Just two weeks before the Wall Street Crash of late October 1929 that would bring about the Great Depression, Clarence Williams brought a crew of musicians into an Okeh session. He had spent the late summer recording for Columbia and Edison (with his wife, Eva Taylor).
The matrix immediately preceeding this session was Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson’s Blind Willie Dunn’s Gin Bottle Four. One imagines these two guitar legends passing the incoming Williams crew in the studio hallways. Interesting, as this Spencer Williams tune “You’ve Got to Give Me Some” had been famously recorded earlier that year by Bessie Smith accompanied by Clarence on piano and Eddie Lang on guitar.
This version, backed by the scritching washboard of Floyd Casey and energized by a jubilant trumpet and somewhat shy and reticent clarinet, is full of life and joy. While Webster lacks the majesty and gravitas of Bessie Smith, she delivers a light-hearted and winsome performance. There’s a genuine sense of fun and playfulness in this version.
There has been some contention over the identity of the trumpet and clarinet performers in this session.
Charlie Gaines sheds some light on why remembering who played what and when could be difficult in an interview in Jazz-Finder published in 1948: “one recorded with Williams on a routine mass production basis. He never engaged a man for specific dates. He had a stable of musicians on a weekly pay-roll. You might be called for several dates every day or maybe none for a week. We liked that arrangement, but it created a lack of interest in the work you recorded as to recalling outstanding details. But that is how Clarence did business.”
The vocalist was identified as Margaret Webster directly from the Okeh files by Helene Chmura.
Recorded in New York City on October 9, 1929.
Released as Okeh 8738
Credits:
Charlie Gaines – trumpet
Arville Harris – clarinet
Clarence Williams – piano
Floyd Casey – washboard
Margaret Webster – vocals
Sources:
Clarence Williams, Tom Lord, Storyville Publications, 1976
Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942), 6th Ed., Brian Rust
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