[Dixielandjazz] Bawdy -- the Golden Ass

[ROBERT R. CALDER]

I am not sure what Bob Smith means by saying that the GOLDEN ASS of Apuleius is mostly read in relation to its bawdy scenes.  I should have imagined that the greatest appeal -- it is a literary masterpiece -- was to its comedy, for the bawdry in it is comic and deflationary. It has even been considered as a text of mystical initiation. 

I suppose the same might be said of Louis' "It's Tight Like That",  


as for Lucille Bogan, there is the remarkable unissued (till later) Georgia Grind, with Cow Cow Davenport and Tampa Red, whose topic addressed to listeners of the same gender as Ms. Bogan might be summed up as DIY. As memory serves, there is I think another version of the same. 


The phrase "Shave 'em Dry" is documented as referring to a dance performed clothed and resembling a lady limbo dancer approaching a male limbo dancer in such a way as to bring each set of lower naughty bits into as close a proximity as possible, but under cover. There certainly is some film of this being done on a Caribbean island. 

Ms. Bogan and her accompanist, Walter Roland, can be heard on the issued recording singing nudge nudge naughty words
They also recorded the same with very explicit references and words referring to naughty and indeed dirty bits (deprecatory in regard to anal hygiene) with a sung sequel in which Mr. Roland declares his intention to accept Ms. Bogan's invitation. They both seem greatly amused by what could be considered as a creative parody of a double-entendre -- coarse, coarse!


Connoisseurs of the more metaphorical genre (the dirty version of the Bogan/ Roland prefers similes since these allow a naming of parts) might seek out the wistful singing and guitar-playing of Bo Carter and the specialised anthology of his naughty ditties named for one of them, "Banana in Your Fruit Basket". Interviewed some decades later, Mr. Carter reported that these songs were no part of his repertoire for "colored folks" and that he had composed them to meet audience demand exclusively from white folks. 

Might I suggest that further elaboration of the topic be found elsewhere on a suitable list supported by students of anthropology? 


To the pure, a lot of things are denied.

RRC