In the early 1920's he toured the South with Big Joe Williams as a member of the Birmingham Jug Band. In 1927 he cut several sides under his name for the Gennett label in Birmingham. In April 1930, he recorded two more songs for Columbia. These were the last sides for him as a solo artist. In December of that year he teamed up again with the Birmingham Jug Band, a group that still featured Williams on guitar and also Blind Ben Covington and recorded for OKeh. After this session he became a street singer throughout Alabama. Jaybird Coleman died of cancer at the age of 53 in Tuskegee, AL. on January 28, 1950.(Text taken from Mike's video description. Please visit "RandomAndRare" on YouTube, he's doing an outstanding job providing rare classic recordings from the earlier days!)
Pat Missin remarked on Coleman's involvement with the Birmingham Jug Band:
"I am totally unconvinced that Jaybird is the harp player on the Birmingham Jug Band sides. The original source for this information is Big Joe Williams and whilst he was a truly great bluesman, he was not the most reliable historian. I guess it's possible that Jaybird played with them at some point, but the harmonica work on the BJB sides sounds nothing like him. They were recorded the same year that Jaybird did those two sides with piano accompaniment and there is a huge difference between the tight ensemble playing the Jug Band and Jaybird's tendency to ignore strictly measured bars, preferring instead those free stretched field holler-like phrases."
To read the whole text please check the comments.
Actually there are two versions of his most popular tune "Man Trouble Blues". The first one was cut in 1927 and is a plain Jaybird solo piece:
In comparison to that here's the second version from 1930featuring piano:
Jaybird Coleman & the Birmingham Jug Band - "Getting Ready for Trial"
Jaybird Coleman - "Coffee Grinder Blues"
Jaybird Coleman - "No More Good Water"
Enjoy!Jaybird Coleman - "Coffee Grinder Blues"
Jaybird Coleman - "No More Good Water"
Filisko & Noden performing Coleman's "I'm Gonna Cross the River of Jordan":
Check out Stefan Wirz's Illustrated Jaybird Coleman Discography!
maz
Hi Maz.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, let me say what a great blog! I just stumbled over it a
couple of days ago and I can't wait to see what else you put up here.
A few thoughts about Jaybird Coleman - one of my favorite harmonica
players:
I am totally unconvinced that Jaybird is the harp player on the
Birmingham Jug Band sides. The original source for this information is
Big Joe Williams and whilst he was a truly great bluesman, he was not
the most reliable historian. I guess it's possible that Jaybird played
with them at some point, but the harmonica work on the BJB sides
sounds nothing like him. They were recorded the same year that Jaybird
did those two sides with piano accompaniment and there is a huge
difference between the tight ensemble playing of the Jug Band and
Jaybird's tendency to ignore strictly measured bars, preferring
instead those freely stretched field holler-like phrases. Compare also
his session playing harp with Bertha Ross - strict 12 bar blues was
just not his forte. Also, it's clear that the harp player of the BJB
was also the singer and I don't think his voice really sounds like
Jaybird's.
I should also note that the links to the .mp3s of "Coffee Grinder
Blues" and "No More Good Water" are credited as being by Jaybird
Coleman Birmingham Jug Band - they were actually just by Coleman, solo
on "No More Good Water" and with that bizarrely inappropriate piano
accompaniment on "Coffee Grinder Blues".
Speaking of the piano, many reissues do indeed list the player as
being R.D. Norwood. I believe this error was originated by the earlier
editions of Dixon & Godrich's "Blues Records". R. D. Norwood was a
singer/guitarist and accompanied Jaybird on his earliest unissued
recordings for Gennett, as well as cutting some solo sides. The piano
player on Coleman's Columbia recordings of "Coffee Grinder Blues" and
"Man Trouble Blues" was some unknown session player brought in,
presumably, in an attempt to try to make Jaybird's rather archaic
playing style a little more accessible to the record buying public of
the time.
Whilst I am on this general subject, I should also add that Jaybird is
reputed to have been the person who recorded a couple of religious
tunes for Paramount, up in Chicago in 1929, issued under the name
Frank Palmes (and reissued later under the name Frank Johnson). The
more I listen to these pieces, the more I feel that Palmes is NOT
Jaybird Coleman. I discussed this with Joe Filisko a while back and I
think he is also unconvinced that they are the same person.
Anyway, thanks again for a great blog!