Robert Johnson - They're Red Hot (with lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases Robert Johnson's 1936 uptempo Blues song "They're Red Hot". Lyrics for & commentary about that song are also included in this post.

The content of this post is provided for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: [embedded June 24, 2019; previous example no longer available]

Robert Johnson - "They're Red Hot" - Speed Adjusted



nu385. Published on Jan 26, 2013

These are my own best guesses at what I think the actual speed of the recordings should be. To me the slower speeds sound much more natural. Some say they are 20% too fast but that seems unlikely. More likely is they are 10-5% too fast. The key to the whole thing is the vibrato of the voice. I did these all just using my ears and tried to match each song against the other with the constant being the timbral characteristics of his voice and what a natural human vibrato would sound like. Usually when I did this the speed would fall into a natural blues key like A or E, sometimes with a capo on the first fret. Again, these are just my personal opinions and please don't get offended and send me a bunch of musicologist stuff. These are just for fun. These were done in Cubase by resampling so the pitch and the tempo were changed together naturally just like you would slowing down analog tape. Personally, the more I listen to these slowed down versions the more obviously unnatural the CDs sound.
But listen and decide for yourself.

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LYRICS: THEY'RE RED HOT
(Robert Johnson)

Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale
I got a girls, say she long and tall
She sleeps in the kitchen with her feets in the hall
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale, I mean
Yes, she got'em for sale, yeah Hot tamales and they're red hot,
yes she got'em for sale
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale

She got two for a nickel, got four for a dime
Would sell you more, but they ain't none of mine
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale, I mean
Yes, she got'em for sale, yes, yeah Hot tamales and they're red hot,
yes she got'em for sale
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale

I got a letter from a girl in the room
Now she got something good she got to bring home soon, now
Its hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got em for sale, I mean
Yes, she got'em for sale, yeah Hot tamales and they're red hot,
yes she got em for sale
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got em for sale
(spoken) They're too hot boy!
The billy got back in a bumble bee nest
Ever since that he can't take his rest, yeah
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes you got'em for sale, I mean
Yes, she got'em for sale Hot tamales and they're red hot,
yes she got'em for sale

(spoken) Man don't mess around em hot tamales now
(spoken) Cause they too black bad, if you mess around em hot tamales
(spoken) I'm [g]onna upset your backbone, put your kidneys to sleep
(spoken) I'll due to break away your liver and dare your heart to beat bout my
Hot tamales cause they red hot, yes they got em for sale, I mean
Yes, she got em for sale, yeah Hot tamales and they're red hot,
yes she got'em for sale
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale

You know grandma left and grandpa too
Well I wonder what in the world we chillun gon do now
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale, I mean
Yes she got'em for sale Hot tamales and they're red hot,
yes she got'em for sale
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale

Me and my babe bought a V-8 Ford
Well we wind that thing all on the runnin board, yes
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale, I mean
Yes she got'em for sale, yeah Hot tamales and they're red hot,
yes she got'em for sale
They're too hot boy!
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes, now she got em for sale

You know the monkey, now the baboon playin in the grass
Well the monkey stuck his finger in that old 'Good Gulf Gas', now
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale, I mean
Yes she got'em for sale, yeah Hot tamales and they're red hot,
yes she got'em for sale
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale

I got a girls, say she long and tall
Sleeps in the kitchen with her feets in the hall
Hot tamales and they're red hot, yes she got'em for sale, I mean
Yes she got'em for sale, yeah

Source: http://www.robertjohnsonbluesfoundation.org/music/robert-johnson-centennial-collection/they%E2%80%99re-red-hot

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COMMENTARY
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They're_Red_Hot
" "They're Red Hot" is a song originally performed and written by blues musician Robert Johnson. Notably, it is one of very few songs recorded by the bluesman that is not based around twelve bar blues. It is based on a common ragtime chord progression. Unlike some other Johnson songs, only one recording of this song exists.

It was also performed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The band recorded this song outside of The Mansion on top of a hill at two in the morning, as seen in the 1992 documentary Funky Monks. The song is available for download for the Rock Band series, being one of the shortest and most difficult."
-snip-
From http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=74&subsectionID=395&articleID=47447
Steve Stockmar, The Daily Courier July 29, 2013 Prescott Arizona

They're Red Hot"
Artist: Robert Johnson

..."First, let's talk about the guitar. Robert Johnson's rhythmically-cinematic acoustic guitar is the blueprint for Keith Richards' DNA. Let's move on.

The key line of "They're Red Hot" is "hot tamales and they're red hot." Throughout this performance, one is never quite sure whether Robert is referring to tamales or women, but even money is on the latter...

It's brilliant Robert Johnson. What's most amazing is his tireless tempo. Robert's twangy guitar works hard to keep up with his relentless fingers. And so help me, he takes on the whole song with a single mighty breath. He raps 581 words in exactly three minutes and one second, as though begging for an urgent glass of water after suddenly eating a hot tamale.

Recorded Nov. 27, 1936, in San Antonio. It's found on any one of three albums available on most mp3 sites: "All Time Blues Classics," "Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings," and "King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol. 2."
Enjoy.
-snip-
Prior to researching information for this post, I was familiar with the "hot tamales and they're red hot" refrain of this song, but I wasn't aware how really risque this song actually is - for example, "the monkey & baboon playing in the grass" verse.

As a bit of trivia, the "girl who's long & tall/sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall" verse is an old African American floating verse. At least one song that is included in Thomas W. Talley's now classic 1922 collection Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise & Otherwise describes a man being so long and tall that he chicken roost on his feet. And the description of a girl being long & tall is the inspiration for Little Richard'a 1956 Rock & Roll song "Long Tall Sally".

Also, it's my strong opinion that the title & refrain of Robert Johnson's uptempo Blues song "They're Red Hot" -but not its risque verses- are the inpiration for the children's cheerleader cheer "Red Hot" [Our team is red hot!] However, I believe that few if any of those cheerleaders or their adult coaches are aware of the connection between their cheers and this famous Blues song.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/07/childrens-cheer-our-team-is-red-hot.html for video examples & commentary about the children's cheer "Our Team Is Red Hot".

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Thanks to Robert Johnson for his musical legacy. Thanks also to those who are quoted in this post & to the publisher of the sound file which is showcased in this post.

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