Born on This Day in 1909, the Musician Who Forever Changed Country Music and Laid the Foundation for Artists Like Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly

On this day (March 3) in 1909, Johnny Barfield was born in Tifton, Georgia. His musical journey began when he was a child, playing guitar on street corners. As an adult, Barfield recorded for multiple labels. He also performed and toured with legendary artists, including Bill Monroe. While he isn’t a household name today, he helped shape the future of American music with his groundbreaking recording “Boogie Woogie.”

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Barfield and his brother, Coot, performed on street corners in the Columbus, Georgia, area. They made some early recordings for Columbia Records in the late 1920s. However, they were unreleased. According to AllMusic, Barfield found his first career break when he became friends with fiddler Bert Layne and joined his group, the Skillet Lickers.

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He spent the next few years performing on radio stations and in clubs, both solo and with the band. Then, in 1939, he landed a recording contract with Bluebird Records. There, he released “Boogie Woogie.” Inspired by blues pianist Pinetop Smith’s “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie,” the song was the first to combine the boogie rhythm with country music. It quickly became popular in jukeboxes. Later, other country artists added the swinging uptempo boogie rhythm to their recordings, pushing the genre forward.

Johnny Barfield Influenced Honky Tonk Legends

Johnny Barfield’s “Boogie Woogie” laid the groundwork for multiple evolutions of country music. For instance, one could draw a stylistic line between it and Ernest Tubb’s 1941 hit “Walking the Floor Over You,” which is widely considered the first honky tonk song.

Honky tonk music from the likes of Tubb and Hank Williams further blended bedrock country, or “hillbilly,” music with blues. In the decade after the new subgenre emerged, artists like Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley took the musical evolution a step further with rockabilly. The new style blended honky tonk with R&B, pushing the tempo higher.

It is impossible to say if things would have evolved in the same way without Johnny Barfield’s contributions. However, it is hard to overlook his influence on early honky tonkers and, by extension, rockabilly.

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