Chapter Seven

 by Earl Berry

Pages 61-62

The dictionary defines musical as "devoted to, or skilled in, music." It would, perhaps, be stretching this definition to use the term as it was used in the early part of this century in Marion County to a form of entertainment common in practically every community. These "musicals" were usually held in the homes of families in the community-not necessarily the same house-and usually, not always, on Friday night or Saturday night. These must not be confused with the "Square Dances" as portrayed by Mrs. Smith, for there were, in practically every community, those who looked upon the "Square Dance" as sin and a device of Satan to destroy the virtue of women. No dancing or partying was permitted at these musicals.

The musicals featured both vocal and instrumental music. Sometimes the vocal music was group singing. For the most part, the songs sung were taken from the church hymnals but a good many were ballads and folk songs kept alive-not from a printed book-but handed down from generation to generation. A few patriotic songs found their way into these musicals. Such folk songs as: Poor Little Lost Baby, The Hangman Tree, Casey Jones, I've Been Working on the Railroad, Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home, were favorites. The Battle Hymn of the Republic and America, the Beautiful were favored far above The Star Spangled Banner as patriotic songs and Dixie was always, when sung or played, sure to bring foot-stomping and a "Rebel Yell" at its conclusion.

In many of the communities there were those who furnished instrumental music. There were fiddlers-not violinists; there were those who picked the banjo; there were those who strummed the guitar. Occasionally, someone played the mandolin and, in some homes, the old-fashioned organ became the center of the musical.

The favorite tunes of the fiddlers were: Buffalo Gal, Arkansas Traveler, and Red River Valley.

Many of the songs taken from the church hymnals were sung with the fervor of a camp meeting revival, accompanied by the organ and, on occasions, by the other instruments.

Some of the favorite musicians were the Gay family of Kingdon Springs- Enoch, Robert, Aaron, Joe Lee, Fate, and some of their wives, who could play practically any instrument and were gifted singers. Clayton Dilbeck of Flippin was a fiddler and members of his family could play and sing; George Smothers, a fiddler, and members of his family who played and sang; Uncle Tom Reeves of the Happy Hollow Community was a fiddler who played at musicals, as well as "Square Dances". The story has it that at the dances while the "sets" were being arranged, someone would always inquire of Uncle Tom as to what tune he would play first. His reported reply always was: "Well, I just know two tunes and I allus plays one or tuther of them first." Other musicians remembered were the Lee Fielden family of Bruno-Anderson Flat, the Medleys of Rush, the Wilbanks and Hillhouses of the Oakland area, the Pierce and Wolf families of Duren Valley, the Shaw family of the Big Foot Community, Bill Hogsed family of Flippin, Joe Stovall family of Bruno, and the Davenports and Dillards of Mull and Caney. There were many other individuals and families in the county who, prior to the advent of the radio and TV, furnished wholesome entertainment in their communities whose names cannot be recalled; but to all those, many of have long since departed, we owe a lasting debt of gratitude that they came our way and eased the burdens and cares of this life.