I think I discovered the First Rap Song!

[Biggbass]

Johnny's in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I'm on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he's got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It's somethin' you did
God knows when
But you're doing it again
You better duck down the alleyway
Lookin' for a new friend
The man in the coonskin cap, in the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills but you only got ten

1965

 

[P. Aaron]

'Could be. Much of Dylan's travelin' tunes could be street (or road) poetry.

 

[5StringBlues]

Much respect for MC BobZimm



PEACE!

 

[Blueinred]

He also revived "talkin' blues" on his earliest albums which was a style done in the 1920's in the Carolinas. So rappin' goes waAAAAyyyy back. Hell, some feel Johnny Cash talked his lyrics more than he sang them, even in the 50's. Nuttin' new under the sun, I guess.

 

[two fingers]

Now that you have found it, get in your time machine and go back and kill whatever started it so we can be spared!!!!!

 

[Biggbass]

I can almost imagine Subterranean Homesick Blues with a The Beastie Boys type production.

Johnny's in the basement!
Mixing up the medicine!
etc

maybe there's a whole new genre waiting to be lauched

 

[RED J]

That's news I thought it was "Rapture" by Blondie.

 

[bucephylus]

Is it just me or were the vast majority of Rap rhythms for many years ripped from Aretha's Baby I Love You? Seems like that was the rhythm track of choice.

 

[GregC]

That's news I thought it was "Rapture" by Blondie.

Naw, Rapper's Delight was the first hit rap song, and Kurtis Blow and Afrika Bambaataa were rapping in the '70s. Rapture is arguably more like a pop song with a rap in the middle, IMO.

 

[cdef]

Rap has its roots in the "dirty dozens" rhyming game. Many of Chuck Berry's lyrics from the '50s scan that way,
and I think that's what Dylan was emulating in "Subterranean Homesick Blues".

As I was motivatin' over the hill
I saw Maybelline in a Coupe de Ville
Cadillac a-rollin' on the open road
Nothin' will outrun my V8 Ford
Cadillac doin' about ninety-five
She's bumper to bumper, rollin' side by side

Maybelline, why can't you be true
Oh Maybelline , why can't you be true
You done started back doin' the things you used to do

Cadillac pulled up to a hundred and four
The Ford got hot and wouldn't do no more
It done got cloudy and started to rain
I tooted my horn for the passin' lane
Rain water blowin' all under my hood
I knew I was doin' my motor good

Maybelline, why can't you be true...

Motor cooled down, the heat went down
And that's when I heard that highway sound
Cadillac sittin' like a ton of lead
A hundred and ten, a half a mile ahead
Cadillac lookin' like it's sittin' still
And I caught Maybelline at the top of the hill

Maybelline, why can't you be true...

Chuck Berry (1955)


The Dozens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Matthew Fisher]

That's a great Dylan tune, for sure.

How about King Stitt (1940-2012)? It's been said that "No toasting … no rap. Jamaican deejay style is the founding father of American rap."

The track below is from 1970 1969, but King Stitt was one of the pioneers of toasting. In 1993, a compilation of his DJ work from the late 50s and early 60s, toasting over dance tunes, was released as "Dance Hall '63".

BBC - Reggae - The Story of Reggae
Invalid Link Removed

 

[Biggbass]

According to Clyde Stubblefield, James Brown's "Funky Drummer", the drum groove he laid down that became the song Funky Drummer is the original,foundational groove that became the groove for rap. He cold be right.

 

[Bassist4Eris]

I can almost imagine Subterranean Homesick Blues with a The Beastie Boys type production.

Johnny's in the basement!
Mixing up the medicine!
etc

maybe there's a whole new genre waiting to be lauched

 

[Biggbass]

and there it is! ^

ok my next big idea is a Tom Petty Tribute Band that plays every song like Johnny Cash would have played it. It's called "Petty Cash"

 

[Richland123]

Set the Wayback Machine

Lorne Greene did Ringo in 1964; but, there were others earlier.

 

[Biggbass]

I still have that 45 single ^ ! The flip side is "Bonanza!"