SC ragtime guitarist J.U. Bouchillon (1898-1974)
j_ns...@msn.com
1926 was his younger brother John Uris (or Urias) Bouchillon, who was
born in South Carolina on Feb. 18, 1898, was working as a machinist in
an iron foundry in 1918 and as a weaver in a cotton mill in 1930, and
like Chris eventually moved to Palm Beach County, Florida, where he
died on Jan 18, 1974. John U. had a father John A. who went by John
and a son John Uris Jr. who went by Johnny, which may explain why he
was often called Uris -- or Urias, as the 1910 census had it, and as
he signed his WWI draft card. According to his draft card he had blue
eyes, auburn hair, and no disabilities.
Chris, born 1893, was a weaver in a cotton mill as of 1910, and a
machinist as of 1920.
Robert Lunn (1912-1966) kept the talking blues style alive on the
Grand Ole Opry, which resulted in Woody Guthrie and then John Greenway
(1919-1991) and then Bob Dylan, among others, performing talking blues
in a remarkably similar style to the Bouchillons. Talking blues also
influenced the style of the fad hot rod songs of the 1950s and
thereabouts, including eventually those of Chuck Berry, who was a C&W
fan (Chuck even talks the story instead of singing it on "Jaguar And
Thunderbird").
A memorable feature of usual "talking blues" (in addition to rarely
having much to do with blues music) is short lighthearted lines added
as seeming afterthoughts to a stanza; this approach was used in non-
blues by folk/tent-show-style performers who were older than the
Bouchillons and had likely never heard the Bouchillons, such as Frank
Stokes (1888-1955).
Another Bouchillon brother, Charlie, who recorded on fiddle, was born
in 1906, and as of 1930 was still living with mom and dad.
Joseph Scott