Dirty blues (also known as bawdy blues) is a form of blues music that deals with socially taboo and obscene subjects, often referring to sexual acts and drug use. Because of the sometimes graphic subject matter, such music was often banned from radio and available only on jukeboxes. The style was most popular in the years before World War II, although it experienced a revival in the early 1950s. [1]
Many songs used innuendo, slang terms, or double entendres, such as Lil Johnson's [1] "Press My Button (Ring My Bell)" ("Come on baby, let's have some fun / Just put your hot dog in my bun"). [2] However, some were very explicit. The most extreme examples were rarely recorded at all, a notable exception being Lucille Bogan's obscene version of "Shave 'Em Dry" (1935), [3] which Elijah Wald has noted as "by far the most explicit blues song preserved at a commercial pre-war recording session". [4]
The noteworthy musicians who used the style included Bo Carter, Bull Moose Jackson, [1] Harlem Hamfats, Wynonie Harris, and Hank Ballard and The Midnighters. [5]
Compilation albums include The Copulatin' Blues (Stash Records: 1976, [6] re-released Mojo Records: 1996), [7] Them Dirty Blues (Jass Records: 1989) [8] and You Got to Give Me Some of It: 55 Risque Blues and R&B Classics 1928–1954 (Jasmine Records: 2015). [9]
Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. Although his recording career spanned only seven months, he is recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta blues style, and as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as perhaps "the first ever rock star".
Lucille Bogan was an American classic female blues singer and songwriter, among the first to be recorded. She also recorded under the pseudonym Bessie Jackson. Music critic Ernest Borneman noted that Bogan was one of "the big three of the blues", along with Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Many of Bogan's songs have been recorded by later blues and jazz musicians.
Easy rider is an archaic United States slang expression whose meaning has varied with time.
"In My Time of Dying" is a gospel music song by Blind Willie Johnson. The title line, closing each stanza of the song, refers to a deathbed and was inspired by a passage in the Bible from Psalms 41:3 "The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing, thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness". Numerous artists have recorded variations, including Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin.
Hokum is a particular song type of American blues music—a song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make humorous, sexual innuendos. This trope goes back to early dirty blues recordings, enjoyed huge commercial success in the 1920s and 1930s, and is used from time to time in modern American blues and blues rock.
"Sweet Home Chicago" is a blues standard first recorded by Robert Johnson in 1936. Although he is often credited as the songwriter, several songs have been identified as precedents. The song has become a popular anthem for the city of Chicago despite ambiguity in Johnson's original lyrics. Numerous artists have interpreted the song in a variety of styles.
The Black-Man's Burdon is a double album by American band Eric Burdon and War, released in December 1970 on MGM Records. It was the last album by the group before Burdon left and the remaining band continued as War.
Dirty rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that contains lyrical content revolving mainly around sexually explicit subjects.
"See See Rider", also known as "C.C. Rider", "See See Rider Blues" or "Easy Rider", is a popular American 12-bar blues song that became a standard in several genres. Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was the first to record it on October 16, 1924, at Paramount Records in New York. The song uses mostly traditional blues lyrics to tell the story of an unfaithful lover, commonly called an "easy rider": "See see rider, see what you have done", making a play on the word "see" and the sound of "easy".
Lil Johnson was an American singer who recorded dirty blues and hokum songs in the 1920s and 1930s.
Walter Roland was an American blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist, guitarist and singer, noted for his association with Lucille Bogan, Josh White and Sonny Scott. The music journalist Gérard Herzhaft stated that Roland was "a great piano player... as comfortable in boogie-woogies as in slow blues," adding that "Roland – with his manner of playing and his singing – was direct and rural."
"Shave 'Em Dry" is a dirty blues song, first recorded by Ma Rainey in August 1924 in Chicago. It was released on Paramount Records on September 6, 1924. Rainey was accompanied on the recording by two unknown guitarists. The record was advertised in The Chicago Defender on the same date as the record's release.
"Mother Fuyer" is a jump blues song, written and recorded by Dirty Red in 1947. The single was released by Aladdin Records on a 78 rpm, 10" shellac single record.
"Georgia Grind" is a jazz and dirty blues tune, written by Spencer Williams and copyrighted by him in 1926. The lyrics were added by Bud Allen. A recording was released by Louis Armstrong with his Hot Five by Okeh Records on a 78 rpm, mono 10" shellac single record in April 1926. The melody was the same as used in the song, "Shake That Thing", written in 1925 by Papa Charlie Jackson.
Sonny Scott was an American country blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, primarily noted for his association with Walter Roland and Lucille Bogan. In 1933, Scott recorded seventeen tracks in his own name, although only twelve were released at the time. AllMusic noted that his vocal and guitar styling was similar to Ed Bell, Blind Boy Fuller, Curley Weaver, Furry Lewis, and Buddy Moss.
"It Ain't the Meat (It's the Motion)", also known as "It Ain't the Meat", is a rhythm and blues song written by Henry Glover and Syd Nathan. It was first recorded in 1951 by the Swallows and released by King Records. It was later covered by Maria Muldaur in a 1974 version that has been credited with popularizing the song's title phrase as a proverb, referring to the importance of a man's sexual technique over the size of his penis.
Frank "Springback" James was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist, singer, and songwriter. He recorded eighteen tracks released by four record labels between 1934 and 1938, as well as possibly providing accompaniment to several other blues musicians. Details of his life are sketchy, and some of his recording activity has been subject to historical guesswork, rather than hard evidence.
"Drill Daddy Drill" is a dirty blues song, recorded by Dorothy Ellis and released as a single on Federal Records in April 1952. The B-side of the record was "Must Go Out and Play". Both songs were penned by Ravon Darnell and Mario Delagarde. Delagarde was the regular double bass player with Johnny Otis and His Orchestra.
Charles Avery was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist. Although he only recorded one commercially released track in his own name, Avery played piano accompaniment to a number of high-profile blues musicians in the 1920s and 1930s. Details of his life outside the recording studio are limited.
c. easy rider(U.S. slang): (a) a sexually satisfying lover (see also quot. 1926); (b) a guitar.
1912–13 W. C. HANDY Memphis Blues, Mr. Crump don't 'low no easy riders here. 1926 in R. de Toledano Frontiers Jazz (1947) iii. 37 'Rider', 'easy rider', which term means both lover and (not either, or) procurer... Fidelity to his woman is expected of the easy rider. 1927 Jrnl. Abnormal & Social Psychol. XXII. 16 'Easy rider'. This apt expression is used to describe a man whose movements in coitus are easy and satisfying. It is frequently met both in Negro folk songs and in formal songs. 'I wonder where my easy rider's gone', is a sort of by-word with Southern negroes. 1949 R. BLESH Shining Trumpets vi. 128 In rural Negro parlance...easy rider meant the guitar...carried suspended by its cord. In the double meaning of Negro imagery, the femininely formed guitar...typifies also a woman companion. In Negro 'city talk', the term easy rider has come to mean either a sexually satisfying woman or a male lover who lives off a woman's earnings. 1958 P. OLIVER in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz i. 24 For the blues singer, the most valuable instrument was the guitar,...and, as his 'easy rider', could be slung across his back when he wished to travel.
n Black E.1. a parasitical man usu. without a steady job who lives by gambling or sponging, (speicif.) a man who is supported by a woman, esp. a prostitute. [...] 2.a. a sexually satisfying lover. [...] b. a young woman who is sexually promiscious or easily seduced. Also easy ride. [...] c.a guitar [...] 4. a person who is not easily ruffled or provoked