“Chizzlin' Sam"—The Clarence Williams Jug Band

Jazz music has always known musical married couples. Such as Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Brown, Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour, Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth, and Pug Horton and Bob Wilber.

One such musical couple that was very influential for later jazz music was pianist/composer Clarence Williams and blues vocalist/actress Eva Taylor. Here they are with Williams' Jug Band playing "Chizzlin' Sam."

Recorded in New York City, N.Y. August 7, 1933 -- Clarence Williams-jug; Eva Taylor and kazoo-player Clarence Todd-vocals; Cecil Scott-clarinet; Herman Chittison and Willie "The Lion" Smith-pianos; Ikey Robinson-banjo; Willie Williams-washboard.

Clarence Williams (1893-1965) was one of the pioneer Negro jazz musicians from Louisiana and one of the first artists to use the word “jazz” to publicize his work.

He became a professional entertainer at the age of 12 when he ran away with a minstrel show. On his return to New Orleans, he became a protege of Jelly Roll Morton.

His main instrument was the piano, although he also mastered the guitar and organ as a child.

As a recording artist in the 1920s, Clarence Williams appeared on radio with the Clarence Williams Trio.

One of the trio, who performed under the name Eva Taylor, was his wife Irene Joy Gibbons (1895-1977), who already started performing as a child actor at the early age of three.

Actually Clarence William wasn't such a great pianist, but he was a very clever businessman.

Around 1915 he and violinist Armand J. Piron opened a music store and publishing house. New Orleans musicians also used that store to rehearse.

According to one of them, bassist Pops Foster, Williams could write music as fast as you could play it. So, if you had a number, Clarence Williams would write it down for you.

Than Willliams would arrange it, copyright it and publish it. And before the musicians knew it their tune was Williams´.

Foster compared Clarence Williams to a horse thief when he recalled that Louis Armstrong had come up with "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" and Satchmo had Williams put it down. Clarence Williams copyrighted and published it and Armstrong never got any money for it.

When Williams moved his music company to Chicago, Piron left the publishing house. Williams continued it up north in Illinois and later in New York, where he met Eva Taylor.

In New York, Clarence Williams was also producing records and cutting deals as Artists and Repertoire manager and publisher for the Race Records department at Okeh Records.

As composer the clever Williams now was his own publisher plus as producer he played the piano in small groups assembled by himself, and on top of that they were playing Willaims' own compositions.

Armstrong never held a grudge against Williams for copyrighting his work under his own name. And in 1924, Clarence Williams made good used of Louis Armstrong's presence in New York to couple him to Sidney Bechet for a series of amazing blue five recordings which set the standard for many jazz bands to come.