Music "Cats"

[codydang]

So I hear the term "cats" in reference to musicians all over the place, which I think is cool. I was curious about the history of the term and if it references any specific 'type' of musicians, if anyone knows about that.

[elgecko]

[mjac28]

I think it was a term first used around the Jazz crowd and it grew from there I use to hear it a lot in the 60's and 70's I still use the term but only around my older friends.

[LowBC]

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/hepcat

[dmusic148]

Originally Posted by elgecko

That just oozes awesome.

[Demon_Hunter]

[Ed Fuqua]

Practically all of the vocabulary surrounding music and musicians came from Lester Young.

[phillybass101]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

Practically all of the vocabulary surrounding music and musicians came from Lester Young.

My father played Tenor and Lester Young was his man. This just brought back many memories of my father shedding in the kitchen with his bottle on the side :-) Or the Sunday afternoon jam sessions at my house.

[Thick McRunfast]

I don't think I've ever been called "cat".

If I was I'd be tempted to say something like "Twenty three skidoo, what's buzzin' cuzzin, seen any dames, got that cabbage you owe me?"

[Edward G.]

Originally Posted by Thick McRunfast

I don't think I've ever been called "cat".

If I was I'd be tempted to say something like "Twenty three skidoo, what's buzzin' cuzzin, seen any dames, got that cabbage you owe me?"

I always thought a 'cat' was someone who is ahead of the curve, someone who is musically together and ready to throw down.

[KwinS]

I probably picked up that term during my UNT days in the 80's. I still use it, on occasion, and have noticed that a few of the younger players that come into the music shop have picked it up from me. Haven't really thought about it before now, though.

[Ayce]

Misread the title. Thought you were referring to the Musical "Cats"

Never been called one myself, but I've heard it now and then.

[Road-Dog]

Cats are cool!

[Ukiah Bass]

Probably derived from the jazz "cutting session," where musicians attempted to shred each other with virtuosity. Nothing shreds better than a cat's claw.

A more familiar collateral damage is the fabric covering of a speaker cabinet, often called "rat fur" by displaying open wounds from them thar claws.

[elgecko]

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

In 1940, the word hepster was used by Cab Calloway in the title of his Hepster's Dictionary, which defines hep cat as "a guy who knows all the answers, understands jive". In 1944, pianist Harry Gibson modified this to hipster.[2] Hipster is listed in the short glossary "For Characters Who Don't Dig Jive Talk," published in 1944 with the album Boogie Woogie In Blue by Gibson, who performed as Harry the Hipster.[3] The entry for hipsters defined them as "characters who like hot jazz."

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[Ewo]

Lovin' Spoonful's Nashville Cats.

A lexicon. Check the name of the site, itself.

[nutdog]

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Edward G.

I always thought a 'cat' was someone who is ahead of the curve, someone who is musically together and ready to throw down.

Thats pretty accurate. It was a terms used by hipsters to describe themselves and other hipsters, back during the Beat generation.

Someone linked to a definition of the term "hepcat" which is probably where "cat" was derived from.

[dtripoli]

Musically, Cat:
Stray cat, alley cat, rogue cat, independent, slinky, rough and tough yet smooth and silky as a fine liquor.
Yep, most of us cats fit that description

[MatticusMania]

smelly cat


grumpy cat