Wesley Wilson
Encyclopedia
Wesley Wilson was an American
blues
and jazz
singer and songwriter. His own stage craft, plus the double act with his wife and musical partner, Coot Grant
, was popular with African American
audiences in the 1910s, 1920s and early 1930s.
His stage name
s included Kid Wilson, Jenkins, Socks, and either Sox Wilson or Socks Wilson. His musical excursions included participation in the oddly named duo
of Pigmeat Pete and Catjuice Charlie. Wilson recorded songs such as "Blue Monday on Sugar Hill" and "Rasslin' Till The Wagon Comes".
, United States
. Wilson played both piano and organ, whilst Coot Grant strummed guitar as well as sing and dance.
The duo's billing also varied between Grant and Wilson, Kid and Coot, and Hunter and Jenkins, as they went on to appear and later record with Fletcher Henderson
, Mezz Mezzrow
, Sidney Bechet
, and Louis Armstrong
. Their variety was such that they performed separately and together in vaudeville, musical comedies, revues and traveling shows. This ability to adapt also saw them appear in the 1933 film
, The Emperor Jones
, alongside Paul Robeson
.
In addition to this, the twosome wrote in excess of 400 songs over their working lifetime. That list included "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)" (1933
) and "Take Me for a Buggy Ride", which were both made famous by Bessie Smith
's recording of the songs, plus "Find Me at the Greasy Spoon (If You Miss Me Here)" (1925) and "Prince of Wails" for Fletcher Henderson. Their own renditions included the diverse, "Come on Coot, Do That Thing" (1925), "Dem Socks Dat My Pappy Wore," and "Throat Cutting Blues" (although the latter remains unreleased)."
Although Grant and Wilson's act, once seen as a serious rival to Butterbeans and Susie
, began to lose favor with the public by the middle of the 1930s, they recorded further songs in 1938. Their only child, Bobby Wilson, was born in 1941. By 1946, and after Mezz Mezzrow
had founded his King Jazz record label
, he engaged them as songwriters. In that year, the association led to their final recording session backed by a quintet incorporating Bechet and Mezzrow.
Wilson retired in ill health shortly thereafter, but Grant continued performing into the 1950s. In January 1953, one commentator noted that the couple had moved from New York
to Los Angeles
, but were in considerable financial hardship.
Wilson died from a stroke
, aged 65, in October 1958 in Cape May Court House, New Jersey
.
In 1998, his entire recorded work, both with and without Grant, was made available in three chronological volumes by Document Records
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer and songwriter. His own stage craft, plus the double act with his wife and musical partner, Coot Grant
Coot Grant
Coot Grant was an American classic female blues, country blues, and vaudeville, singer and songwriter. Her own stage craft, plus the double act with her husband and musical partner, Wesley "Kid" Wilson, was popular with African American audiences in the 1910s, 1920s and early 1930s.-Biography:One...
, was popular with African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
audiences in the 1910s, 1920s and early 1930s.
His stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
s included Kid Wilson, Jenkins, Socks, and either Sox Wilson or Socks Wilson. His musical excursions included participation in the oddly named duo
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
of Pigmeat Pete and Catjuice Charlie. Wilson recorded songs such as "Blue Monday on Sugar Hill" and "Rasslin' Till The Wagon Comes".
Biography
He was born in Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Wilson played both piano and organ, whilst Coot Grant strummed guitar as well as sing and dance.
The duo's billing also varied between Grant and Wilson, Kid and Coot, and Hunter and Jenkins, as they went on to appear and later record with Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
, Mezz Mezzrow
Mezz Mezzrow
Milton Mesirow, better known as Mezz Mezzrow was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist from Chicago, Illinois. Mezzrow is well known for organizing and financing historic recording sessions with Tommy Ladnier and Sidney Bechet. Mezzrow also recorded a number of times with Bechet and...
, 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...
, and Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
. Their variety was such that they performed separately and together in vaudeville, musical comedies, revues and traveling shows. This ability to adapt also saw them appear in the 1933 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, The Emperor Jones
The Emperor Jones (1933 film)
The Emperor Jones is a 1933 film adaptation of the Eugene O'Neill play of the same title, directed by Dudley Murphy, featuring Paul Robeson, Dudley Digges, Frank H. Wilson, and Fredi Washington. The screenplay was written by DuBose Heyward and filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios with the beach scene...
, alongside Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
.
In addition to this, the twosome wrote in excess of 400 songs over their working lifetime. That list included "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)" (1933
1933 in music
-Events:*January 23 – Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2 is premiered in Frankfurt*National Association for American Composers and Conductors is founded by Henry Hadley.*Billie Holiday is "discovered" singing at Monette's club....
) and "Take Me for a Buggy Ride", which were both made famous by 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...
's recording of the songs, plus "Find Me at the Greasy Spoon (If You Miss Me Here)" (1925) and "Prince of Wails" for Fletcher Henderson. Their own renditions included the diverse, "Come on Coot, Do That Thing" (1925), "Dem Socks Dat My Pappy Wore," and "Throat Cutting Blues" (although the latter remains unreleased)."
Although Grant and Wilson's act, once seen as a serious rival to Butterbeans and Susie
Butterbeans and Susie
Butterbeans and Susie were a comedy duo made up of Jodie Edwards and Susie Edwards, née Susie Hawthorne . Edwards began his career in 1910 as a singer and dancer. Meanwhile, Hawthorne performed in African American theater. The two met in 1916 when Hawthorne was in the chorus of the Smart Set show...
, began to lose favor with the public by the middle of the 1930s, they recorded further songs in 1938. Their only child, Bobby Wilson, was born in 1941. By 1946, and after Mezz Mezzrow
Mezz Mezzrow
Milton Mesirow, better known as Mezz Mezzrow was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist from Chicago, Illinois. Mezzrow is well known for organizing and financing historic recording sessions with Tommy Ladnier and Sidney Bechet. Mezzrow also recorded a number of times with Bechet and...
had founded his King Jazz record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, he engaged them as songwriters. In that year, the association led to their final recording session backed by a quintet incorporating Bechet and Mezzrow.
Wilson retired in ill health shortly thereafter, but Grant continued performing into the 1950s. In January 1953, one commentator noted that the couple had moved from New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, but were in considerable financial hardship.
Wilson died from a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
, aged 65, in October 1958 in Cape May Court House, New Jersey
Cape May Court House, New Jersey
Cape May Court House is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Middle Township, in Cape May County, New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 4,704...
.
In 1998, his entire recorded work, both with and without Grant, was made available in three chronological volumes by Document Records
Document Records
Document Records is a British record label that specializes in early American blues, bluegrass, gospel, spirituals jazz, and other rural American genres , generally made between 1900 and 1945...
.
Selected songs composed by Wilson
| Song title | Recorded by |
|---|---|
| "All the Time" | LaVern Baker LaVern Baker LaVern Baker was an American rhythm and blues singer, who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedlee Dee" , "Jim Dandy" , and "I Cried a Tear" .-Early life:She was born Delores LaVern Baker in Chicago, Illinois... |
| "Blue Monday on Sugar Hill" | 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... , Charlie Shavers Charlie Shavers Charles James Shavers , known as Charlie Shavers, was an American swing era jazz trumpet player who played at one time or another with Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams and Billie Holiday... |
| "Chicky-Mo, Craney-Crow" | Louis Jordan Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the... |
| "De Laff's on You" | Louis Jordan Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the... |
| "Do You Call That a Buddy?" | Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.... , Louis Jordan Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the... , Carl Weathersby Carl Weathersby Carl Weathersby is a electric blues vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter... , B.B. King, Dr. John Dr. John Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider... |
| "Do Your Duty" | 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... , Billie Holiday Billie Holiday Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing... , Buck Clayton Buck Clayton Buck Clayton was an American jazz trumpet player who was a leading member of Count Basie’s "Old Testament" orchestra and a leader of mainstream-oriented jam session recordings in the 1950s. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong... , Rory Block Rory Block -Festival appearances:*Long Beach Blues Festival - 1993*San Francisco Blues Festival - 1999*Notodden Blues Festival - 2006-See also:*List of blues musicians*List of contemporary blues musicians*List of Austin City Limits performers-External links:****... , Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women |
| "I'm Down in the Dumps" | 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... , Jack Teagarden Jack Teagarden Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:... , Rory Block Rory Block -Festival appearances:*Long Beach Blues Festival - 1993*San Francisco Blues Festival - 1999*Notodden Blues Festival - 2006-See also:*List of blues musicians*List of contemporary blues musicians*List of Austin City Limits performers-External links:****... , Valerie Wellington Valerie Wellington Valerie Wellington was an African American, Chicago blues and electric blues singer and actress. Her 1984 album, Million Dollar $ecret saw her work with Sunnyland Slim, Billy Branch, and Magic Slim. In her early years, Wellington also worked with Lee "Shot" Williams... |
| "Ghost of Yesterday" | Billie Holiday Billie Holiday Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing... |
| "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)" | 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... , Billie Holiday Billie Holiday Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing... , Nina Simone Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music... , Abbey Lincoln Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge , better known by her stage name Abbey Lincoln, was a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. Lincoln was unusual in that she wrote and performed her own compositions, expanding the expectations of jazz audiences.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was one of many... , Count Basie Count Basie William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years... , Bobby Short Bobby Short Robert Waltrip "Bobby" Short was an American cabaret singer and pianist, best known for his interpretations of songs by popular composers of the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Noel Coward and George and Ira Gershwin.He... |
| "It's Full or It Ain't No Good" | Louis Jordan Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the... , Billie Holiday Billie Holiday Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing... , Rory Block Rory Block -Festival appearances:*Long Beach Blues Festival - 1993*San Francisco Blues Festival - 1999*Notodden Blues Festival - 2006-See also:*List of blues musicians*List of contemporary blues musicians*List of Austin City Limits performers-External links:****... , Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women |
| "Prince of Wails" | Fletcher Henderson Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast... |
| "Somebody Done Hoodooed the Hoodoo Man" | Louis Jordan Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the... |
| "Take Me for a Buggy Ride" | 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... |
| "Toot It, Brother Armstrong" | 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... |
| "Uncle Joe" | 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... |
Compilation discography
| Year | Title | Record label |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1925-1928) | Document Document Records Document Records is a British record label that specializes in early American blues, bluegrass, gospel, spirituals jazz, and other rural American genres , generally made between 1900 and 1945... |
| 1998 | Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1928-1931) | Document |
| 1998 | Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1931-1938) | Document |