Talking blues

The Talking blues was a style of rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody is free but the rhythm is strict. The music genre or technique developed in the blues the early 20th century from influences including African music, British folk song, and the music-hall stage (as put by English politician Robert Somers: "Sambo is a natural-born cockney"). (van der Merwe 1989, p.146-148)

It typically consisted of a repetitive guitar or melodic line as accompaniment with rhythmic, rhyming speaking over it. Tex Williams was most well known for his talking blues, and Woody Guthrie popularized the style. It came to be a trademark of country music (ibid), and can be considered an early predecessor to rap.

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Reference

• van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0193161214.