More dialectomusicology

[Wilson Gray]

In an earlier post, I noted the career of Roger Abrahams's informants
for _Deep Down in the Jungle_ in the world of R&B, ending with "Stay,"
a song probably familiar to all listserv members of a certain age,
either in its original version or in the cover version by Jackson
Browne.

This time, I'd like to draw attention to the work of otherwise unknown
informants of William Labov's.

Back in 1966, a song entitled, "Hey, Leroy! Your Mama's Callin' You!"
became popular on black AM radio. It was written by Johnnie Pruitt and
Jimmy Castro and recorded by the latter's group, The Jimmy Castro
Bunch. The song started out with a brief, shouted dialog:

A) Hey, Leroy!

B) What?!

A) Yo' mama, she callin' you, man!

At the time, I found this intro more interesting than the rest of the
record and it has since stuck in my mind. Imagine my surprise when I
later came across this very dialog while leafing through some work or
other of Labov's. I can only assume that one of the composers or both
were, at one time, informants of Labov who were present when the
dialog occurred during one of their sessions with him and recalled it
when they came or, more soulfully, *went,* to compose the song.

Historically, this recording is considered to herald the beginning of
the so-called "Latin Soul" movement in popular music, epitomized by
the two-sided hit, "Bang! Bang!" / "Push, Push, Push!" by José "Joe
Cuba" Calderón.

-Wilson


--
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have
found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be
imposed upon them.

Frederick Douglass

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