HMR Project: History of Music & Modern Recording

Albert Ammons

Boogie woogie is a limb of jazz and the southern equivalent of ragtime, thought to have originated out of the barrel houses (bars) of the Marshall region in eastern Texas. Pianist Albert Ammons was born 1 March 1907 in Chicago. He was father to tenor saxophonist, Gene Ammons (b 1925). Another of his sons, Edsel (b 1924), became a bishop in the United Methodist Church. Albert was playing piano by age ten. His lifelong friend, Meade Lux Lewis, often visited as a child because Albert's family owned a pianola (player piano). Ammons expanded to percussion in a drum and bugle corps as a teenager but taught himself the blues by listening to Chicago piano players, Hersal Thomas, and the brothers, Alonzo and Jimmy Yancey. Ammons and Lewis were both working at the Silver Taxicab Company in 1924 when they began working clubs together until Albert started a band at the Club DeLisa in 1934.

Ammons' first recordings to issue are thought to have been for vocalist, Sam Theard, with the Banks Chesterfield Orchestra on September 17, 1934, for Decca titles 'That Rhythm Gal' and 'Till I Die'. That same date the Banks Orchestra supported vocalist, John Oscar, on 'You Can't Last Long Like That' and 'Got to Be Worried Now'.

Ammons first recorded in 1936 with his own band, the Rhythm Kings, on January 13 for 'Nagasaki' and 'Boogie Woogie Stomp'. 'Early Mornin' Blues' and 'Mile-Or-Mo' Bird Rag' ensued the next day. He played Carnegie Hall on December 23, 1938, at the 'From Spirituals to Swing' event that was a history of black music and helped launch the boogie woogie craze that saw its height in the early forties. Titles at that concert were 'Cavalcade of Boogie', 'Jumpin' Blues', 'Pinetop's Boogie Woogie' and 'Boogie Woogie Stomp'.

'Boogie Woogie Stomp' Albert Ammons (piano) w his Rhythm Kings

13 Jan 1936 in Chicago Matrix 90568-A Decca 749

Trumpet: Guy Kelly Clarinet / alto sax: Delbert Bright

Guitar: Ike Perkins Bass: Israel Crosby Drums: Jimmy Hoskins

Composition: Albert Ammons

'Mile-Or-Mo Bird Rag' Albert Ammons (piano) w his Rhythm Kings

14 Jan 1936 in Chicago 1 of 2 takes issued on either Decca 975 or Brunswick Brunswick OE-9325

Trumpet: Guy Kelly Clarinet / alto sax: Delbert Bright

Guitar: Ike Perkins Bass: Israel Crosby Drums: Jimmy Hoskins

Composition: Albert Ammons

'Backwater Blues' Albert Ammons (piano)

8 Jan 1939 in NYC Mosaic MR3-103

Composition: Bessie Smith

'Barrel House Boogie' Albert Ammons (piano) w Pete Johnson (piano)

7 May 1941 in NYC Matrix 063863-1 Victor 27504

Drums: Jimmy Hoskins

Composition: Pete Johnson / Albert Ammons

'Cuttin' the Boogie' Albert Ammons (piano) w Pete Johnson (piano)

7 May 1941 in NYC Matrix 063864-1 Victor 27504

Drums: Jimmy Hoskins

Composition: Pete Johnson / Albert Ammons

'The Boogie Rocks' Albert Ammons (piano)

11 Feb 1944 in NYC 1 of 2 takes issued on either Mosaic MR23-128 or Commodore 617

Composition: Albert Ammons

'Reveille boogie' Albert Ammons (piano)

11 Feb 1944 in NYC Matrix A-4717-2 Commodore XFL15357

Composition: Albert Ammons See 'Reveille'

Ammons placed his arrangement of Stephen Foster's composition, 'Swanee River Boogie', at the number five tier on Billboard's R&B chart in February of 1947. During the latter forties he played at Chicago lounges including the Beehive Club and the Tailspin Club. He performed for President Truman's inauguration on 20 January 1949 (the first to be documented on television). Having recorded alongside Lionel Hampton with Benny Goodman's orchestra back in 1939, he put away his final tracks with Hampton's orchestra on 27 and 28 January 1949, recording such as 'Chicken Shack Boogie', 'Benson Boogie', 'Hamp's Boogie No.2' and, finally, 'Wee Albert'. Ammons is strongly featured on his recordings with Hampton excepting 'Wee Albert' on which he only ever so faintly contributes in a supporting role with his microphone removed.