A-I
Alligator - Or 'Gator. A dance from Florida that involves squirming on the dance floor.
Back Door Man - A clandestine lover who must sneak out the back door as the as the husband/wife comes in the front door.
Balling the Jack - A railroad work term that quickly became a metaphor for lovemaking. It was also the name of a popular dance step in the 1940's.
Barrelhouse - A common nightclub (see juke joint). Probably named after barrels of beer needed to fuel proceedings.
Beale Street - A Blues hotspot in Memphis, Tennessee. B.B. King started there. The area has been revived and is once again a thriving party scene.
Black Cat Bone - A mystical charm that is actually a bone from a black cat that has been ritually processed. Carried for good luck.
Blues - Musical form that came from rural African-American experience. Using flatted and bending notes in the common music scale, an ultra-emotional sound developed.
Boll Weevil - An insect that eats cotton. This pest was responsible for crop failures that plagued the South.
Boogie-Woogie - A Blues style most associated with the piano. From the ragtime and stride piano traditions of New Orleans and Kansas City, it evolved into a very Texas musical form.
Bourbon Street - Traditional party street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Famed for music and decadence.
Canned Heat - Sterno. Jellied alcohol that could heat your food or get you very drunk.
Captain - The big boss. The plantation owner or prison guard.
C.C. Rider - A prostitute's boyfriend or anyone who gets a free ride in exchange for sex.
Chicken Shack - A food establishment where a party could also be found.
Creeper - A clandestine lover who sneaks around town. The Midnight Creeper.
Delta - Fertile flat land in western Mississippi that was the heart of the slavery and cotton eras.
Dozens - An insult game usually about your mother.
Dust My Broom - Break up with a lover. Start an new life by cleaning out the old.
Eagle Rock - Popular dance from the 1920's
Flag a Ride - Hitchhike or jump a passing freight train.
Gandy Dancers - Railroad workers who straightened track to a call and response work song.
Gris-Gris - A magical spell or voodoo technique.
Hands - A collection of voodoo charms worn or carried for protection and luck.
Harp - A harmonica. Also known as the Georgia Saxophone.
Highway 61 - Highway runs north and south through the Mississippi Delta. It was the main route of the migration to Chicago.
Hobo - A homeless person who jumps on freight trains to travel the counrty. The source of some real Blues.
Honeydripper - A superlover. The one you love or hope to love.
Hoochie Coochie Man - A man obsessed with booze (hootch) and women (cootch).
HooDoo - A mix of African spirituality, Voodoo, and Christianity. Folk magic of the rural South.
House Party - Musical parties in an apartment or house instead of a club or juke.
