Porter Grainger was an African-American pianist, songwriter, playwright, and music publisher.

Biography

When Grainger was born in Bowling Green

Bowling Green, Kentucky

Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...

, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, the Granger family name did not include an "i." Although the exact date at which Grainger changed his name is unknown, he registered for the World War I draft by signing his name "Grainger." At that time, he was living in Chicago, and by 1916, his professional career had begun. In the spring of 1920 he left Chicago for New York City, and by 1924, he was living in Harlem. Working with another pianist and composer Bob Ricketts, in 1926 Grainger wrote and published the book How to Play and Sing the Blues Like the Phonograph and Stage Artists.

Though he would never really be known as an exceptional soloist in his own right, Grainger nevertheless made strides as an accompanist, working with singers such as Viola McCoy

Viola McCoy

Viola McCoy was an African-American blues singer who performed in the classic female blues style during a career that lasted from the early 1920s to the late 1930s.-Life and career:...

, Clara Smith

Clara Smith

Clara Smith was an American classic female blues singer. She was billed as the "Queen of the Moaners", although Smith actually had a lighter and sweeter voice than her contemporaries and main competitors.-Career:...

, and Victoria Spivey

Victoria Spivey

Victoria Spivey was an American blues singer and songwriter. She is best known for her recordings of "Dope Head Blues" and "Organ Grinder Blues", and Spivey variously worked with her sister, Addie "Sweet Pease" Spivey, and with Bob Dylan, Lonnie Johnson, Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Clarence...

. From 1924 to 1928, he worked with blues singer Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...

 to record more than a dozen sides for Columbia Records. He was also Mamie Smith

Mamie Smith

-External links:* African American Registry* with photos* with .ram files of her early recordings* NPR special on the selection on "Crazy Blues" to the 2005...

's accompanist in the 1929 film short Jailhouse Blues and regularly appeared with her in stage shows.

As a bandleader, Grainger also made eight recordings. Four of these records, made with his ensemble the Get Happy Band, are of special interest to collectors of early jazz, as these albums feature performances by the soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet

Sidney Bechet

Sidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.He was one of the first important soloists in jazz , and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist...

, as well as by Duke Ellington sidemen Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton (trombone) and Elmer Snowden

Elmer Snowden

Elmer Snowden was a banjo player of the jazz age. He also played guitar and, in the early stages of his career, all the reed instruments. He contributed greatly to jazz in its early days as both a player and a bandleader, and is responsible for launching the careers of many top musicians...

 (banjo). “(In) Harlem's Araby,” also appeared on these recordings. The composition was co-written with Jo Trent and Thomas "Fats" Waller and is still considered one of Grainger's best works.

His last known recording appears to have been in 1932, although he performed and composed into the 1940s. His latter years remain mysteriously murky, although a copyright renewal application for the How to Play and Sing the Blues book was filed in his name in 1954.

Notable Songs

Though he wrote several, only two of Grainger's songs have endured as blues standards: “Tain't Nobody's Business if I Do” (co-authored with Everett Robbins), and “Dying Crapshooter's Blues” (1927). The former has been performed and recorded by several artists, including Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...

, Alberta Hunter

Alberta Hunter

Alberta Hunter was an American blues singer, songwriter, and nurse. Her career had started back in the early 1920s, and from there on, she became a successful jazz and blues recording artist, being critically acclaimed to the ranks of Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith...

, Fats Waller

Fats Waller

Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...

, and the Ink Spots. The latter was performed by Martha Copeland

Martha Copeland

Martha Copeland was an American classic female blues singer, who recorded thirty four songs between 1923 and 1928. Her best known offerings are "Everybody Does It Now," "Good Time Mama Blues," and "Sorrow Valley Blues." Promoted by Columbia Records as 'Everybody's Mammy', her recordings did not...

, Viola McCoy

Viola McCoy

Viola McCoy was an African-American blues singer who performed in the classic female blues style during a career that lasted from the early 1920s to the late 1930s.-Life and career:...

, and Rosa Henderson

Rosa Henderson

Rosa Henderson was an American jazz and classic female blues singer, and vaudeville entertainer.-Career:...

before passing into folk-blues repertoire.

Other songs include the following:

• “What's the Matter Now” (1921)
• "Prescription for the Blues" (1924)
• “Heart Breakin' Joe” (1923)
• “Honey” (1924, with Bob Ricketts)
• “Wylie Avenue Blues” (1927, Joe Davis, co-author)
• “Soul and Body” (1927)
• “Good Time Mama” (1927)
• “Fat and Greasy,” (1936)
• “Give It to Him” (1937)
• “I've Got to Have My Ashes Hauled” (1937)
• “One Hour Mama” (1937)
• “Can't You Take a Little Joke” (1939)
• “By an Old Southern River” (1943)