12’ Bar Ramblin’ #58 'Hokum Blues' with Stefan Matussek 06.04.2021

Blues music is known for giving a voice to the heavily burdened and less
fortunate in society, but it could also display a more lighthearted, comical and
"naughty" side. Hokum Blues songs make use of extended analogies and euphemisms
in a humorous fashion to convey sexual innuendos. These types of songs go all
the way back to the earliest blues recordings, when it split off from its
minstrel and vaudeville show origins. While very explicit lyrics in Blues songs
did exist, typical hokum blues songs were more popular at that time as they were
(if only barely) still within the boundaries of what was socially acceptable at
the time.