Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to frequent a cheap saloon or brothel.

1928		Blind Lemon Jefferson ‘Change My Luck Blues’ 🎵 I said she was my best mama, but she wouldn’t treat me right / She wouldn’t do nothin’ but barrelhouse all night long.
1928		F. Spruell ‘Low-Down Mississippi Bottom Man’ 🎵 I likes low-down music, I likes to barrelhouse and get drunk too / I’m just a low-down man.
1997		D.H. Edwards The World Don’t Owe Me Nothing 41: Went to Rayville, a little town that stayed up all night and all day barrelhousing.

2. (US black) to look for sexual partners, to have sexual intercourse.

1912		W.C. Handy ‘Mr Crump Blues’ 🎵 Mister Crump won’t ’low no easy riders here. / I don’t care what he don’t ’low, / I’m going barrelhouse anyhow.
1934		Leroy Carr ‘Barrelhouse Blues’ 🎵 My woman so low down / She barrellhouse all the time / She’s so low and squayytty / But I love that.
1937		Robert Johnson ‘Travelin’ Riverside Blues’ 🎵 Just come on back to Friar’s Point, mama, and barrelhouse all night long / [...] Lord, I’m goin’ to Rosedale, gon’ take my rider by my side / We can still barrelhouse, baby, ’cause it’s on the river side / Now you can squeeze my lemon till the juice run down my...
1965		K. Marlowe Mr Madam (1967) 131: It meant we could do better with barrelhousing and tips. [Ibid.] 133: I went out barrelhousing one evening [...] and spotted Bobbi, a prostitute, who was also a customer at the Beauty salon. She talked her John into giving me a five dollar tip.

3. to drive very fast.

1959		L. O’Connor They Talked to a Stranger 106: ‘Did you barrel-house the cars?’ ‘Oh, we did a lot of hot-rodding on some of them. Races and things.’.
1960		(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 6: Barrelhouse – [...] to go full-speed.

4. (US) to party, to enjoy music.

1978

S. King Stand (1990) 943: I like roadhouse music [...] I’m going to New Orleans, going to drive all night, sleep all day tomorrow, then barrelhouse all night long.