Talkin' the Blues Away

I just published a blog, much of which is about Woody Guthrie, the folk singer.
One of the songs I used is called Talkin' Merchant Marine Blues.

A friend of mine read the blog and told me that song reminder her of Bob Dylan's Talkin' WWIII Blues minus the harmonica.  It hadn't occurred to me but she's absolutely right.

That got me thinking how all talking blues are pretty similar despite their individual peculiarities.

Here are a few:

Doc Watson's Talkin' Blues



Rambin' Jack Elliott's Talkin' Blues



Johnny Cash's Talkin' Vietnam Blues




Another Bob Dylan - Talkin' John Birch Society Blues




Tom Paxton's Talkin Vietnam Potluck Blues




Noel Stookey's Talkin' Candy Bar Blues



Pete Seeger's Talkin' Blues

And Woody again with his great Mean Talkin' Blues

When I get the blues I just cry ... these guys rock.

how you beacame moderator account ?

I'm trying to play them all together at once!

I was cursed.

A musical babel?

Thanks. I can use all the fans I can get, and then some.

Excellent post.  It's an interesting musical format, the talkin blues scale.  The sound is kind of whimsical, a tongue-in-cheek structure that sets up the absurd lyrics.  And there are some great talents here showing the versatility of the structure.  Thanks, Sarah.

Wow!!! Look at all those greats!! Including the magnificent Rambling Jack - the man who inspired Mick Jagger, amongst others - and the inimitable Pete Seegar. Dylan took ideas form all over the place - Hard Rain - often called the greatest piece of songwriting ever - was put to an old folk song that he had in his head when Tom Paxton told him that he should turn the poem into a song. Great stuff - and thanks for including some of the wonderful Doc Wason - you know more about him than me, but you just got to love the man. He was quite something. 

keep it moving forward 

Yeah, it seems most talking blues treat a serious subject with some humor.  They're a fun break from the norm.

never look back the price is always forward

Hi, s-fan. 
That's the beauty of "folk" music, at least to me:  writers and performers transforming melodies and lyrics to suit themselves.  As Seeger expressed, it's the music of the people. It's said Guthrie never created an original melody, but his body of work is amazing.  Dylan used a vast amount of known songs to write some of his best work.   

Please get back to me when you learn the definitions of "Off-Topic" and "rude".

Pete Seeger's recording of "Talking Blues" is a cover of the 1926 song by Christopher Allen Bouchillon who is credited as being the creator of talking blues:




later in 1927, some examples

Can you please block this person @batgirl, so your great blog can get back on track, thanks

I've always enjoyed your chess articles over the years.

You're excursion into music is most welcome.

I always look forward to your posts.

Keep it up, Sarah.

I've block this user and I'm deleting his/her posts. 

Unfortunately, I had little choice.

Hopefully we can all learn something together.

Great find with Chris Bouchillon, Sarah.  He's like Will Rogers with a guitar.  And the way he takes that whimsical approach and adapts it to each song, I mean, that's some excellent pickin' n playin'.  I'm really enjoying these off-topic posts; great stuff to listen to during a lockdown.