that the prices were lower and that the former establishment made no pretense of ' class.' In these establishments, which were often of enormous size, much liquor was dispensed at the tables which crowded the floor, and entertainment of doubtful quality was given on a stage at one end of the room. The name originated on the Barbary Coast and was applied to the low ' dives' which formed so great a part of this notorious district. Seafaring men of a few years ago knew very well, as the honky-tonks of San Francisco's Barbary Coast constituted perhaps the most vivid spots in their generally uneventful lives.

#COUNTRY MUSIC BAR SAN FRANCISCO MOVIE#

The article, however, reads more like a humorous urban (or open range) legend or fable, so its veracity is questionable.Īn article in the Los Angeles Times of July 28, 1929, with the headline ''Honky-Tonk' Origin Told', which was probably in response to the Sophie Tucker movie musical, Honky Tonk (1929), reads: Īn early source purporting to explain the derivation of the term (spelled honkatonk) was an article published in 1900 by the New York Sun and widely reprinted in other newspapers.

Manufacturing Company in 1873, so such an etymology is possible, however, these pianos were not manufactured until 1889, at which point the term seems to have already been established. The Tonk brothers, William and Max, established the Tonk Bros. One theory is that the 'tonk' portion of the name may have come from the brand name of piano made by William Tonk & Bros., an American manufacturer of large upright pianos (established 1881), which made a piano with the decal 'Ernest A. The sound of honky-tonk (or honk-a-tonk) and the types of places that were called honky-tonks suggests that the term may be an onomatopoeic reference to the loud, boisterous music and noise heard at these establishments. There are subsequent citations from 1890 in The Dallas Morning News, 1892 in the Galveston Daily News ( Galveston, Texas) (which used the term to refer to an adult establishment in Fort Worth), and in 1894 in The Daily Ardmoreite in Oklahoma, Early uses of the term in print mostly appear along a corridor roughly coinciding with cattle drive trails extending from Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, into south central Oklahoma, suggesting that the term may have been a localism spread by cowboys driving cattle to market. The earliest known use in print is an article in the Peoria Journal dated June 28, 1874, stating, 'The police spent a busy day today raiding the bagnios and honkytonks.' The origin of the term honky-tonk is unknown. In the 1950s, honky-tonk entered its golden age, with the popularity of Winifred Atwell, Webb Pierce, Hank Locklin, Lefty Frizzell, Ray Price, Faron Young, George Jones, and Hank Williams. Before World War II, the music industry began to refer to hillbilly music being played from Texas and Oklahoma to the West Coast as 'honky-tonk' music. This honky-tonk music was an important influence on the boogie-woogie piano style. The first music genre to be commonly known as honky-tonk was a style of piano playing related to ragtime but emphasizing rhythm more than melody or harmony the style evolved in response to an environment in which pianos were often poorly cared for, tending to be out of tune and having some nonfunctioning keys.

The origin of the term 'honky-tonk' is disputed, originally referring to bawdy variety shows in areas of the old West ( Oklahoma, the Indian Territories and mostly Texas) and to the actual theaters showing them. Many eminent country music artists, such as Jimmie Rodgers, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Ernest Tubb, Johnny Horton, and Merle Haggard, began their careers as amateur musicians in honky-tonks. Bars of this kind are common in the South and Southwest United States. It can also refer to the type of piano ( tack piano) used to play such music. Tootsie's Orchid Lounge is the oldest Honky Tonk in Nashville, Tennessee.Ī honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments.

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