“I didn’t drink at all until I got my band.” – Cootie Williams
The recordings heard on this podcast episode:
‘Round Midnight (CD: “Big Bands at The Savoy, Cootie Williams & Luis Russell” JUCD 2064)
Recorded 12 February 1945 at the Savoy Ballroom, NYC
Cootie Williams, Harold “Money” Johnson, Ermit V. Perry, George Treadwell – trumpet; Ed Burke, Bob Horton – trombone; Charlie Parker, Frank Powell – alto sax; Lee Pope, Sam Taylor – tenor sax; Ed de Verteuil – baritone sax; Arnold Jarvis – piano; Leroy Kirkland – guitar; Carl Pruitt – bass; Sylvester Payne – drums.
(CD: “Cootie Williams and his Orchestra 1941-1944” Classics 827)
Recorded 1 April 1942 in Chicago
Fly Right (Epistrophy)
When My Baby Left Me
Cootie Williams, Milton Fraser, Joe Guy, Louis Bacon – trumpets; Jonas Walker, Robert Horton, Sandy Williams – trombone; Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson – alto sax, vocal; Bob Dorsey, Greely Walton – tenor sax; John Williams – baritone sax; Kenny Kersey – piano; Norman Keenan – bass; Butch Ballard – drums.
Recorded 4/6 January 1944 in New York City
You Talk a little trash
Honeysuckle Rose
Cootie Williams – trumpet, vocal; Ed Burke, Bob Horton, George Stevenson – trombone; Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson – alto sax, vocal; Charlie Holmes – alto sax; Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Lee Pope – tenor sax; Bud Powell – piano; Norman Keenan – bass; Sylvester “Vess” Payne – drums.
Now I Know
Red Blues
Cootie Williams, Harold “Money” Johnson, Ermit V. Perry, George Treadwell – trumpet; Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson – alto sax, vocal; Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis – tenor sax; Ed de Verteuil – baritone sax; Bud Powell – piano; Norman Keenan – bass; Sylvester “Vess” Payne – drums.
Recorded 22 August 1944 in New York City
Somebody’s Gotta Go
‘Round Midnight
Cootie Williams, Lamar Wright, Ermit V. Perry, George Treadwell, Tommy Stevenson – trumpet; Ed Burke, Bob Horton, Ed Glover – trombone; Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson – alto sax, vocal; Frank Powell – alto sax; Lee Pope, Sam Taylor – tenor sax; Ed de Verteuil – baritone sax; Bud Powell – piano; Leroy Kirkland – guitar; Carl Pruitt – bass; Sylvester “Vess” Payne – drums.
(CD: “Big Bands at The Savoy, Cootie Williams & Luis Russell” JUCD 2064)
Roll ‘Em
Floogie Boo
Recorded 12 February 1945 at the Savoy Ballroom, NYC
Cootie Williams, Harold “Money” Johnson, Ermit V. Perry, George Treadwell – trumpet; Ed Burke, Bob Horton – trombone; Charlie Parker, Frank Powell – alto sax; Lee Pope, Sam Taylor – tenor sax; Ed de Verteuil – baritone sax; Arnold Jarvis – piano; Leroy Kirkland – guitar; Carl Pruitt – bass; Sylvester Payne – drums.
(CD: “Cootie Williams and his Orchestra 1945-1946” Classics 981)
Recorded 19 July 1945 in New York City
House of Joy
Cootie Williams, Harold “Money” Johnson, Ermit V. Perry, George Treadwell – trumpet; Ed Burke, Bob Horton – trombone; Rupert Cole, Frank Powell – alto sax; Lee Pope, Sam Taylor – tenor sax; Ed de Verteuil – baritone sax; Arnold Jarvis – piano; Leroy Kirkland – guitar; Jimmy Glover – bass; Sylvester Payne – drums.
Recorded 29 January 1946 in New York City
He Should’a flip’d when he flop’d
Cootie Williams, Bob Merrill, Ermit V. Perry, George Treadwell, Billy Ford, Gene Redd – trumpet; Ed Burke, Bob Horton, Edward “Jack Raggs” Johnson – trombone; Rupert Cole, John Jackson– alto sax; Everett Gaines, Sam Taylor – tenor sax; Bob Ashton – baritone sax; Arnold Jarvis – piano; Sam “Christopher” Allen – guitar; Norman Keenan – bass; Butch Ballard – drums, Johnny Mercer – vocal.
(CD: “Cootie Williams and his Orchestra 1946-1949” Classics 1105)
I Can’t Get Started
Recorded 1947 in New York City (no precise date given)
Cootie Williams, Bob Merrill, Ermit V. Perry, Otis Gamble, Billy Ford, Clarence “Gene” Redd – trumpet; Ed Burke, Edward Johnson, Julius “Hawkshaw” Watson – trombone; Rupert Cole, Daniel Williams – alto sax; Chuck Clarke, Edwin Johnson – tenor sax; Bob Ashton – baritone sax; Arnold Jarvis – piano; Norman Keenan – bass; Butch Ballard – drums.
Save the Bones for Henry Jones
I Should O’ Been Thinkin’ Instead of Drinkin’
Recorded July 1947 in New York City
Cootie Williams, Bob Merrill – trumpet, vocal; Ermit V. Perry, Otis Gamble, Billy Ford, Clarence “Gene” Redd – trumpet; Ed Burke, Edward Johnson, Julius “Hawkshaw” Watson – trombone; Rupert Cole, Daniel Williams – alto sax; Chuck Clarke, Edwin Johnson – tenor sax; Bob Ashton – baritone sax; Arnold Jarvis – piano; Norman Keenan – bass; Butch Ballard – drums.
It’s Something You Ought To Know (Paul Gonsalves – “Ellingtonia Moods and Blues,” RCA Victor / RCA63562)
Recorded 29 February 1960, New York City
Paul Gonsalves- tenor sax; Johnny Hodges – alto sax; Ray Nance – cornet; Mitchell “Booty” Wood – trombone; Jimmy Jones – piano; Al Hall – bass; Oliver Jackson – drums.