Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Getting All Racy In The 1950's

 Joe Turner recorded the first version of "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" in 1954:

 

Here are [the] astonishingly frank (for 1954) lyrics:


Get outta that bed, wash your face and hands
Get outta that bed, wash your face and hands
Well, you get in that kitchen, make some noise with the pots 'n pans 
Well you wear those dresses, the sun comes shinin' through
Well you wear those dresses, the sun comes shinin' through
I can't believe my eyes, all that mess belongs to you 
I believe to the soul you're the devil in nylon hose
I believe to the soul you're the devil in nylon hose
Well, the more I work, the faster my money goes 
I said shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Well, you won't do right to save your doggone soul 
Yeah, blow Joe! 
I'm like a one-eyed cat peepin' in a seafood store
I'm like a one-eyed cat peepin' in a seafood store
Well I can look at you tell you ain't no child no more 
Ah, shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Well, you won't do right to save your doggone soul 
I've been holdin' it in, way down underneath*
I've been holdin' it in way down underneath
You make me roll my eyes, even make me grit my teeth
I said shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll
Well, you won't do nothin' to save your doggone soul
Shake, rattle and roll!
*See discussion here

Now compared the much tamer lyrics in the Bill Haley version which appeared the same year (lyrics embedded in the video):



Sex was sublimated into cooking and misogyny for the "white" version.

16 comments:

Mumpsimus said...

...astonishingly frank (for 1954) lyrics

"My Boy Lollipop" was recorded in 1956.

Revenant said...

I don't think I've ever heard the Bill Haley version before. Really lame compared to Turner's.

Shouting Thomas said...

Yeah, I'm not astonished.

The past was not so restrained. I'm a student of the Chicago blues scene, and it was rocking in the late 40s.

The kids think nobody had sex in the 50s, too. Somehow, I doubt that. Well, in fact, I know better.

KCFleming said...

The lyrics still needed deciphering by an adult mind, or one nearly so.

Rap and other songs today are blatant, written by the illiterate for the illiterate, and hide nothing.

A race to the bottom. So to speak.

Known Unknown said...

"I'm like a one-eyed cat peepin' in a seafood store"

Ha.

Phil 314 said...

How much did they pay for clapping on a sound track? Do you get mentioned in the liner notes?

ndspinelli said...

Professional clappers get scale. That's what Althouse pays.

ndspinelli said...

Unless you have the clap.

ndspinelli said...

Then you get antibiotics.

ndspinelli said...

chick, For Your Consideration pun wizard.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I'd kind of like to know who first thought of setting a love letter to music and performing it for strangers.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Probably some guy in a cave.

Maybe it worked.

Who knows?

ndspinelli said...

Johnny Matthias.

ndspinelli said...

To his gay lover. NTTAWWT.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"I'm like a one-eyed cat peepin' in a seafood store"

Oh, hell. Now I get it.

Took a while.

William said...

Didn't Bessie Smith and other blues singers record songs with obscene lyrics that were sold on the underground market? I think Work With Me Henry originally had some overt lyrics also. In any event, the sexuality in r & b is not carried by the lyrics but by the beat. I've heard obscene lyrics attached to Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and the song still sounds gloppy.