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began to talk about the parent and not in, ah, well, if you were to listen to it and you were an outsider, not used to black culture, you would think that they were really coming

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down on each other, and that the fight was going to ensue very, very rapidly from the point of the game's first beginning. But this was not so the name of the game was to think faster than the brother who you were used to running with every day. So in

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getting into this conversation, what came to my mind was another game that we used to play, known as Ham Bone. And the Hambone, I know Norm got into a little bit tonight, but there was another part of the Ham bone that was very important too, and that was

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being able to make up verses to go along with the hambone. Some of the verses that have been put into some of the modern or contemporary black songs actually came from the day of the hand bone back in 1955 I remember the last time that I

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actively participated in a ham bone session within Wichita Falls, Texas, at a medicine show. Now I don't know if any of you have ever been to the medicine show before,

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but it is deeply in trouble in the history of black people and the continuum of black people in this country, one of The very most important parts

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of the medicine show was the Ham bone contest. In the Ham bone contest, there was the top award for the first prize was a reward of $25 and back in 1955 $25 went a long wait with a lot of money, and the contestant was judged on his ability to come up with the,

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you know, most original song so forth with the one to which he did that have one with. Now, Norm is from the East Coast, from the West Coast. I found out doing this on the style of Ham bone difference in the style of Ham bone items I just taught and

00:02:45.670 - 00:03:08.090

carried on to the tradition. Now, first of all, we'll just do the ham bone together, and you can see the differences of our style. You now you see there's a difference. The beat is

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different. So, yeah, somebody leave me on the lights. There's a light switch in the back, somebody may have hit it. Now let me see it actually ham bone accurate, because I usually

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lost content. But I do remember how to do it, and we used to start out with a little song with something like this. Well, I never went to college and I never went to school, but when it Kees the Hans on my Ham bone is full Hans.

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Hans, have you heard Papa buy me a mockingbird? If that talking bird, don't think Papa gonna buy me a diamond ring. Hans, have you heard amp on amble? Where's your wife? Down and sell a shooting bag. I shot seven. She shot 11. Come on, fabulous.

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Now going back to the date, did you play the take home, the hand clapping. I. Routines that were carried out by black people and taught black people, not only in this country, but carried over from Africa there's too bad we don't have any film tonight to

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show some of the native custom dances and traditional dances of the African people, and you would see very well what is meant in some of the Hans language that is used by the African people to describe their merryment, or whatever it is

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They're dancing to or the occasion. But these are things that were not, were not, let's say, learn from my going to Africa and seeing an Africa perform this art. Now in 1961 I journeyed to England, where I had my first, first real

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involvement with the African man, the black man from Africa, from Ghana, mostly from Ghana and Kenya. And one of their traditions, one of the things that they carried over to England with them in a nightclub alone at the roaring 20s in

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Piccadilly Circus. Was another routine, which they would not only do the Hans bone or slap clap Hans and this this type of thing to keep beat or rhythm music, but they would also clue the voice. For instance, they would start out with it the

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condo B or D, and in the voice would go something like Da. Which were now were things that were taught to them as children, in growing up, in carrying rhythm and learning how to play the drum. There was a certain sound for a certain B that they

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would make on whichever type of drum that they learned to play. For instance, the bass drum. The sound that I first used would be a sound from the bass drum. Johannes, okay, another sound that they used was a Very high shrill sound in which can you,

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can you? Young. Then they would carry this on until you had a whole choir of voices that went right along with the African beat with the drum. And these were in the club at the roaring 20s. You

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know, the first time I witnessed this, this performance, which was a community thing. It was not a thing that they went there to warm for the audience. This was the audience taking part. This was an African club in the heart of London. And I became

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very curious, you know, about the rhythms and so forth and so on. And being gi at the time, and, you know, really interested in black people, because in England, there's a whole bunch of white people you don't have, you know, you got to hang

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somebody. So you pick your next closest colored trans, and that's the African or the Jamaican. Now, the Jamaicans also joined into the this, this performance or this community scene, not with the voice, but with a dance which was very,

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very interesting. And I won't do it because it might hurt himself. But anyway, their dance when they're went up into the air when they came down and made contact with the floor. It was also another beat that was added to the song, which you could

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hear distinctly. And one of the unique things about the club that I think, was the biggest drawer, drawer of people with that, they provided knocked tables to have your drinks on, put barrels with skins across the top up so that you know,

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anyone who came into the club could join in and play the drum, or else vocalize or get up and dance. And everybody just had a hell of a good job. Right, and they would do that for, I mean, like fall into the club at 12 o'clock and at 530 they were

00:10:07.020 - 00:10:28.460

still going the music that the temple of the music might change, but they were still going through their role. So I know Frank went more fitted to the Hans, yeah, okay, but I'm gonna let norm go by himself and the East Coast man bone here,

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and then we'll give You a West Coast version. Okay, sure, though you you Yeah. Now I might add that when he gets up in the morning, another part

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of part of the trick with where Levi you did This. So if you beat Your legs to death, you I'm tired. Okay? I hope that you you. I'm surprised you didn't win, though there was cast it, ripped them up and mouth. All

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kinds of things. Hit the side of their mouth and make one noise and hit the front of their mouth, get another noise, you know, in all kinds of things. And dude used to do it together, you know, like, stand in front of each other and use each other

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later, like playing patty Kees. Yeah, yeah. Kees used to get really, you know, like they get four guys in a circle and do it with the Hans, like I was doing, or use the elbow. Well, can't see. And you were voted on by who could do the most things.

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You know, in one little session, you had so much time in order to do it, do what you had, and if you could come up with the most movements and keep your rhythm anyone, of course, you had the audience too. That helped you out. Okay, no, unfortunately, I

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think that it's a shame that I don't see kids doing it today, and I believe that a reading that they don't do this today. And because of the the Uncle Tom ism that may be connected with it, you know, this is considered by some blacks at being Uncle

00:13:37.160 - 00:13:54.760

Tom. To me, this is a part of my heritage, and I'm proud of it. You know, I'm not demeaning it in any way. I'm telling you that the brothers in Africa gave me something by birth that I didn't have to go back to Africa to get. And this is a part of that.

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Well, I mean, medicine show you're talking about, yeah, they're still carried on. I don't, I haven't been back to Texas since 65 and in 65 I didn't try to find a medicine show, but there weren't any going on. I haven't seen one

00:14:12.780 - 00:14:34.040

since 55 same thing you know about damn thing, complicated dance, Henze, the whole thing, and it's also, well, they don't have an audience to do it. They do do

00:14:34.040 - 00:14:51.400

it, gentlemen. So this was something that was carried on amongst themselves, the same as if it doesn't nod, you wouldn't even in the service. You know, a big problem of service experience was the black airman or soldier who talked about the

00:14:51.400 - 00:15:08.100

white sort of mama and grandmama and those kind of things which caused a lot of problems, not and what really could. Out the problems with when a white GIS observed black Gi is talking about each other's mamas, and the white gi would walk up to a

00:15:08.100 - 00:15:24.380

black soldier and say, Hans your mama, and get knocked on his feet. But you know well, the brothers, this was a cold between brothers that they could do. They could go to a certain extent. Now they fought each other too. I mean, it wasn't a

00:15:24.380 - 00:15:39.740

thing where, where they fought, because I said, How's your mom saying? But it was the thing that they fought because this cat cap them out. In other words, he didn't have a comeback to what this kid like. They might start out saying, Your

00:15:39.740 - 00:15:51.460

mama don't wear no drawers, you know. And the other cat would say, well, your mama goes to sleep with a mattress on her back every night, or something like this, you know. And you know. Then it would carry out to, well, your mom was like the

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doorknob, you know. And it go further and further and further until this cat didn't have a comeback, and he would either quit because everybody was laughing at him, or you get mad and start fighting. So so it just depended on how much you

00:16:09.120 - 00:16:23.540

could take as to whether you were going to fight or you're going to leave one of the worst fights I ever had in my life with me and my cousin. My cousins were playing the dozen. Then he told me my father looked like Frankenstein, and I didn't

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dig Frankenstein. So we What about it? He won the Kees, but I won the fight. That was the philosophy of the plot, you know. And there was other games we used to play, the ugly game, you know. And you could really get foul with the other game,

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usually, though, the ugly game wound up being a dozens game, because whenever you couldn't get a cat for telling you you were so ugly, the tears wearing down your back to keep you seeing your face, or something like this, then he would tell

00:16:58.060 - 00:17:18.000

him, Well, your mama look like Beatrice, you know, or something. Well, I won't go into, and that would bring off another gig completely. But youth, the black youth of my age, of my era, patted each other on the back and took pride

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in being able to play each other better than anyone else on the block, or be able to play the ugly better than anyone else on the block. To an anthropologist like Hans, we said, the dozens he saw

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outgrow the fabric and system of jurisprudence, whereas, if two people have their disagreement, they get up from under Dodie, you know, and they bounce out. And he thought that was the right thing, Kees, you thought you

00:18:06.210 - 00:18:24.860

and we were going in the water. The name of the water episode, a burns. Guys got a study of dozens. They had barely but toast, which you didn't mention. Yeah. Stagna, later,

00:18:24.860 - 00:18:36.560

the course is subjected to like toast. Sam, oh, signified, using signifying monkey in a titanic time. Yeah, Roger, the April

00:18:39.140 - 00:18:57.040

and all. So here's one anthropologist who Abrams, or Abraham's, I think, who studied some parts of black oral folk lore and wrote a book about it, which is a man book. Actually, I had a lot of good toast. I know what you can commit to memory

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and use it parties and things like that. I signify deep down. It's deep down. It's deep down in jungles, first line is signified, but you

00:19:08.100 - 00:19:29.660

men ought to get it rapidly. Gets unprintable at any other question. Okay, that's my presentation, my first presentation of my last my last presentation will be John Coltrane,

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thank you gentlemen for coming up. DREW You or this declare, I don't think I. Free audio post production, biophonic.com,