Yes, Poppag, that is the typical Signifyin' Monkey. If that's what Willie Dixon recorded, he certainly did not "write" it. It's a traditional piece of African-American oral poetry. However, he would have had to clean it up, since in the oral form there's a lot of swear words which could not be released on a record back then, and of course anyone could copyright folklore back then.

I'm assuming, though, that Bill actually has the Willie Dixon recording and was speaking as an "earwitness" authority. Is this the case, Bill? If so, it would appear Poppag's website is wrong. If not, is there anyone with access to Wille Dixon's record who could confirm this for us?

By the way, there is a CD of oral versions of many of these toasts on Rounder Records. It's entitled "Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me," referencing another famous "toast," the one about Shine, the only black man on the Titanic.