Tuesday, February 20, 2018

The Jive Glossary


celebrating Black History Month 2018

The Jive Glossary
from Can You Dig It ? The 70s Soul Experience
Rhino Records Boxed CD set, October 2001



Back in the early 2000s, when Napster was just starting to gain traction and the idea of listening to - and trading - in digital music files hadn't yet become a phenomenon, it was not unusual for companies like Rhino Records to release elaborately packaged boxed sets of CDs containing compilations of singles from all types of musical genres.

In October 2001 Rhino released a six-CD boxed set titled Can You DIg It ? The 70s Soul Experience that featured a variety of songs that made it into the Billboard R & B charts during the interval from 1970 - 1977.

The nicely produced booklet included in the boxed set contained a two-page 'Jive Glossary' of 70s Black slang (to help Caucasian listeners, in particular, to get in the groove in a proper way). 

Some of the definitions are laugh-out-loud funny. I've posted scans of the Glossary below; clicking to maximum magnification should make these legible on a PC screen (less so on a smartphone screen...........? ).  


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