This isn't exactly "white rap"; it's songs from the 1940s to the '80s, mostly novelties, some hits, that happen to feature spoken-word narratives/rhymes. The range is variable: besides the huge countryish spoken melodrama smashes "Ringo" (Lorne Greene) and "Big Bad John" (Jimmy Dean), there's Napoleon XIV's "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" (one of the creepiest and most lunatic novelty hits of all time), bad '70s country-novelty by C.W. McCall ("Convoy"), and country-rock boogie from Commander Cody ("Hot Rod ...
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This isn't exactly "white rap"; it's songs from the 1940s to the '80s, mostly novelties, some hits, that happen to feature spoken-word narratives/rhymes. The range is variable: besides the huge countryish spoken melodrama smashes "Ringo" (Lorne Greene) and "Big Bad John" (Jimmy Dean), there's Napoleon XIV's "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" (one of the creepiest and most lunatic novelty hits of all time), bad '70s country-novelty by C.W. McCall ("Convoy"), and country-rock boogie from Commander Cody ("Hot Rod Lincoln"). Then you get the celebrity vocals that Rhino's so found of: Jack Webb, Sebastian Cabot, and Rex Harrison. Somehow Lenny Bruce sneaks in here as well. These recordings aren't without their fascination, but the general mish-mash of silliness means that as a compilation, this flows more jerkily than most. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi
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