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TALKING BLUES: WOODY GUTHRIE WROTE MANY SUCH SONGS
Soon, bunches of other country acts got on the bandwagon and recorded their own talking blues records. In the 1930s, one guy named Robert Lunn even billed himself professionally as “The Talking Blues Man” and popularized the new genre on the Grand Ole Opry.
Then the great folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie started writing and performing talking blues with decidedly left-wing, pro-labor messages, such as “Talking Dust Bowl Blues,” “Mean Talking Blues,” and “Talking Subway.”
In no time, folksingers all over the United States—Pete Seeger, John Greenway, Rambin’ Jack Elliot—and overseas (Lonnie Donegan, the Scottish skiffle pioneer, for instance) were writing and performing talking blues songs.
Bob Dylan, who idolized Woody Guthrie, began writing talking blues songs early in his career. One of his best, “Talkin’ World War III Blues,” was first released on the album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in 1963. If you want to hear what it sounds like and read the lyrics, go to www.BobDylan.com and click on “songs.”
Another of Dylan’s great talking blues tunes got censored for political reasons. In 1963, Ed Sullivan invited Dylan to play a song on his wildly popular television show. A fantastic opportunity. It was The Ed Sullivan Show, after all, that had introduced The Beatles, Elvis, and many other rock and pop acts to tens of millions of Americans and Canadians.