Talking Blues

DESCRIPTION: "If you want to get to Heaven let me tell you what to do, Gotta grease your feet in mutton stew...." The singer boasts of the ways he avoids work and easily acquires food, sex, etc. Many of the verses float
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: work nonsense animal bird nonballad courting humorous floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 444, "If You Want to Go to Heaven" (1 fragment, apparently this piece)
Joyner-FolkSongInSouthCarolina, p. 106, "Original Talking Blues" (1 text)
Richardson/Spaeth-AmericanMountainSongs, p. 102, "Jest Talkin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 224, "Talking Blues" (1 text with metrical markings)
Spaeth-WeepSomeMoreMyLady, pp. 116-117, "Jest Talkin'" (1 text)
Lomax/Lomax-AmericanBalladsAndFolkSongs, pp. 254-258, "When de Good Lord Sets You Free" (1 text, 1 tune -- an immense composite containing elements of "Moanish Lady," "Talking Blues," and probably other materials, to the tune of "Mourner, You Shall Be Free")
Scarborough-OnTheTrailOfNegroFolkSongs, p. 225, (no title) (1 fragment, perhaps one of the items that inspired the Lomax mess)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 80, "Talking Blues" (1 text)
Harbin-Parodology, #10, pp. 10-11, "Oughta Been Arrested" (1 text, part "Two Little Niggers Black as Tar," part "Talking Blues," part other things)
DT, TALKBLUE TALKBLU2
ADDITIONAL: Woody Guthrie, __Roll On Columbia: The Columbia River Collection_, collected and edited by Bill Murlin, Sing Out Publications, 1991, pp. 62-63, "The Talkin' Blues" (1 text, which opens with the standard Talking Blues verse but adds several Woody Guthrie verses at the end)
Roud #13912, etc.
RECORDINGS:
Chris Bouchillon, "Talking Blues" (Columbia 15120-D, 1927; Vocalion 02977, 1935; rec. 1926)
Harmon Canada, "The Talkin' Blues" (Gennett 6972/Champion 15808 [as Joe Smith]/Supertone 9554, 1929; Champion 45173 [as Joe Smith], c. 1935)
Curley Fox, "Curley's New Talkin' Blues" (Decca 5185, 1936; rec. 1935)
Bill Gatin, "Talkin' Blues" (Decca 5122, 1935)
Pete Seeger, "Talking Blues" (on PeteSeeger32)
Roy Shaffer, "Talking Blues" (Bluebird B-8234, 1939/Montgomery Ward M-8493, c. 1940)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. every other song with the words "talking" and "blues" in the titles
cf. "Mourner, You Shall Be Free (Moanish Lady)" (this piece is sometimes sung to a tune similar to that)
cf. "Henhouse Door (Who Broke the Lock?)" (floating verses)
cf. "Ain't Gonna Grieve My God No More" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
Talking Dustbowl Blues (File: LoF225)
Talking Hard Luck (File: CSW214)
Talking Atom (DT, TALKATOM; Sam Hinton, ABC-Eagle ABC-230, 1950; on PeteSeeger19, PeteSeeger48)
Columbia Talkin' Blues (by Woody Guthrie)
Chris Bouchillon, "New Talking Blues" (Columbia 15262-D, 1928)
Herschel Brown & his Band, "New Talking Blues" (OKeh 45247, 1928)
Herschel Brown & his Band, "Talking Nigger Blues" (OKeh 45247, 1928)
Herschel Brown, "New Talking Blues No. 2" (OKeh 45337, 1929)
Herschel Brown & his Boys, "Nigger Talking Blues No. 2" (OKeh 45337, 1929)
Curly Fox, "Curly's New Talking Blues" (Decca 5185, 1936; rec. 1935)
Jesse Rodgers, "Jesse's Talking Blues" (Bluebird B-6143, 1935)
Columbia Talkin' Blues (by Woody Guthrie) (Woody Guthrie, __Roll On Columbia: The Columbia River Collection_, collected and edited by Bill Murlin, Sing Out Publications, 1991, pp. 56-58)
Washington Talkin' Blues/Talking Dust Bowl (by Woody Guthrie) (Woody Guthrie, __Roll On Columbia: The Columbia River Collection_, collected and edited by Bill Murlin, Sing Out Publications, 1991, pp. 60-61)
NOTES [152 words]: Robert Lunn and Chris Bouchillon both claim to have written and recorded the canonical "Talking Blues," with the above-quoted lyrics; however, it's likely they acquired the form and some of the verses from anonymous African-American musicians. [Given that Scarborough's text precedes them, I'd say it's nearly certain. - RBW]
[For the items in the "same tune" list, the] discographical information lists Mr. Brown's name as "Hersal" for one record and "Hershel" for another. I don't know which is right. And I've since found one spelled "Hershal." Are we confused yet? - PJS
Richardson/Spaeth-AmericanMountainSongs's version, interestingly, has an actual tune for this, which she compares to "Old Zip Coon." Since her version is about as old as Scarborough's, it suggests that this was originally a song, but someone learned it without the tune (perhaps from a lost printed item?), and the rest is history. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: LoF224

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