One of my favorite guitarists of the 20s and 30s was Lonnie Johnson. I always thought his playing style was so crisp and fresh that he’s one of the few blues artists I go out of my way to collect.
Of course, Johnson considered himself a jazz guitarist and indeed appears on many jazz records in the 1920s, including with Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five, Jimmy Blythe, Wilton Crawley, Chas. Creath’s Jazz-o-maniacs, Duke Ellington, and Clarence Williams (and yes, I just did a search of Rust’s “Jazz and Ragtime Records to come up with that list) – along with providing guitar accompaniment to a number of blues singers. Of course, his most famous collaborations are with guitarist Eddie Lang.
But often he recorded blues after winning a contest in St. Louis in 1925 and being awarded a recording contract with Okeh Records. Many of his records featured a blues number with Johnson on vocals. Here we have an instrumental composition that could be said to represent a bridge between his jazz and blues roots.
Recorded in Memphis, Tennessee on Tuesday, February 21, 1928. Released as Okeh 8575.
I’ll be honest – I was reticent to even post this one, as the disc is so totally beat that the sound quality is almost unlistenable. But it’s a super rare one and the transfers that are available are only marginally better.
It’s a great example of how sometimes even 78s in the worst shape sometimes are so special and important, as there just may not be too many other copies out there.
From James “Stump” Johnson’s first recording session in Long Island City, New York in early 1929, we have an original tune called The Snitchers Blues.
Johnson sometimes performed under the stage name Snitcher Roberts, so the title of the tune is self-referential.
A percussive effect is heard throughout the song – perhaps this is Mr. Johnson tapping his foot on the floor to keep time?
The song ends abruptly at 2:50 with Johnson exclaiming “What? Well Give me another drink, then – that’s all right then.” The session engineers wisely kept this informal interjection in the released recording.
The flip side, “The Duck Yas-Yas-Yas” is the more well-known side – and I couldn’t find another transfer of this B-side anywhere on YouTube, so I figured I’d get this one out there to enjoy. If there is interest, I’ll transfer the A-side as well.
Recently won this rare QRS disc on eBay for $13 – as the record has a well-repaired crack and I guess that scared other bidders off. Otherwise in great shape – and my de-clicking filter took the tick right out.
Recorded in New York City circa January 1929. Released as QRS R.7049 and Paramount 12842.
In 1921, Philadelphia-born vocalist Katie Crippen recorded four sides for Black Swan Records – a Harlem-based label founded by Harry Pace.
This song, “Blind Man Blues”, according to Walter Allen in Hendersonia, was “one of the first 12-bar blues recorded.” It features a couple of classic lines, such as “I ain’t gonna marry, I ain’t gonna settle down” – later sung in 1926 by Bessie Smith’s “Young Woman’s Blues” and in 1928 by Jimmie Rodgers’ “Blue Yodel #2”. Lines such as this expressed a gendered independence and were a challenge to the social order of the time – only a year after women in the U.S. won the right to vote.
Additionally, here we have one of Fletcher Henderson’s very early recorded sessions for Black Swan and his second commercially-released recording. He had moved to NYC in 1920 to study science after graduating from Atlanta University, where he played organ for the mandatory chapel services at the university.
After working as a song plugger for the Pace and Handy Music Company, he took a job with Harry Pace at his newly formed Black Swan label as a pianist in 1920. The label strove for “cultural respectibility” in its choice of artists and repertoire, and Henderson’s first commercially-released record was providing accompaniment to classical vocalist C. Carroll Clark.
Though he was a classically-trained pianist, this recording with Kate Crippen was the first of many he would go on to record with many early blues vocalists – as Mamie Smith’s hit “Crazy Blues” in 1920 had started a surge of interest in blues recordings. This style of playing did not come naturally to Henderson, and Ethel Waters, who played and recorded with him often from 1921-23 was quoted as saying:
“Fletcher wouldn’t give me what I call ‘the damn-it-to-hell bass,’ that chump-chump stuff that real jazz needs… I kept nagging him – I said he couldn’t play as I wanted him to. When we reached Chicago I got some piano rolls that Jimmy Johnson had made and pounded out each passage to Henderson. To prove to me he could do it, Fletch began to practice. He got so perfect, listening to James P. Johnson play on the player piano, that he could press down the keys as the roll played, never missing a note. Naturally, he began to be identified with that kind of music, which isn’t his kind at all.”
Crippen continued to perform with artists such as Fats Waller and Count Basie throughout the 1920s. She tragically died of cancer in November of 1929.
Here we have an issue on the Iowa-based Claxtonola label – of my favorite labels to collect from the 78 rpm era. The label was made by the Brenard Manufacturing Company in Iowa City, which manufactured phonographs. They licensed masters from Paramount, Black Swan, and Gennett and issued them under their own labels, Claxtonola and National.
Enjoy this scarce early blues recording!
Recorded in New York City in February – March, 1921. Originally released as Black Swan 2003. Reissued as Paramount 12126, Puritan 11054, Famous 3048 and Claxtonola 40054.
Credits: Katie Crippen – vocals Unknown artist – trumpet Chink Johnson (?) – trombone Edgar Campbell – clarinet Cordy Williams (?) – violin Fletcher Henderson – piano
Sources: Hendersonia, Walter C. Allen His Eye is on the Sparrow, Ethel Waters & Charles Samuels Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz, Jeffrey Magee
A lovely tune (penned by Marvin Smolev and Bernie Seaman) performed by blues singer Viola McCoy who is accompanied by a very young Rex Stewart on cornet and an unidentified pianist and violinist. The pianist has been suggested to be Porter Grainger – but there is disagreement on this.
Like Ethel Waters, Viola McCoy had a theatrical voice that was clear and crisp, making it a pleasure to listen to. The three accompanists expertly weave around one another, creating a kind of musical bouquet in which McCoy is the centerpiece.
Of note: Smolev later co-wrote a few songs for Cliff Jackson and his Krazy Kats (“Horse Feathers” and “The Terror”).
Recorded in New York City on January 6, 1926. Released as Vocalion 15245.
Credits: Viola McCoy – vocals Rex Stewart – cornet Unknown Artists – piano, violin (Despite the label attribution, no cello is heard on this record)
It was my birthday yesterday and after some reflecting – I realized that it was about seven years ago that I started collecting 78 rpm records. I had just repaired an old Airline console for a friend and wanted to try the 78 rpm turntable. I went to an estate sale at a rural home about fifteen miles north and thumbed through a pile of 78s that sat unsold. In that stack I found this beat up Arthur Crudup record.
Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup was an artist I had never heard of – and after listening to this track I immediately wanted to know all about him and hear more of his music.
This one record led me down an endless rabbit hole of fascinating history and amazing music that continues to this day.
Finding this record so close to home convinced me that maybe it was possible to find other good 78s in this area. It started the obsession.
It’s in rough shape and the music is a bit distorted but it will always be a special record to me.
What was your first record?
Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on September 6, 1946. Released as RCA Victor 20-2105.
I usually stick to collecting jazz records but when this Blind Blake record was offered for sale recently at a price I couldn’t believe, I had to buy it!
The reason it was so inexpensive was that it has a crack from edge to label. However, it had been repaired by “record whisperer” Jim Cooprider, who is reputed to have the ability to bring records back from the dead using arcane methods. I was more than a little curious to see how good the repair was.
The crack was completely fused back together – using what alien technology I have no idea. It does sound – but not a sharp tic but more of a muffled and very slight thump as the needle skates over a thin layer of some magic substance that was used to fill and repair the crack. After de-clicking it’s hardly noticeable at all. Well done, Jim!
The record was graded at V- and it does have a rough start – but cleans up pretty well and is a very enjoyable listen.
This fun tune was from Blake’s second session with Paramount early in his career – and some copies are labeled simply as “Messin’ Around”.
I’ve always found Arthur Blake’s fingerpicking to be quite masterful. His firm clean tone and inventiveness is infectious and a pleasure to listen to.
Enjoy!
Recorded in Chicago, Illinois in October 1926. Released as Paramount 12413.
He first recorded “Trucking My Blues Away” in 1936 – and it was such a hit that no doubt his record company convinced him to capitalize on its popularity and record it again in 1937 as “Trucking My Blues Away No. 2”.
This rousing version with washboard accompaniment is a little brighter than the original, with a good-spirited Fuller seeming to have a little fun and giving a more enthusiastic performance overall.
Recorded in New York City on February 9, 1937. Released as Melotone 7-07-63
Credits: Blind Boy Fuller – Vocals, Guitar George Washington (“Bull City Red”) – Washboard
