# Eefing

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{{short description|Appalachian vocal technique}}
'''Eefing''' (also written '''eeephing''', '''eephing''', '''eeefing''', '''eefin''',<ref>[http://www.rossmusic.net/eef.htm eefin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205192531/http://www.rossmusic.net/eef.htm |date=2006-12-05 }}, What the heck is an eef?. Accessed January 7, 2007.</ref> or '''eefn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'''<ref>[https://yahmdallah.blogspot.com/2003/04/eefn-its-funny-how-sometimes-attic.html eefn'], Third Level Digression (blog). Accessed March 20, 2006.</ref>) is an [Appalachia](/source/Appalachia)n ([United States](/source/United_States)) vocal technique similar to [beatboxing](/source/beatboxing), but nearly a century older. [NPR](/source/NPR)'s Jennifer Sharpe describes it as "a kind of hiccupping, rhythmic wheeze that started in rural [Tennessee](/source/Tennessee) more than 100 years ago."<ref name="Sharpe">Sharpe 2005</ref>

An eefing piece called "Swamp Root" was one of the first singles recorded and released by [Sam Phillips](/source/Sam_Phillips). Singer [Joe Perkins](/source/Joe_Perkins) had a minor 1963 hit, "Little Eeefin' Annie" (#76 on the ''[Billboard](/source/Billboard_magazine)'' chart), featuring eefer [Jimmy Riddle](/source/Jimmy_Riddle), whom Sharpe calls "the acknowledged master of the genre". Riddle later brought eefing to national visibility on the television series ''[Hee Haw](/source/Hee_Haw)''.<ref name="Sharpe"/>

In fall 1963, the same time as Perkins' "Little Eefin' Annie" was released, a group called the Ardells issued a single on Epic called "Eefenanny", a sort of [bluegrass](/source/Bluegrass_music)/[hillbilly](/source/hillbilly) spoof on the [folk](/source/Folk_music) [hootenanny](/source/hootenanny) movement. It was not as big a hit. Also in 1963, [Alvin and the Chipmunks](/source/Alvin_and_the_Chipmunks) released an original song entitled "Eefin' Alvin" where the boys attempt eefing.

Another early eefing record was released in 1963 on the Philadelphia label Guyden Records #2096 by the Goodlettsville Five: "Eef" b/w "Bailey's Gone Eefin" - a version of "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey".  The group appears to have been session musicians assembled by the credited composer/producer Jerry Kennedy.

The song "Hillbilly Beatbox" by [The Evolution Control Committee](/source/The_Evolution_Control_Committee) prominently features eefing recordings.<ref>[http://soundcloud.com/ecc/hillbilly-beatboxing "Hillbilly beatboxing" by ECC] (page on [SoundCloud](/source/SoundCloud))</ref>

==See also==
* [Vocal hiccup](/source/Vocal_hiccup)

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Jennifer Sharpe, [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5259589 Jimmie Riddle and the Lost Art of Eephing], [National Public Radio](/source/National_Public_Radio), March 13, 2006. Accessed March 20, 2006. Includes audio in [RealAudio](/source/RealAudio) and [Windows Media Player](/source/Windows_Media_Player) formats.
* [https://www.angelfire.com/tn2/bobloyce/eeef.html Joe Perkins' Little Eeefin' Annie page]

Category:Vocal skills

{{music-genre-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Eefing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eefing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eefing?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.