The Roots of Rap: Classic Recordings from the 1920's and 30's (1996)

About this title: This ambitious and thought-provoking project turns to early black-and-white, religious, and secular traditions for antecedents to modern rap styles. Drawing from the commercial recordings of the 1920s and '30s, The Roots of Rap provides a broad sampling of rural voices straddling the lines of speech and song against the rhythms of piano, banjo, and guitar. The roots of rap, this collection argues, existed in early black work songs and in the Southern pulpit; in the performances of singing street evangelists; and in black vocal traditions such as the "dozens." Early forms of rap emerged in the ... read more

Tracks:

1. If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down [Johnson]
2. Cocaine Blues [Jordan]
3. Bow Wow Blues
4. Jive Man Blues [Dorsey/Jaxon]
5. Jonah in the Wilderness [Traditional]
6. South Carolina Rag [Walker]
7. Whitewash Station
8. Automobile Ride Through Alabama
9. The Dirty Dozen No. 2 [Perryman]
10. Tain't None O' Your Business
11. It's a Good Thing
12. She's a Hum Dum Dinger (From Dingersville) [Davis]
13. Papa's on the Housetop [Carr]
14. Let That Liar Alone
15. Back in My Home Town
16. Track Linin
17. Atlanta Strut [McTell/Atkinson]
18. Arkansas Hard Luck Blues
19. How Can You Have the Blues? [Dorsey]
20. Pickin' off Peanuts
21. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out [Cox]
22. When I Stopped Running I Was at Home
23. Frankie Jean (That Trottin' Fool) [Memphis Minnie]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.