Spencer Williams (1889-1965)

Overview

Spencer Williams was an American pianist, singer and composer of popular music particularly remembered for his influence on jazz. He was born in New Orleans and revealed very of his early years, presumably having been brought up in Storyville. He is known to have performed in Chicago by 1907 and moved to New York City sometime in 1916. Williams started his long association with Europe when touring between 1925 and 1928 during which he wrote for Josephine Baker at the Folies Bergères in Paris. He returned to London in 1932 and later moved to Stockholm in 1951 where he spent much of the rest of his life.
His successes include Tishomingo Blues (1917), Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble (1917), Royal Garden Blues (1919), Everybody Loves My Baby (1924) and Basin Street Blues (1933).

Websites:
	Spencer Williams	Biography by wikipedia.org.
	DAHR: Spencer Williams	List of 544 historic recordings from 1916 to 1960.

Spencer Williams (1889-1965) has at least 24 item(s) at the Amazons which you can order on-line by clicking the item's order icon.

At the Alabama Cotton Ball Song
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Words by: H. Alf. Kelly

Publisher:	Craig & Co.
Suppliers:
Printed: 1915.	Sheet Music 5 pages. Currently unavailable.

Baby, Please Don't Shake Me While I'm Gone Song
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Words by: Rose Cohen

Publisher:	Will Rossiter
Suppliers:
Printed: 1912.	Sheet Music 5 pages. Currently unavailable.

Basin Street Blues
Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Edwin H. Morris & Co.
Suppliers:
Printed: 1933.	Sheet Music. Limited Availability.

Piano Sheet Music

Basin Street Blues - Easy
Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Unknown
Suppliers:
⇑ Printed: 1928.	Sheet Music. Limited Availability.

Easy Piano Score

Basin Street Blues - Song
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Performed by: Tempo King

Publisher:	Joe Davis Inc.
Suppliers:
Printed: 1933.	Sheet Music. Currently unavailable.

Vocal Edition with Piano and Chord Symbols)

Down in Shenandoah Valley Song
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Words by: Alonzo A. Govern

Publisher:	Will Rossiter
Suppliers:
Printed: 1913.	Sheet Music. Currently unavailable.

Everybody Loves My Baby
Words and Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Clarence Williams
Suppliers:
Printed: 1924.	Sheet Music. Limited Availability.

Featuring a Photograph of Sophie Tucker on Front Cover.

I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None O' This Jelly Roll Jazz song
Words and Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Shapiro, Bernstein & Co.
Suppliers:
⇑ Printed: 1919.	Sheet Music 3 pages. Limited Availability.

I Ain't Got Nobody
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Co-Author: Roger Graham/Bert Reed

Publisher:	Triangle Music Corporation
Suppliers:
Printed: 1927.	Sheet Music 4 pages. Limited Availability.

I Found a New Baby
Words and Music by: Spencer Williams.
Co-Author: Jack Palmer

Publisher:	Leeds Music Corp.
Suppliers:
Printed: 1960.	Sheet Music. Limited Availability.

Piano Sheet Music

In the Woodland of Love Ballad
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Words by: Alonzo A. Govern, W. R. Williams

Publisher:	Will Rossiter
Suppliers:
Printed: 1914.	Sheet Music. Currently unavailable.

It Is You That I Love To-Day Song
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Words by: Beth Slater Whitson

Publisher:	Will Rossiter
Suppliers:
⇑ Printed: 1911.	Sheet Music. Currently unavailable.

It's the Last Time You'll Make a Fool of Me Song
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Words by: Walter Hirsch

Publisher:	Spencer Williams
Suppliers:
Printed: 1919.	Sheet Music. Currently unavailable.

Kune-Jine Song
Words and Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Shapiro, Bernstein & Co.
Suppliers:
Printed: 1919.	Sheet Music. Currently unavailable.

My Little Moonlight Maid Song
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Words by: W. R. Williams

Publisher:	Will Rossiter
Suppliers:
Printed: 1913.	Sheet Music. Currently unavailable.

On the Bridge of Avignon Sur le Pont d'Avignon
Words and Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Cameo Music Pub. Co
Suppliers:
⇑ Printed: 1944.	Sheet Music. Currently unavailable.

Adapted & arranged.

On the Bridge of Avignon Song
Words and Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Cameo Music Pub. Co
Suppliers:
Printed: 1944.	Sheet Music. Currently unavailable.

Adapted & arranged.

Paradise Blues Song
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Words by: Walter Hirsch

Publisher:	McKinley Music Co.
Suppliers:
Printed: 1916.	Sheet Music 5 pages. Currently unavailable.

She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain
Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Joe Davis Inc.
Suppliers:
Printed: 1930.	Sheet Music. Limited Availability.

With guitar accompaniment.

Showin' Yo' Shot Song
Words and Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Jos. W. Stern & Co.
Suppliers:
⇑ Printed: 1917.	Sheet Music 3 pages. Currently unavailable.

Steppin' on the Puppy's Tail Song
Words and Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Frank K. Root and Co.
Suppliers:
Printed: 1917.	Sheet Music 3 pages. Currently unavailable.

Tishomingo Blues Song
Words and Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Jos. W. Stern & Co.
Suppliers:
Printed: 1917.	Sheet Music 3 pages. Currently unavailable.

Yama Yama Blues Song
Music by: Spencer Williams.

Publisher:	Shapiro, Bernstein & Co.
Suppliers:
Printed: 1919.	Sheet Music 3 pages. Currently unavailable.

You Broke My Heart With Your Eyes Song
Music by: Spencer Williams.
Words by: Alonzo A. Govern

Publisher:	Leading Novelty and Publishing Co. of America
Suppliers:
⇑ Printed: 1919.	Sheet Music. Currently unavailable.

MIDIs

	Title	Co-Author(s)	Sequencer


	Tishomingo Blues (1917)		James Pitt-Payne

MP3s

	Title (Release Year)	Co-Author(s)	Performers	Issue


	I Ain't Got Nobody Much and Nobody Cares For Me (1916)		Marion Harris

Records

	Title (Release Year)	Composer	Performers	Issue


Box Car Blues (1924)	S. Williams	Maggie Jones	Columbia: 140134
Cotton Belt Blues (1923)	S. Williams	Lizzie Miles	Victor: B-28298
Everybody Loves My Baby (1924)	S. Williams	Aileen Stanley	Victor: B-30815
Got to Cool My Doggies Now (1922)	S. Williams	Leona Williams	Columbia: 80363
I Ain't Got Nobody Much and Nobody Cares For Me (1920)	S. Williams	Marion Harris	Columbia: 79134
It's the Last Time You'll Ever Do Me Wrong (1922)	S. Williams	Dolly Kay	Columbia: 80374
Keep Yourself Together, Sweet Papa (1923)	S. Williams	Lizzie Miles	Victor: B-28297
Keeps on A-Rainin' (1923)	S. Williams	B. Smith	Columbia: 80865
Meanest Man in the World, The (1922)	S. Williams	Leona Williams	Columbia: 80518
Midnight Blues (1923)	S. Williams	B. Smith	Columbia: 81080
Midnight Blues (1923)	S. Williams	Rosa Henderson	Victor: B-28299
She Walked Right Up and Took My Man Away (1923)	S. Williams	Helen Baxter as Ellen Coleman	Edison: 9163
Western Union Blues (1924)	S. Williams	Maggie Jones	Columbia: 140135
You're Always Messin' 'round With My Man (1923)	S. Williams	Lizzie Miles	Victor: B-28025

Samples

	Title (Release Year)	Performers	Instruments


	Yama Yama Blues (1919)	Midi Ragtime Recorder Ens.	T/T/T/B/GB(B)/V(OT)
	Yama Yama Blues (1919)	Midi Ragtime Recorder Ens.	T/T/B/V(OT)

CDs

	Performer	CD Title	Supplier


Brass Music CDs:
Canadian Brass	Basin Street	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Jazz Music CDs:
Kenny Ball	The Very Best of Kenny Ball
Various Performers	Super Jazz-Best of New Orleans	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Nat Gonella	The Nat Gonella Collection 1930-62
Nat Gonella	Hot Lips
Pee Wee Russell	The Land of Jazz
Jack Teagarden	Jack Teagarden - Big T: A Hundred Years from Today
Stumptown Jazz	Hot Time in the Old Town
Sidney Bechet	The Creole Prodigy
Sidney Bechet	Les Oignons
⇑Thomas Waller	At the Piano	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Thomas Waller	Breakin' the Ice: The Early Years, Part 1
Thomas Waller	Centennial Collection	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Thomas Waller	Classic Jazz from Rare Piano Rolls	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Thomas Waller	Fats at the Organ	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Thomas Waller	Fats Waller - Greatest Hits	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Thomas Waller	Fats Waller at the Organ, Vol. 3: 1926-1929 [Brown Cover]
Thomas Waller	Fats Waller Sings
Thomas Waller	Fats Waller: 1926-27	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Thomas Waller	Fats Waller: 1927-29	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Thomas Waller	Fats Waller: 1939
⇑Thomas Waller	Fats Waller: Portrait Vol.2
Thomas Waller	Fats Waller: Vol. 2	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Thomas Waller	Golden Greats
Thomas Waller	The Indispensable Fats Waller Vol. 9-10	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Thomas Waller	Last Years 1940-1943
Thomas Waller	Low Down Papa	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Thomas Waller	New York to Camden to Los Angeles: 1929-1943 [LIVE]
Thomas Waller	Piano Masterworks Vol. 2 (1929-1943)
Thomas Waller	Piano Solos-Turn on the Heat
Thomas Waller	The Very Best of Fats Waller	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Peter Bocage	Peter Bocage with the Creole Serenaders	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
⇑Chris Barber	The Absolutely Essential 3CD Collection
Chris Barber	The Very Best of Chris Barber
Louis Armstrong	The Platinum Collection
Boswell Sisters	Shout Sister Shout
Leona Williams	Leona Williams and Her Dixie Band
Ragtime Music CDs:
Ted Lewis	Is Everybody Happy?: Ted Lewis and His Band
Ted Lewis	Jazzworthy 1929-33
Various Artists	Cotton Club: A Nostalgic Collection
Various Artists	From Ragtime to Jazz Vol. 3: 1902-1923	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Various Artists	Gennett Rarities
Various Artists	Good Time Jazz Story
⇑Various Artists	Hot Flashes: Rare High Quality Short Lived Bands	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Various Artists	Please Don't Shoot the Piano Player (Nostalgic Player Piano Music)	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Various Artists	Ragtime Blues Guitar (1927-1930)
New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra	New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra
Claude Bolling	Original Blues	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Claude Bolling	Original Ragtime/Original Boogie Woogie/Original Piano Blues	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Eddie Condon	Eddie Condon 1947-1950
Dave Tucker	Tickled Ragtime & Novelties	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
James Price Johnson	Harlem Stride Piano
James Price Johnson	Harlem Stride Piano 1921-1929
James Price Johnson	Hot Piano
⇑James Price Johnson	James P. Johnson 1928-38
James Price Johnson	James P. Johnson 1938-42
James Price Johnson	James P. Johnson 1943-44
James Price Johnson	James P. Johnson 1944
James Price Johnson	James P. Johnson 1944 Vol. 2
James Price Johnson	James P. Johnson 1944-45	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
James Price Johnson	Parlor Piano Solos from Rare Piano Rolls	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
James Price Johnson	Runnin' Wild (1921-1926)
Marcus Roberts	If I Could Be With You
Paul Lingle	Live at the Jug Club
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra	Round The Christmas Tree	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
⇑Eubie Blake	Memories of You	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Clarence Williams	Clarence Williams 1934-1937	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Clarence Williams	Whoop It Up! Volume 1: 1927-1929
Dave van Ronk	Ragtime Jug Stompers	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
St. Louis Ragtimers	The St. Louis Ragtimers: Volume 2
Sue Keller	Those Irresistible Blues	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Jerry White	Jerry White's Select Songs / Ragtime Stride Piano Jazz
George Lewis	George Lewis' Ragtime Band of New Orleans: The Oxford Series Vol. 01
George Lewis	George Lewis' Ragtime Band of New Orleans: The Oxford Series Vol. 02
George Lewis	George Lewis' Ragtime Band of New Orleans: The Oxford Series Vol. 08
George Lewis	George Lewis' Ragtime Band of New Orleans: The Oxford Series Vol. 10
⇑George Lewis	George Lewis' Ragtime Band of New Orleans: The Oxford Series Vol. 14
Joan Reynolds	Deep Hollow	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Heliotrope Ragtime Orchestra	It's a Bear
Butch Thompson	Lincoln Avenue Blues
Butch Thompson	Lincoln Avenue Express
Butch Thompson	Minnesota Wonder 88's
Johnny Maddox	Back Home in Tennessee	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Johnny Maddox	Dixieland Blues	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Johnny Maddox	Red Hot Ragtime Volume 2	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Johnny Maddox	Where the Southern Crosses the Yellow Dog	CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)
Bill Edwards	Championship Old-Time Piano IV

Item	Title	Available	€	£	$	Other



DBE643	Yama Yama Blues (1919) T/T/T/B/GB(B)/V(OT), approx. 2¾ mins.	1-2 days
DBE643C	Yama Yama Blues (1919) T/T/B/V(OT), approx. 2¾ mins.	1-2 days

Library

	Title	Instruments	Remarks


	Yama Yama Blues (1919)	T/T/T/B/GB(B)/V(OT)
	Yama Yama Blues (1919)	T/T/B/V(OT)	Pub.

	Title	Attribution	Instruments	Source	Remarks


Down in Shenandoah Valley (1913)	S. Williams (music) Alonzo A. Govern (words)	Piano, Voice	Indiana
I Ain't Got Nobody Much and Nobody Cares For Me (1915)	S. Williams (music) Roger Graham (words) S. Tucker (perf.) B.A. Williams (perf.) Marion Harris (perf.) S. Tucker (perf.)	Piano, Voice	IMSLP IMSLP
Loose Feet (1923)	S. Williams (music)	Piano, Treble Instrument	IMSLP
Paradise Blues (1916)	S. Williams (music) Walter Hirsch (words)	Piano, Voice	IMSLP Indiana
Pipe Dream Blues (1918)	S. Williams (w&m) Marguerite Kendall (coauth.) J.R. Robinson (coauth.)	Piano	Indiana
Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble (1916)	S. Williams (w&m)	Piano, Voice	Indiana
Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble (1917)	S. Williams (w&m)	Piano, Voice	IMSLP	Pub.
⇑Snakes Hips (1923)	S. Williams (music)	Piano	IMSLP
Tishomingo Blues (1917)	S. Williams (w&m)	Piano, Voice	IMSLP Indiana	Pub.

Works

This list is arranged in chronological order and contains 69 works by Spencer Williams (1889-1965). It does not claim to be complete and represents only the number of items located. Keys: ER

(w&m)

1911-1919

Title	Year	Attribution	Remarks


It Is You That I Love To-Day	1911	Beth Slater Whitson (words)
Baby, Please Don't Shake Me While I'm Gone	1912	Rose Cohen (words)	Pub.
Have You Ever Felt That Way?	1912	Agnes Castleton (words)
Down in Shenandoah Valley	1913	Alonzo A. Govern (words)	Pub.
My Little Moonlight Maid	1913	W. R. Williams (words)	Pub.
In the Woodland of Love	1914	Alonzo A. Govern (words) W. R. Williams (words)	Pub.
At the Alabama Cotton Ball	1915	H. Alf. Kelly (words)
I Ain't Got Nobody Much and Nobody Cares For Me	1915	Roger Graham (words) Marion Harris (perf.) Sophie Tucker (perf.) Bert A. Williams (perf.)
Paradise Blues	1916	Walter Hirsch (words)
Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble (w&m)	1917
Showin' Yo' Shot (w&m)	1917		Pub.
⇑ Steppin' on the Puppy's Tail (w&m)	1917		Pub.
Tishomingo Blues (w&m)	1917		Pub.
Pipe Dream Blues (w&m)	1918	Marguerite Kendall (co-author) J. Russel Robinson (co-author)
I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None O' This Jelly Roll (w&m)	1919	Clarence Williams (co-author)
It's the Last Time You'll Make a Fool of Me	1919	Walter Hirsch (words)
Kune-Jine (w&m)	1919		Pub.
Royal Garden Blues	1919	Clarence Williams (co-author)
Yama Yama Blues	1919	Clarence Williams (co-author) Midi Ragtime Recorder Ensemble (perf.)	Pub.
You Broke My Heart With Your Eyes	1919	Alonzo A. Govern (words)

1921-1925

Title	Year	Attribution	Remarks


Snag 'em Blues	1921
Got to Cool My Doggies Now (w&m)	1922	Bob Schafer (co-author) Babe Thompson (co-author) Leona Williams (perf.)
It's the Last Time You'll Ever Do Me Wrong (w&m)	1922	Dolly Kay (perf.)
Meanest Man in the World, The (w&m)	1922	Leona Williams (perf.)
State Street Blues	1922
Cotton Belt Blues (w&m)	1923	Lizzie Miles (perf.)
Keep Yourself Together, Sweet Papa (w&m)	1923	Lizzie Miles (perf.)
Keeps on A-Rainin' (w&m)	1923	Max Kortlander (co-author) Bessie Smith (perf.)
Loose Feet	1923
Low Down Papa	1923
Midnight Blues	1923	Babe Thompson (co-author) Rosa Henderson (perf.) Bessie Smith (perf.)
⇑ She Walked Right Up and Took My Man Away	1923	Babe Thompson (co-author) Spencer Williams (co-author) Helen Baxter as Ellen Coleman (perf.)
Snakes Hips	1923		Pub.
Those Lazy Blues	1923
You're Always Messin' 'round With My Man (w&m)	1923	Lizzie Miles (perf.)
Blue Mama's Suicide Wail	1924	Mountain Top Blues
Box Car Blues (w&m)	1924	Maggie Jones (perf.)
Everybody Loves My Baby (w&m)	1924	Boswell Sisters (perf.) Aileen Stanley (perf.)
Western Union Blues (w&m)	1924	Maggie Jones (perf.)
Good Time Flat Blues [Farewell to Storyville]	1925

1926-1940

Title	Year	Attribution	Remarks


Georgia Grind	1926
Skeedle Um	1926	Irving Bibo (co-author) Bee Palmer (perf.)
Basin Street Blues - Easy	1928
Fireworks	1928
Shake It Down	1928	Louis Urquhart (co-author)
She Is My Honey and I Am Her Bee (w&m)	1928	Ernest Hare (perf.) Billy Jones (perf.)
Solitaire	1928		Pub.
Swanee River Ripples	1928		Pub.
Georgia Gigolo	1929	Howard E. Johnson (words)	Pub.
Happy Rhythm	1929		Pub.
I'm Wild About That Thing	1929
⇑ You've Got to Give Me Some	1929
Ain't Got No Worry	1930
I've Lost My Head	1930
She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain	1930
Moan, You Moaners	1931	Jack Palmer (co-author)
Basin Street Blues (w&m)	1933	Ray Block (perf.) Jack Teagarden (perf.)
Basin Street Blues - Song (w&m)	1933	Tempo King (perf.)	Pub.
Mahogany Hall Stomp	1936
Port Arthur Blues	1940

1944-?

Title	Year	Attribution	Remarks


On the Bridge of Avignon (w&m)	1944
Loveless Love	1949	William C. Handy (co-author) Martha E.Koenig (co-author)
I Found a New Baby (w&m)	1960	Jack Palmer (co-author)
Boodle Am Shake	?
Ease on Down	?	Luis Russell (co-author)
Farewell to Storyville	?
Shim Sham Shimmy	?	Andy Razaf (co-author)
Squeeze Me	?
Your Time Now	?

Videos

	Composer	Title	Performer


	S. Williams	Basin' Street Blues (3:15)	Jack Teagarden