Folk Music
Branson is known throughout the world today as a musical town. It is home to more than 30 theaters and numerous live shows. Artists range from the homegrown Presleys to Mel Tillis to Andy Williams. Although the celebrity theater show is a fairly recent development in the county's history, music has been a part of the hill culture since it was settled. Music has always been vital to Ozarkers.
Most of the traditional Ozarks folk music can be traced back to other parts of the world. Many songs emigrated with settlers from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Germany. These people settled in the hills of the Appalachians. Eventually some moved on to the Ozarks, bringing their music with them. The music of the two mountain regions is similar but there some differences in idiom and dialect. As music tends to be passed down orally, changes in wording or tunes may occur from previous generations and several versions of a song may exist.
Music was entertainment, instructive, and spiritual. Pioneers would gather in homes or at schools for singing, dancing, and playing. Typical instruments were harmonicas, guitars, banjos, dulcimers, and most importantly, fiddles. Other instruments were improvised from bones, spoons, saws, and washboards. Square dancing, jigs, and clogging took place to lively musical accompaniment. Children started the school day with a song and almost every special school function included music. Churches used many hymns during their worship services, particularly during brush arbor meetings and revivals. An all day singing with dinner on the ground was common. Few Ozarkers could read music so hymnbooks with "shape" notes were popular. Shape notes allowed non-music readers to recognize the pitch of a song without knowing it.
There are many well-known folk songs. One with an interesting local history is "The Hound Dog Song." The first verse is:
Ev'ry time I come to townThe boys keep kickin' my dawg aroun'Makes no diff'rence if he is a houn'They gotta quit kickin' my dawg aroun'. (Randolph, v. 3, p. 279)
The song gained popularity in the early 1900s when it was used in a presidential campaign. The postmaster of Swan, Missouri claimed that the song originated in Forsyth, the Taney county seat. Reportedly, just prior to the Civil War Zeke Parrish was arrested in Forsyth for fighting with another boy who had kicked his dog. Area folks made up a song about the incident, which they sang until the war broke out. Some believe this story; others doubt its veracity. Regardless, "The Hound Dog Song" was a hit in the Ozarks.
Music and Taney County are interwoven. Modern media has homogenized our language and culture, but one can still find traces of traditional Ozarks folk music.
Works Consulted
Image of fiddler from http://www.arttoday.com. member page. 10 July 1999.
Photographs of Randolph and dog from Godsey Collection, courtesy of Lyons Memorial Library, College of the Ozarks
Randolph, Vance. Ozark Folksongs, v. 1. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1980, pp. 31-36.
Randolph, Vance. Ozark Folksongs, v. 3. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1980, pp. 278-279.
Van Buskirk, Kathleen. "A World Filled with Music." In the Heart of Ozark Mountain Country. Ed. Frank Rueter. Reeds Spring, MO: WhiteOak Press, 1992, pp. 103-104.
