Talking blues
Encyclopedia
Talking blues is a form of country music
. It is characterized by rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody
is free, but the rhythm
is strict.
Christopher Allen Bouchillon
, billed as "The Talking Comedian of the South," is credited with creating the "talking blues" form with the song "Talking Blues," recorded for Columbia Records in Atlanta in 1926, from which the style gets its name. The song was released in 1927, followed by a sequel, "New Talking Blues," in 1928. His song "Born in Hard Luck" is similar in style.
. The vocals are sung in a rhythmic, flat tone, very near to a speaking voice, and take the form of rhyming couplets. At the end of each verse, consisting of two couplets, the singer continues to talk, adding a fifth line consisting of an irregular, generally unrhymed, and unspecified number of bars, often with a pause in the middle of the line, before resuming the strict chordal structure. This example, from "Talking Blues" by Woody Guthrie
, a cover of "New Talking Blues" by Bouchillon, serves to explain the format:
The lyrics to a talking blues are characterized by dry, rural humour, with the spoken codetta often adding a wry commentary on the subject of the verse.
popularized the style after Bouchillon; his "Talking Hard Work" is a title-tribute to Bouchillon's "Talking Blues" and "Born in Hard Luck". Several sources of the 1940s - 1950s, including the Almanac Singers
, wrongly credited Guthrie as the creator of the talking blues; he was rather the innovator who explored the use of the form for political and topical subject matter. By the 1940s, what had started as a comedic country music
genre became known as a form of wry political protest singing. This sample lyric, from "Talking Union" by Pete Seeger
, Lee Hays, and Millard Lampell
shows the development of the genre into a vehicle for political commentary:
In 1958, the musician and folk music scholar John Greenway recorded an album collection called "Talking Blues" on the Folkways
label. His compendium included 15 talking blues songs by Guthrie, Tom Glazer
, and others, and was, according to the music historian Manfred Helfert, the "obvious source" for the many 1960s forays into the genre by Bob Dylan
. The best known of Dylan's talking blues is "Talking World War III Blues" from 1963:
Dylan's fame and his repeated use of the talking blues form contributed to the genre becoming a widely popular vehicle for the composition of songs with political content. When the country singer Johnny Cash
recorded a song that described his trip to Vietnam
with his wife June Carter Cash
, he chose the talking blues format to describe his dissent against the Vietnam War
.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. It is characterized by rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
is free, but the rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
is strict.
Christopher Allen Bouchillon
Christopher Allen Bouchillon
Christopher Allen Bouchillon was an American country music and blues musician from South Carolina, who is often credited with being the originator of the talking blues musical style.-Family:...
, billed as "The Talking Comedian of the South," is credited with creating the "talking blues" form with the song "Talking Blues," recorded for Columbia Records in Atlanta in 1926, from which the style gets its name. The song was released in 1927, followed by a sequel, "New Talking Blues," in 1928. His song "Born in Hard Luck" is similar in style.
The form
A talking blues typically consists of a repetitive guitar line utilizing a three chord progression which, although it is called a "blues", is not actually a twelve bar bluesTwelve bar blues
The 12-bar blues is one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music, including the blues. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics and phrase and chord structure and duration...
. The vocals are sung in a rhythmic, flat tone, very near to a speaking voice, and take the form of rhyming couplets. At the end of each verse, consisting of two couplets, the singer continues to talk, adding a fifth line consisting of an irregular, generally unrhymed, and unspecified number of bars, often with a pause in the middle of the line, before resuming the strict chordal structure. This example, from "Talking Blues" by Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
, a cover of "New Talking Blues" by Bouchillon, serves to explain the format:
Mama's in the kitchen fixin' the yeast
Papa's in the bedroom greasin' his feets
Sister's in the cellar squeezin' up the hops
Brother's at the window just a-watchin' for the cops
Drinkin' home brew ... makes you happy.
The lyrics to a talking blues are characterized by dry, rural humour, with the spoken codetta often adding a wry commentary on the subject of the verse.
Development of the genre
Woody GuthrieWoody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
popularized the style after Bouchillon; his "Talking Hard Work" is a title-tribute to Bouchillon's "Talking Blues" and "Born in Hard Luck". Several sources of the 1940s - 1950s, including the Almanac Singers
Almanac Singers
The Almanac Singers were a group of folk musicians who, as their name indicates, specialized in topical songs, especially songs connected with the labor movement...
, wrongly credited Guthrie as the creator of the talking blues; he was rather the innovator who explored the use of the form for political and topical subject matter. By the 1940s, what had started as a comedic country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
genre became known as a form of wry political protest singing. This sample lyric, from "Talking Union" by Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, Lee Hays, and Millard Lampell
Millard Lampell
Millard Lampell was an American movie and television screenwriter who first became publicly known as a member of the Almanac Singers in the 1940s....
shows the development of the genre into a vehicle for political commentary:
Now, if you want higher wages, let me tell you what to do
You got to talk to the workers in the shop with you
You got to build you a union, got to make it strong
But if you all stick together, boys, it won't be long
You'll get shorter hours, better working conditions, vacations with pay ... take your kids to the seashore.
In 1958, the musician and folk music scholar John Greenway recorded an album collection called "Talking Blues" on the Folkways
Folkways
Folkways can refer to:*Folkways —theory by the sociologist William Graham Sumner.*Folkways Records—a record label founded by Moe Asch....
label. His compendium included 15 talking blues songs by Guthrie, Tom Glazer
Tom Glazer
Thomas Zachariah "Tom" Glazer was an American folk singer and songwriter known primarily as a composer of ballads, including: "Because All Men Are Brothers", recorded by The Weavers and Peter, Paul and Mary, "Talking Inflation Blues", recorded by Bob Dylan, and "A Dollar Ain't A Dollar Anymore"...
, and others, and was, according to the music historian Manfred Helfert, the "obvious source" for the many 1960s forays into the genre by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. The best known of Dylan's talking blues is "Talking World War III Blues" from 1963:
Well, I rung the fallout shelter bell
And I leaned my head and I gave a yell
"Give me a string bean, I'm a hungry man!"
A shotgun fired and away I ran
I don't blame them too much, though ... he didn't know me
Dylan's fame and his repeated use of the talking blues form contributed to the genre becoming a widely popular vehicle for the composition of songs with political content. When the country singer Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
recorded a song that described his trip to Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
with his wife June Carter Cash
June Carter Cash
Valerie June Carter Cash was an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedienne and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash...
, he chose the talking blues format to describe his dissent against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Notable examples
- "Talking Blues" (1927) and "New Talking Blues" (1928) by Christopher Allen Bouchillon
- "Talking Dust Bowl Blues" (1940), "Talking Fishing Blues", "Talking Centralia", "Talking Columbia", "Talking Hard Work", "Talking Sailor", and "Talking Subway" by Woody GuthrieWoody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
. - "Talking Union," by Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, Lee Hays, and Millard LampellMillard LampellMillard Lampell was an American movie and television screenwriter who first became publicly known as a member of the Almanac Singers in the 1940s....
. - "Atomic Talking Blues" (a.k.a. "Talking Atom", "Old Man Atom") by Vern PartlowVern PartlowVern Partlow was an American newspaper reporter and folk singer who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He composed the popular satirical song "Old Man Atom," which was famously banned during the period...
- "Talking Inflation Blues" by Tom GlazerTom GlazerThomas Zachariah "Tom" Glazer was an American folk singer and songwriter known primarily as a composer of ballads, including: "Because All Men Are Brothers", recorded by The Weavers and Peter, Paul and Mary, "Talking Inflation Blues", recorded by Bob Dylan, and "A Dollar Ain't A Dollar Anymore"...
- Talking Blues (1958), an LP collection of 15 songs in the talking blues genre by various song-writers, recorded and annotated by John Greenway
- "Talking World War III Blues" (1963), "Talking New York", "Talking Hava Negiliah Blues", "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues", "I Shall Be Free No. 10", and "Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues" by Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, all recorded during the 1960s - "Singing in Viet Nam Talking Blues" by Johnny CashJohnny CashJohn R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
- "Talking Big Apple '75" by Loudon Wainwright III' (on his 1976 album T ShirtT Shirt (album)T Shirt is a 1976 album by Loudon Wainwright III. Unlike his earlier records, this saw Wainwright adopt a full blown rock band - though there are acoustic songs on T-Shirt, including a talking blues...
) - "Fraternity Blues", "Talking Thunderbird Blues", "Talking Karate Blues" by Townes Van ZandtTownes Van ZandtJohn Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...
- "Talkin' Blues (What's in a Name)" by Billy ConnollyBilly ConnollyWilliam "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
- "Talking Mysterious Prostate" by Don FreedDon FreedDonald Freed , is a Canadian singer and songwriter best known for his works about life on the Western Canadian prairies and the province of Saskatchewan in particular.-Life and career:...
. - "Talkin' Seattle Grunge Blues" by Todd Snider
- "Talkin' Orange Alert BluesTalkin' Orange Alert BluesTalkin' Orange Alert Blues is a song by folk-singer John Craigie, from his fourth album, A Picnic on the 405. It is one of his most popular songs, and a staple of his live shows. It is done in the standard Talking blues style popularized by Woody Guthrie, and later Bob Dylan, such as in Talkin'...
" by John CraigieJohn Craigie (musician)John Craigie is an American singer-songwriterwho currently resides in San Francisco, CA. Hailed as a "Modern-Day Troubadour" in the style of Woody Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Craigie has been touring the United States for the past 6 years, playing in a diverse style of venues including...
(2006) - "Talking Post-Trauma Blues (PTSD)" by Tom Smith (2007)
- "We're Sick of It" by Adam GnadeAdam GnadeAdam Gnade is a San Diego, California-born American musician and author currently living on a farm in rural Kansas. In his bio he defines his music as "talking-songs", which he describes as mixing the spoken vocals of talking blues songs with country music, Appalachian folk, noise, psychedelic...
(2007) - "Talkin' Veterinarian Blues" by Corb Lund
- "Talkin Gotcha Blues" by Jason Roseboom (from the album Talkin Gotcha Blues) (2010)
- "Talkin Faux News Paranoid Blues" by Jason Roseboom (2009)
- "Talkin' Sasquatch Blues" by Ten Mile Tide (2008)
Similar forms and similar titles
- "Born in Hard Luck" by Christopher Allen Bouchillon is often referred to as a talking blues but follows a different chordal and melodic structure than Bouchillon's original "Talking Blues."
- "Alice's Restaurant MassacreeAlice's Restaurant"Alice's Restaurant Massacree" is a musical monologue by singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie released on his 1967 album Alice's Restaurant. The song is one of Guthrie's most prominent works, based on a true incident in his life that began on Thanksgiving Day 1965, and which inspired a 1969 movie of the...
" by Arlo GuthrieArlo GuthrieArlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, the son of Woody Guthrie, is considered a talking blues by some, though it follows a different melodic structure, one more reminiscent of Chris Bouchillon's "Born in Hard Luck" than his original "Talking Blues." In addition, it features a repeated chorus based on a circle of fifthsCircle of fifthsIn music theory, the circle of fifths shows the relationships among the 12 tones of the chromatic scale, their corresponding key signatures, and the associated major and minor keys...
melody, similar to "Take It Slow and Easy" by Jesse FullerJesse FullerJesse Fuller was an American one-man band musician, best known for his song "San Francisco Bay Blues".-Early life:...
or "Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden" by Tommy Bradley (1930). - The Dire StraitsDire StraitsDire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
song "Walk of LifeWalk of Life (Dire Straits song)"Walk of Life" is a 1985 song by the British rock band Dire Straits. It appeared on their best-selling album Brothers in Arms. It subsequently appeared on their live album On the Night. It was released as a single in November 1985 but had first been available as the b-side of "So Far Away" released...
" refers to "the talkin blues", but is itself not a talking blues in format. - "Talking Blues" by Bob MarleyBob MarleyRobert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
is a reference to gospelGospelA gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
music and, despite the title, is neither a blues nor a talking blues in form. - California-born, Kansas-based songwriter Adam GnadeAdam GnadeAdam Gnade is a San Diego, California-born American musician and author currently living on a farm in rural Kansas. In his bio he defines his music as "talking-songs", which he describes as mixing the spoken vocals of talking blues songs with country music, Appalachian folk, noise, psychedelic...
plays a self-described style called "talking songs." Some of his songs are in the talking blues form but most are spoken vocals set to longer post-rockPost-rockPost-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
-style backings.
Further reading
- van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-316121-4.