scottws -
Welcome aboard.
But …
“Rapture” clearly isn’t the first rap. Debbie Harry mentions two other preceding rappers in the song, Fab Five Freddie and ‘Flash,’ meaning Grandmaster Flash.
I had always thought it started with “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” and I had heard about the Jamaican DJs.
I want to hear this George and Gracie thing. Hilarious! Some modern rap artist should snatch that up and do something with it, sampling-wise.
Knew debbie harry story was bogus - just funny. Sure many of you are into ubran legends and visit
“The Revolution will not be televised” Gill Scott Heron?
mid seventies.
By bet would still be Bob Dylan though.
“The vandals broke the handle…”
Bob Dylan borrowed the style of Subterranean Homesick Blues from Woody Guthrie’s “talkin’ blues” of the 1930s.
Guthrie strummed his guitar while rapping. He would tell hard-luck stories in rhyme, or make some social or political commentary with humorous asides. This is really the earliest “rap” ever recorded. My guess is that Guthrie borrowed the idea from African-American parties, and adapted it to his style of guitar playing, just as Dylan updated the concept in the 1960s.
All I know is that when rap first hit the airwaves in 1979, I heard it as an updated descendent of the talkin’ blues.
Chanted or spoken lyrics go WAY back in R&B and early rock’n’roll. For instance, there’s an obscure Chuck Berry
record called “No Money Down” where the instrumental accompaniment is sort of a Muddy Waters–“I’m a Man” type thing, but Chuck sort of half sings, half chants the lyrics.
The great thing about the song is there’s no clear delineation between singing, chanting, and speaking. The
melody line of the song often follows what would be the
natural spoken intonation of a person speaking.
Okay, Green Bean, now I need to know!!! Do you remember those lyrics?!