Field Hollers as well as work songs were African
American styles of music from before the Civil War, this style of music is close related to
Spirituals in the sense that it expressed religious
feelings and included subtle hints about ways of escaping
slavery, among other things. Slaves in New Orleans had a
field area called Congo Square in which they were allowed
time on Sundays to dance and sing more freely than they
could on the plantations.
References
- Charlton, Katherine (2003). Rock Music Styles - a history. Mc Graw-Hill, 4th ed., pp. 3. ISBN 0072495553.