This issue’s cover artist will no doubt come as a surprise to many readers of LB; Rudy Ray Moore, a.k.a. Dolemite, is well-known as a comedian, but his considerable blues pedigree is familiar mostly only to afficianados. Moore recently returned to singing the blues after a decades-long hiatus, but the comedy routines and characters he created during the interim period drew from the same well of black oral traditions that has fed the blues. Most notably, one of the personas adopted by Moore was Peetie Wheatstraw, “the devil’s son-in-law,” a streetwise, boastful character created by St. Louis bluesman William Bunch.
Moore ain’t lyin’ when he calls himself the “king of x-rated comedy,” but the initial novelty of his act largely stemmed from his public airings of the insults found in “the dozens” and in “toasts” such as “the signifying monkey” - first cousins of the blues whose widespread expression has only been hinted at through recordings. Moore’s comedy may not suit everyone’s tastes, but it’s worth noting that he controls the rights to both his blues recordings and films, and is thus able to celebrate “the art of ghetto expression” completely under his own terms.
Flip through the layout of Rudy Ray Moore's article, designed, and produced by A. Newt Rayburn. [ hi-res ] [ lo-res ]
