Clarence Williams | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | October 1893 or 1898 Plaquemine,Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | November 6, 1965 (age 67 or 72) Queens, New York City |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupations |
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| Instrument | Piano |
Spouse | |
Clarence Williams (October 8, 1898[1][2] or October 6, 1893[3] – November 6, 1965)[1][2][3] was an Americanjazz pianist, composer, promoter, vocalist,theatrical producer, and publisher.
Williams was born inPlaquemine, Louisiana, to Dennis, a bassist, and Sally Williams, and ran away from home at age 12 to joinBilly Kersands' TravelingMinstrel Show, then moved toNew Orleans. At first, Williams worked shining shoes and doing odd jobs, but soon became known as a singer and master of ceremonies. By the early 1910s, he was a well-regarded local entertainer also playing piano, and was composing new tunes by 1913. Williams was a good businessman and worked arranging and managing entertainment at the localAfrican Americanvaudeville theater as well as at various saloons and dance halls aroundRampart Street, and at clubs and houses inStoryville.[3][4]
Williams started a music publishing business with violinist/bandleaderArmand J. Piron in 1915, which by the 1920s was the leading African-American owned music publisher in the country. He toured briefly withW. C. Handy, set up a publishing office in Chicago, then settled in New York in the early 1920s. In 1921, he marriedblues singer and stage actressEva Taylor, with whom he would frequently perform.[3][4] They moved toQueens in the 1920s with the intention of creating a community of black artists. He envisioned a space where African American artists could live, work, and collaborate together, free from the racial discrimination and segregation that was prevalent in other parts of the city at the time.[5][6]
Williams and his wife, Eva Taylor, purchased a large house on Ruscoe Street (108th Ave nearAddisleigh Park)[7] and turned it into a gathering place for black artists, musicians, and intellectuals. They hosted regular parties and events, which attracted many notable figures from the Harlem Renaissance, includingLangston Hughes,Zora Neale Hurston, andDuke Ellington.[8]
He was one of the primary pianists on scores of blues records recorded in New York during the 1920s. He supervised African American recordings (the 8000race series) for the New York offices ofOkeh phonograph company in the 1920s in theGaiety Theatre office building inTimes Square.[9] He recruited many of the artists who performed on the label. He also recorded extensively, leading studio bands frequently for OKeh,Columbia and occasionally other record labels.[3][4]
He mostly used "Clarence Williams' Jazz Kings" for his hot band sides and "Clarence Williams' Washboard Five" for hiswashboard sides. He also produced and participated in early recordings byLouis Armstrong,Sidney Bechet,Bessie Smith,Virginia Liston,Irene Scruggs, his nieceKatherine Henderson,[10] and others. Two of his 1924 recording bands, "The Red Onion Jazz Babies" and "Clarence Williams' Blue Five" featured cornetist Armstrong and soprano saxophonist Bechet, two of the most important early jazz soloists, in their only recordings together before the 1940s. Clarence Williams' Blue Five, a studio band only, formed after the success of King Oliver's recordings in order to explore the market for blues-oriented music.[11] The rivalry between Armstrong and Bechet, who tried to outdo each other with successive solo breaks, is exemplified in "Cake Walkin' Babies from Home", the most celebrated of these performances, which survives in versions recorded by both bands.[12] Although the narrative of a rivalry during these recordings is frequently discussed in scholarship, Armstrong and Bechet do have moments of friendly collaboration, such as the shared break in "Texas Moaner Blues."[13]King Oliver played cornet on a number of Williams's late 1920s recordings. He was the recording director for the short-livedQRS Records label in 1928.[3][4]
Most of his recordings were songs from his publishing house, which explains why he recorded tunes like "Baby Won't You Please Come Home", "Close Fit Blues" and "Papa De-Da-Da" numerous times.[14] Among his own compositions was "Shout, Sister, Shout" (1929), which was recorded by him, and also covered bythe Boswell Sisters, in 1931.[3][4]
In 1933, he signed to theVocalion label and the recordings mostly featuring washboard percussion, through 1935 (and a session in 1938).[3][4] He also recorded forBluebird in 1937, and again in 1941.
In 1943, Williams sold his extensive back-catalogue of tunes toDecca Records for $50,000 and retired, but then bought a bargain used-goods store, the Harlem Thrift Shop. Williams died inQueens, New York City, in 1965, and was interred inSaint Charles Cemetery inFarmingdale onLong Island. On her death in 1977, his wife, Eva Taylor, was interred next to him.[3][4]
Clarence Williams' grandson was actorClarence Williams III.[1]
Clarence Williams' name appears as composer or co-composer on numerous tunes, including a number which by Williams' own admission were written by others but which Williams bought all rights to outright, as was a common practice in the music publishing business at the time. Clarence Williams was also credited as the author ofHank Williams' 1949 hit "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It", a song that was later recorded by Louis Armstrong. In 1970, Williams was posthumously inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame.[3][4]
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