Lil Johnson's 1936 musical raunch

On Saturday night, some friends and I visited a collector of rare 78s and he played this delightfully raunchy 1936 tune "Get 'Em From The Peanut Man (Hot Nuts)" by Lil Johnson. Another one of Lil's lovely ditties, also from 1936, is "Press My Button (Ring My Bell)" with the fine lyrics of "Come on baby, let's have some fun / Just put your hot dog in my bun." Lil Johnson on Amazon (Thanks, Dick!)

• [David Pescovitz]

  Yes, I’ve heard that “Get ‘Em From The Peanut Man” was in Jackass 3.5.

• [Huwman]

  Wait a sec – are you saying some blues lyrics are metaphors for SEX?!

• [Nick Diaz]

  This is a great tune. I love the hokum blues. One that is always fun is Bo Carter’s “Banana in Your Fruit Basket” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsje14A-cds). Lucille Bogan’s “Shave ‘Em Dry” is hysterical as well, but extremely NSFW (especially for the 30s!)

• [Brainspore]

  Truly, Chef’s “Chocolate Salted Balls” song is heir to a fine tradition of genital-pun lyricizing.

• [Marktech]

  The late and much lamented George Melly used to sing this, along with such sensitive ballads as Bessie Smith’s “Kitchen Man”:

  His frankfurter’s oh so sweet
  How I love his sausage meat
  I can’t do without my kitchen man

  How that man can open clams
  No-one else can touch my hams
  I can’t live without my kitchen man… 

  George Melly had a liking for picturesque euphemism: he used to enliven his concerts by explaining to audiences the meaning of terms such as “yodelling up the canyon”.

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    Is that what Alice was humming on the Brady Bunch?

• [Kaffenated]

  I’m guessing she liked peanuts and hot dogs.

  Great find. Thanks for sharing!

• [akputney]

  Glad you brought up Bessie Smith. Two of my favorites: “I Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl” and “Take Me for a Buggy Ride.” Innuendo? I think yes.

• [Hank]

  But wait, I thought sex was invented in the 60s…

• [Listener43]

  I find this all quite distasteful. Where are the wholesome blues lyrics?

• [gumpachiro]

  That’s a picture of Ma Rainey, not Lil Johnson.

  • [Patrick Skiffington]

    Ha ha ha!

  • [David Pescovitz]

    Totally right. Ooops. So much for Google Image search. Thanks.

• [Patrick Skiffington]

  Also, three words: Shave ‘Em Dry

• [angusm]

  You can buy whole albums full of “risqué blues” numbers with titles like “Keep on churnin’ (till the butter comes)” and “Drill, daddy, drill”.

  As you may guess, these particular numbers do not celebrate American dairy farming and the oil industry, whatever the titles might suggest.

• [Chris Jeffries-Dowling]

  How has no one here mentioned the Asylum Street Spankers in this thread!?  They covered all of these songs at one point or another.  Their renditions of “Shave em Dry” (http://youtu.be/q5JoDfi2KFk) and “Hot Nuts” (otherwise knows as “The Scrotum Song – http://youtu.be/Epz7WbhpHZo) were some of the raunchiest things I have ever heard live.  The band is no longer together but you can still find their entire catalog on iTunes I believe.

  • [Rob Cooley]

    I came in to post this. One of  my all time favorite bands!

• [capnmarrrrk]

  Sure we know about “Shave ‘em dry” but have you heard Lucille Bogan’s  “Til the Cows Come Home?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heYxa6yX2os Whoo that’s filthy!

• [Paul Renault]

  My favourite:
  Alberta Hunter, age 86 or so, singing “My Handy Man”
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLoPKQZRjOQ

  “…sometimes he’s up, way before dawn, busy cleaning the rough edges of my front lawn…”

• [Jeff Wilkinson]

  the delightful White Ghost Shivers doing “Toot yer Whistle, Blow My Horn” is immediately brought to mind:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eMmyPeJjRo

• [ocker3]

  I can’t let this thread go without linking to Chuck Berry’s My Ding-a-ling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaEC-lWSlmI

• [Steve Jacobs]

  Or one could look on Archive.org: http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Lil%20Johnson%20AND%20mediatype%3Aaudio