Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society
Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society
Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society
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`<br />
Lay began his career in 1957 drumming for The Original Thunderbirds, and soon became<br />
<br />
<br />
. That man taught me how to keep from starving<br />
348<br />
<br />
<br />
Butterfield accidentally shot himself, and backed up Dylan when he introduced electricfolk-rock<br />
to <strong>the</strong> shocked crowd at <strong>the</strong> 1965 Newport Folk Festival and on Highway<br />
61 Revisited.<br />
Songs:<br />
- - Bobby Lecann<br />
- Big Bill Broonzy (Willie Lee Conley Broonzy)<br />
- Earl Hooker<br />
SI G NI F Y IN G<br />
<br />
manipulating <br />
<br />
oppression. By using innuendo and doubletalk that is fully understood only by members<br />
<br />
llows <strong>the</strong> speaker to express bold opinions or feelings<br />
without fear <strong>of</strong> repercussion. One could convey abject obeisance while a listener from<br />
<br />
to his face.<br />
If <strong>the</strong> person doing <strong>the</strong> signifying is confronted about what was said, he or she can<br />
legitimately pretend to have no idea what <strong>the</strong> accuser is talking about. Countless blues<br />
lyrics use metaphor and innuendo to allow <strong>the</strong> singer to brag about physical attributes and<br />
sexual prowess, and state all kinds <strong>of</strong> desires, without uttering a single pr<strong>of</strong>ane or <strong>of</strong>f-<br />
<br />
<br />
e<br />
<br />
good signifying.<br />
In The Signifying Monkey: A Theory <strong>of</strong> African-American Literary Criticism, scholar<br />
<br />
ion to say one thing but<br />
349<br />
<br />
As anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston explained in her<br />
folklore study Mules and Men<br />
Negro <strong>of</strong>fers a fea<strong>the</strong>r-bed resistance. That is, we let <strong>the</strong> probe enter, but it never comes<br />
out. It gets smo<strong>the</strong>red under a lot <strong>of</strong> laughter and pleasantries. The <strong>the</strong>ory behind our<br />
<br />
<br />
m to play with and handle. He can<br />
161