Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information about Robert Johnson and showcases a YouTube video of Johnson's 1936 uptempo Blues song "They're Red Hot" (release date: 1937).
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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Much of the content of this post was previously published in this 2013 pancocojams post http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/07/robert-johnson-theyre-red-hot-with.html. However, that post features a speeded up version of Robert Johnson performing "They're Red Hot".
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/07/some-text-video-examples-of-childrens.html for a somewhat related 2020 pancocojams post entitled "Some Text & Video Examples Of The Children's Cheerleader Cheer "Red Hot".
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INFORMATION ABOUT ROBERT JOHNSON
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson
Many of Johnson's songs have been covered over the years, becoming hits for other artists, and his guitar licks and lyrics have been borrowed by many later musicians."...
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INFORMATION ABOUT ROBERT JOHNSON
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson
"Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. He is now recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta blues style.
As an itinerant performer who played mostly on street corners, San Antonio juke joints and at Saturday night dances, Johnson had little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime. He participated in only two recording sessions, one in San Antonio in 1936, and one in Dallas in 1937, that produced 29 distinct songs (with 13 surviving alternate takes) recorded by famed Country Music Hall of Fame producer Don Law. These songs, recorded at low fidelity in improvised studios, were the totality of his recorded output. Most were released as 10-inch, 78 rpm singles from 1937–1938, with a few released after his death. Other than these recordings, very little was known of him during his life outside of the small musical circuit in the Mississippi Delta where he spent most of his life; much of his story has been reconstructed after his death by researchers. Johnson's poorly documented life and death have given rise to much legend. The one most closely associated with his life is that he sold his soul to a devil at a local crossroad to achieve musical success.
[...]Many of Johnson's songs have been covered over the years, becoming hits for other artists, and his guitar licks and lyrics have been borrowed by many later musicians."...
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SHOWCASE VIDEO-Robert Johnson-They're Red Hot
Traveler Into The Blues - October 3, 2013
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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
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
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
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
INFORMATION ABOUT ROBERT JOHNSON'S "THEY'RE RED HOT"
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."
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."
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES
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.
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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".
**
I believe that the title & refrain of Robert Johnson's uptempo Blues song "They're Red Hot" -but not its risque verses- are the source for the children's cheerleader cheer "Red Hot" [Our team is red hot!] However, I believe that few of those cheerleaders or their adult coaches know about this famous Blues song. The link for an updated pancocojams post about that children's cheer is given above.
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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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".
**
I believe that the title & refrain of Robert Johnson's uptempo Blues song "They're Red Hot" -but not its risque verses- are the source for the children's cheerleader cheer "Red Hot" [Our team is red hot!] However, I believe that few of those cheerleaders or their adult coaches know about this famous Blues song. The link for an updated pancocojams post about that children's cheer is given above.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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