A 1993 radio interview from KWYN’s Yawn Patrol where Jim Quessenberry describes the pure, unadulterated barbecue of the old days — all-night goat roasts in Birdeye, Arkansas, and the folk music that went along with them.
Interviewer [00:05]: Jim, describe for me the old pure, unadulterated barbecue of the old days. Used to be a big event. Nowadays people say “We’re gonna have barbecue” — they come over for a few hours in the afternoon, and they slap something on, possibly even on the grill. But back in the old days, I’m assuming they stayed up all night — it was a big event. They prepared for it. Describe a real barbecue back in the old days for us.
Jim Quessenberry [00:34]: Well, when I was a little boy out there at Birdeye, every Fourth of July, the local people, primarily black people, they would dig these pits in the ground. And they always had two or three goats they’d barbecue. A lot of people did hogs and all, but at Birdeye they did goats on the Fourth of July. And they would make an all day, all night ritual out of the dern thing. They would slaughter those goats and dress them and have them on the fire, you know, and they built a side fire,
Jim Quessenberry [01:10]: where they burned the wood, and they would render the hot coals. And then take a shovel and sift the coals in under the meat. And they would stay up all night with those goats. I remember I was a little boy, and I used to be so upset when Dad would make me go home, you know, go to bed.
Jim Quessenberry [01:30]: I never was old enough to stay up with them, and I just really envied them, you know.
Interviewer [01:33]: They would stay up all night long?
Jim Quessenberry [01:34]: All night long, and eat the next day, and they had enough to feed everybody, and somebody would take some home and everything. Those things I know went on all over at least the southern part of the country.
Interviewer [01:46]: Now, I’m not sure whether you had this at Birdeye, but were there, for example, music related to some of these? Like, would people bring their guitars and fiddles to the barbecues?
Jim Quessenberry [01:49]: Oh yeah, I’m sure they did. I don’t remember that being a part of it there at Birdeye, but I’m sure… but now I tell you what… they may very well have done that at Birdeye.
Jim Quessenberry [02:03]: Because I’ve heard lots of stories about ole BB King, who back in those days, BB King hung around over there at Cold Water and Twist all the time. And a lot of the old plantation owners and all tried to keep him run off because he’d be on somebody’s front porch playing that guitar and they couldn’t get people back in the fields because he’s pulling them and drawing them, you know.
