Pigmeat Markham

Pigmeat Markham was far better known as a comedian than a musician, but in the 1960s he cut a series of novelty records in which he delivered his rhythmic, rhyming routines over frantic backdrops of bluesy funk that not only anticipated hip-hop by at least a decade, but landed him on the pop charts in the process. Born in Durham, North Carolina on April 18, 1904, as either David Markham or Dewey Martin (he was known to use both names, and biographical sources disagree as to the correct one), he began his career in 1917 as a dancer with a traveling show whose cast included Bess...