# Why are banjoists always made out to be hicks, or inbred? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842 "2012-05-14T04:01:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/41 "2012-05-15T11:23:39Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Spoons? Jug? Washboard? Gutbucket? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/42 "2012-05-15T16:24:24Z")
In the third volume of Eric Flint’s “Ring of Fire” anthology\* there’s a story titled “Sound of Sweet Strings: a Serenade in One movement”. It’s about how the banjo becomes a respected instrument in Europe, during the 1630’s. - If you aren’t familiar with Flint’s Ring of Fire, it begins with the book _1632_, in which a town from West Virginia is transported back in time to the Germanies during the Thirty Year War. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/43 "2012-05-15T20:44:35Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Bertie Wooster was portrayed as a banjolele enthusiast, and he wasn’t an inbred hick, he was an English Gentleman. Err.. never mind. [Banjo Boy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiYzQhcAJxA) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/44 "2012-05-15T22:09:53Z")
Could be worse. Think about accordion players & Polack jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/45 "2012-05-15T22:23:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Y’know, I think the violin is the only musical instrument that changes its name based on the style of music it’s being used to play. Why is it usually called a “fiddle” in folk contexts, but “violin” in classical? Because a violin doesn’t have beer stains on it. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/46 "2012-05-16T00:23:31Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Spoons? Jug? Washboard? Diddley bow? ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/47 "2012-05-16T01:06:29Z")
Yup. Blame Deliverance. Before that, it was still associated with hillbillies, but not necessarily the inbred mentally retarded hicks. That all came from the kid in Deliverance. Bluegrass banjo was more associated with guys like Grandpa Jones. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/48 "2012-05-16T01:20:41Z")
The five art forms of purely American origin (as frequently claimed by one Harlan Ellison): Comic books & strips, tap dancing, jazz, the musical comedy… and banjo. Come to think of it, all of these are snootily looked down upon by Europhiles with issues. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/49 "2012-05-16T04:09:15Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > The five art forms of purely American origin (as frequently claimed by one Harlan Ellison): Comic books & strips, tap dancing, jazz, the musical comedy… and banjo. Come to think of it, all of these are snootily looked down upon by Europhiles with issues. And [blackface](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Blackface) [minstrel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel_show) [shows.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MinstrelShows) Which [hung on in the UK](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_and_White_Minstrel_Show) long after they became unacceptable in the U.S. **(So** unacceptable that Americans tend to forget they ever existed, or that [Judy Garland](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Y2Ll24GRU) and [Mickey Rooney](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babes_on_Broadway) and [Bing Crosby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7eDnzEjwOU) did blackface acts on film, played straight.) (Blackface **acts** are older than _Othello,_ but the minstrel show is a purely American invention. And just about always included banjos.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/50 "2012-05-16T05:28:49Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And [blackface](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Blackface) [minstrel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel_show) [shows.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MinstrelShows) Which [hung on in the UK](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_and_White_Minstrel_Show) long after they became unacceptable in the U.S. **(So** unacceptable that Americans tend to forget they ever existed, or that [Judy Garland](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Y2Ll24GRU) and [Mickey Rooney](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babes_on_Broadway) and [Bing Crosby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7eDnzEjwOU) did blackface acts on film, played straight.) (Blackface **acts** are older than _Othello,_ but the minstrel show is a purely American invention. And just about always included banjos.) Americans also tend to forget that a lot of American standards – [“Oh Susanna,”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5UCb8Y0fYQ) [“Camptown Races,”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tuu5YtkPIo&feature=related) [“Old Folks at Home” (“Swanee River” – still the state song of Florida, BTW),](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgwYmDgdpvM) many others – originally were written to be sung by white men in blackface and clown suits. [Stephen Foster](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Foster) wrote practically nothing else. And, that a lot of genuine African-American (though sometimes they had to hide the fact) entertainers broke into showbiz by way of the minstrel stage. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/51 "2012-05-16T14:38:04Z")
Before _ **Deliverance** _, I associated banjos with the whole Greenwich Village folkie scene, which was dominated by liberal intellectuals with pretensions of solidarity with the rural poor and the working class. Seriously, before _ **Deliverance,** _ I associated the banjo with guys like Pete Seeger. ---
**Author:** ![frailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@frailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frailer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/52 "2012-05-20T05:08:44Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > The same reason they act like I’m a complete moron. I play the spoons (hence my username), and as such, I am not supposed to understand anything musical. Who can claim to understand music when they play “instruments” from the kitchen drawer, after all? > > In actual fact, I also play piano and flute, and I sing. I’ve studied all of the above. I can read music. I’ve played spoons with some top Canadian country/Celtic stars; and played on stage in such Celtic hotbeds as Halifax NS, St. John’s NF, and Charlottetown, PEI. I was taught by a Cape Bretoner who told me to take my music to the rest of Canada; and so, I do. > > Banjo is a fine instrument. Love to play with you sometime. Never mind what anybody else says. Spoons, if you’re ever in Illinois, I’d enjoy playing a set with ya. I used to play the spoons myself, but, just can’t keep them together anymore. Damn arthritis! ---
**Author:** ![frailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@frailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frailer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/53 "2012-05-20T05:10:00Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Before _ **Deliverance** _, I associated banjos with the whole Greenwich Village folkie scene, which was dominated by liberal intellectuals with pretensions of solidarity with the rural poor and the working class. > > Seriously, before _ **Deliverance,** _ I associated the banjo with guys like Pete Seeger. Very glad to hear that. I always associated the banjo with my great-grandfather, who played classical as well as old-time country. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/54 "2012-05-20T07:28:28Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > The same reason they act like I’m a complete moron. I play the spoons (hence my username), and as such, I am not supposed to understand anything musical. Who can claim to understand music when they play “instruments” from the kitchen drawer, after all? I don’t get that. It’s a percussion instrument like a drum or a triangle – they don’t need to be complicated. ---
**Author:** ![DearestDane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@DearestDane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DearestDane)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842/55 "2012-05-20T08:02:23Z")
Why care. Those people are clearly conceited idiots. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-banjoists-always-made-out-to-be-hicks-or-inbred/621842.md?page=2)