John Alexander Barfield (3 March 1909 - 16 January 1974) was an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and

old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination ...

performer, best known for his 1939 recording of "Boogie Woogie", the first

country boogie Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mu ...

. He was born in

Tifton, Georgia Tifton is a city in Tift County, Georgia, United States. The population was 17,045 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Tift County. The area's public schools are administered by the Tift County School District. Abraham Baldwin Ag ...

, and in his youth played guitar on street corners with his brother Coot. They recorded for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in 1927, but the recordings were not released. Soon afterwards, Johnny Barfield became acquainted with

Clayton McMichen Clayton McMichen (January 26, 1900 – January 4, 1970) was an American fiddler and country musician. Biography Born in Allatoona, Georgia, McMichen learned to play the fiddle from his father and uncle. He moved to Atlanta with his family in 1 ...

and Bert Layne of the

Skillet Lickers The Skillet Lickers were an old-time band from Georgia, United States. When Gid Tanner teamed up with blind guitarist Riley Puckett and signed to Columbia in 1924, they created the label's earliest so-called "hillbilly" recording. Gid Tanner ...

, touring with the group and recording with some of its offshoots, including McMichen's group, the Georgia Wildcats. By 1932 he was performing both solo, and as a member of Layne's band. In 1939, he won a recording contract with

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

, and released his version of "Boogie Woogie", a song derived from "

Pinetop's Boogie Woogie "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" is a song initially recorded on December 29, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was released on March 1, 1929 by Clarence "Pinetop" Smith on Vocalion Records, a piano rag that cemented boogie-woogie as the nam ...

" recorded in 1928 by

Pinetop Smith Clarence Smith (June 11, 1904 – March 15, 1929), better known as Pinetop Smith or Pine Top Smith, was an American boogie-woogie style blues pianist. His hit tune "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" featured rhythmic "breaks" that were an essential i ...

. Barfield's song is considered the first country boogie, and became popular on

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...

es.Johnny Barfield at Allmusic.com
/ref>
/ref> Barfield recorded again in 1940 and 1941, but failed to repeat his earlier success. He continued to perform for several years. He died in 1974, aged 64.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barfield, Johnny 1909 births 1974 deaths American country singer-songwriters People from Tifton, Georgia 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)