Talking of Rap

Subject: Talking of Rap
From: Bert Hansell
Date: 21 Aug 97 - 09:35 AM

Does anyone remember "The Billy Cotton Band Show" in the late forties?

He had a thing going for quite a while which in my opinion was Rap. Just chanted to a heavy 'Jungle' rhythm.

It was about the 'jungle telegraph' in Africa, and likening it to the English newspapers.

Went something like this (but he had a new one every week)....

Down in the jungle
Read it in the press
Have you heard the latest
- Oh YES.

Down in the jungle
Read it every day
You can hear the natives
ALL SAY

Down in the jungle
living in a tent
Better that a prefab
NO RENT.

The only thing different from rap is that you could understand all the words.

Bert.

Subject: RE: Talking of Rap
From: Bert.
Date: 04 Sep 97 - 03:30 PM

Billy Cotton must have got it from somewhere.
Any ideas anyone???

Subject: RE: Talking of Rap
From: Helen
Date: 04 Sep 97 - 08:20 PM

Just a note: the start of this rap discussion is in the Curse of Poguery thread, at about the 45th contribution. Tim Jacques commented on rap.

My comment is below that.

Helen

Subject: RE: Talking of Rap
From: LaMarca
Date: 05 Sep 97 - 04:52 PM

The tradition of spontaneous rhyming to a rhythmic musical background is actually rather common in a lot of black music forms. Some examples are:

1. Bahamian gospel chants. "I Bid You Goodnight" is a good example; Jody Stecher just released a good CD of singers he collected in the Bahamas in the early 60's, called "Kneelin' Down Inside the Gate; it's a bunch of cuts that didn't make it onto "The Real Bahamas" LPs he did for Nonesuch.

2. Calypso. Calypsonians spontaneously improvised long rhyming songs/recitations on topics of the day.

3. Yazoo released an LP/CD called "The Roots of Rap" with all sorts of neat talking blues, track-lining raps, gospel and work hollers, all of which are in the style of a singer lining out a (usually) improvised song to an accompaniment.

The nice thing about all these is that they lack the annoying, throbbing drum machine, and the violent, sexist lyrics common in today's commercial rap (although some of the blues stuff gets pretty raunchy...)

Subject: RE: Talking of Rap
From:
Date: 05 Sep 97 - 05:13 PM

Well, it still doesn't get any play on my machine.

Subject: RE: Talking of Rap
From: Earl
Date: 05 Sep 97 - 05:27 PM

I think I'll check out "The Roots of Rap" it sound interesting. I would really be surprised if there is a direct link between those styles and modern rap. I think it was 50 year of disk jocky patter finally dominating the records. Then mix that with the reggae version of the island traditions.

As I said in the other thread, rap started as a folk music but the billion dollar rap industry is not folk.