This Week on BU - Talking While the Music's Playing: Narrative Traditions in the Blues (Hour 2)

Join us as we take a look at narrative traditions in the blues. Starting with Speckled Red in 1929, we’ll hear classics along the way from Bo Diddley, Jack McVea, Pigmeat Markham, Robert Pete Williams, and B.B. King. More than just a cursory "Roots of Rap and Hip-Hop" history lesson, we'll dig into ground-breaking hits like "The Dirty Dozen," "The Hambone" and "Open The Door Richard," the latter of which captured the pop zeitgeist of 1947. Twenty years later, it was Pigmeat Markham and "Here Comes The Judge" (think "Laugh-In," the comedy TV show); another big hit that, in retrospect, easily comes across as an early Rap record. And while Bo Diddley and Jerome Green may have taken the fine art of trading insults to a whole new level with their ongoing series ("Say Man," "Say Man, Back Again," "Signifying Blues,") other spoken passages on the program come from a deeper place within. "Prisoner's Talking Blues" by Robert Pete Williams is one of the most moving pieces ever recorded — in any genre — while "Lucille" is a touching tribute to one of the most enduring relationships the Blues has ever known — B.B. King and his guitar Lucille. And finally, if you're a die-hard blues fan, you probably won't need a cue card to recite right along with John Lee Hooker during the spoken passages of "Boogie Chillen," the massive number one hit that put him on the map in the late 1940s. As it turns out, there's a long and proud tradition of "Talking While the Music's Playing," and on this special episode of Blues Unlimited, we've pulled out a couple dozen of our favorites. Pictured: A huge 1947 crossover hit, the catchphrase, "Open the door, Richard!" quickly wound its way into American popular culture. This episode is available commercial free and in its original full-fidelity high quality audio exclusively to our subscribers at Bandcamp. Your annual subscription of $27 a year will go directly to support this radio show, and you’ll gain INSTANT DOWNLOAD ACCESS to this and more than 120 other episodes from our extensive archive as well. More info is at http://bluesunlimited.bandcamp.com/subscribe Don't forget to install the PodOmatic Podcast Player app for iOS so you can listen to Sleepy Boy Hawkins wherever you go! Details at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/podomatic/id648258566?mt=8