jazz musician; music producer; composer
Personal Information
Born on October 8, 1893 (some say 1898), in Plaquemine, LA; died on November 6, 1965, in New York. Married Eva Taylor (blues singer).
Career
Singer, musician, composer, producer. Joined minstrel show; started suit cleaning service; formed music publishing company with A.J. Piron, circa 1915; composed and released songs with Columbia Records; moved to Chicago; owned three music stores; moved to New York City in 1923; founded own music publishing company; released over 300 sides; sold catalog to Decca Records in 1943.
Life's Work
Clarence Williams was one of the premier music publishers of his time. He claimed to be the originator of jazz, and while this has not been proven true, it can be said that Williams did make a major impact in the development of jazz. He was also a very successful, though sometimes shady, businessman and entrepreneur.
Williams was born in 1893 (some accounts say 1898) in Plaquemine, Louisiana. His father was a hotel owner and a bass player. The family moved to New Orleans in 1906 and Williams began his career singing in the streets. At the age of twelve, Williams joined a minstrel show as a singer. He then became the show's emcee.
In 1915 Williams returned to New Orleans, particularly the Storyville District. He began to work as an organizer, record producer, and composer. He also started a suit cleaning service and ran a cabaret. Williams teamed up with famed bandleader and violinist Armand (A.J.) Piron to start and music publishing company.
In 1916 Williams wrote "Brown Skin, Who You For" and received $1,600, his first payment for a composition and considered the largest payout ever in New Orleans. The song, included a short play with words some consider a precursor to rap music. During this time, many made the claim to be the creator of jazz music, Williams included. Tom Morgan at bluesnet.hub.org stated that Williams not only claimed to be the first person to use the word 'jazz' in a song but he had the title "The Originator of Jazz and Boogie Woogie" placed on his business card.
Williams worked with numerous jazz greats of the day including: Fats Waller, James P. Johnson, and Sidney Bechet. He and his partner, Piron, created a vaudeville act that had minimal success. While touring, the duo became acquainted with W. C. Handy. They were even on hand to perform in Handy's program when he switched venues in Atlanta.
The Storyville district closed, and Williams moved to Chicago. He opened a music store that was so lucrative, he opened two more stores. Many people began listening to black female blues singers, and Williams decided to capitalize on this. He married blues singer Eva Taylor, sold his stores and moved to New York in 1923. He opened his own music publishing company.
Though Williams performed with his wife, he is perhaps known more for his collaborations with renowned vocalist, Bessie Smith. The two had released many songs, of those "Gulf Coast Blues," "Baby Won't You Please Come Home," and "T'ain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do" are considered classics. Though the two were successful together, Williams wasn't honest with the singer. According to Tom Morgan, he fooled the singer into signing a contract with him instead of with Columbia Records, and he pocketed half of her recording fee. The teaming ended after a surprise visit by Smith and her boyfriend to Williams' office.
Williams became A&R director for Okeh Records. He helped to develop many new artists and advanced the careers of many jazz legends including Louis Armstrong. He also employed a number of talented people including arranger Don Redman and saxophone player Coleman Hawkins. As A & R director, Williams nurtured and groomed many artists by arranging sessions, supplying material and publishing compositions.
Williams was also producing and playing for himself. He recorded over 300 records with his band. Williams was a perfectionist, and if he didn't like how a session went, he'd record the music somewhere else under a pseudonyms, usually The Dixie Washboard Band or Bluegrass Footwarmers. According to basinstreet.com, Williams' music was "never sweet, coy or weak. It had a sturdy solid strength, a deep emotionality, an inner calmness that provided beauty and true art."
Williams also produced and composed the musical Bottomland, which also starred his wife, Eva. By the 1930s, swing had become popular and demand for his Dixieland style had waned. Williams switched his focus from performing and producing to mainly composing. According to Dick Stafford, a writer for www.musicweb.uk.net, Williams retired from full-time music after he sold his catalog to Decca Records. He lost his eyesight after an accident in 1956. He died nine years later in New York.
Williams' music represented the early jazz sound of New Orleans. He was a well-respected pianist and publisher. Many looked to Williams' work as a guide to what was in vogue at the time. Many of his songs have achieved lasting fame--though some of them he claimed credit for, he hadn't composed alone. According to allmusic.com, Williams "had a real ear for talent," and helped to make Okeh Records one of the preeminent record labels in the 1920s. He was an intriguing and highly profitable businessman. His nurturing of and collaborations with many of the top jazz musicians and singers of his time helped create the jazz heard and admired in both the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His name may have faded into obscurity but his sound has endured. Clarence Williams, though not the originator of jazz, can be considered one of its most influential pioneers.
Works
Selected discography
- Sides
- "Brown Skin, Who You For."
- "Royal Garden Blues."
- "Jail House Blues."
- "Charleston Hound."
- "Cushion Foot Stomp."
- "Gulf Coast Blues."
- "Baby Won't You Please Come Home."
- "T'ain't Nobody Bizness If I Do."
Further Reading
Online
- All Music Guide, www.allmusic.com.
- http://atj.8k.com/noartist/atjwilliams.html.
- http://basinstreet.com/Programs/Clarence Williams/index.htm.
- http://bluesnet.hub.org/readings/clarence.williams.html.
- http://www.edsite2.fsnet.co.uk/clarencewilliams.html.
- http://www.musicweb.uk.net/jazz/2001/Oct01/Clarence_Williams.htm.
- Jass.com, www.jass.com.
— Ashyia N. Henderson
