An early session with “The Texas Moaner” Maggie Jones (aka Fae Barnes) accompanied by Fletcher Henderson on piano.
“You Can’t Do What My Last Man Did” was a James P. Johnson tune with lyrics by Allie Moore. It had already been recorded in a frenzy of sessions by Ethel Waters, Mamie Smith, Alberta Hunter, and Johnson himself earlier that year.
Jones had just recorded her debut session with Black Swan Records. The result was one of the last few blues records to be released by Black Swan before they declared bankruptcy in late 1923.
Henderson was truly an unsung hero who accompanied countless early blues singers on records for Black Swan, Paramount, Pathé, Columbia, Victor, and Vocalion – helping to shape the sound of these early blues vocalists as he also developed his own jazz orchestra.
Jones delivers a fine performance of this no-holds-barred breakup song. Favorite line: “When the clock on the wall strikes half-past three, I want all the things you took from me.”
“Hendersonia” notes that this Pathé session was contracted by California Ramblers manager Ed Kirkeby and that his session notes show “Lucy Jameson” as the singer – perhaps the birth name of Maggie Jones – or perhaps yet another stage name.
A record with a fascinating history!
Recorded in New York on September 4, 1923.
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