Sammy Price

Sammy Price

Source: Andrei Partos

Born in Honey Grove, Texas, on 6 October 1908, blues, jazz and boogie woogie pianist, Sammy Price, began his career in the Dallas vicinity, gradually making his way to Kansas City, Chicago and Detroit. Brian Rust shows titles per Vocalion 1461 in Dallas with vocalist, Effie Scott, on September 29, 1929: 'Lonesome Hut Blues' and 'Sunshine Special'. Price also put down his first title as a leader in Dallas on October 29, 1929, with His Four Quarters: 'Blue Rhythm Stomp' on Brunswick 7136 [Lord]. That was followed in November by a session with Bert Johnson for 'Nasty But Nice' also on Brunswick 7136. Unfortunately none of these have survived YouTube or myself. Since I don't permanently archive that to which these histories point, I've spent years watching countless early recordings disappear from YouTube and, perhaps, the face of the earth. Price is but one more artist subject to link decay. Since I don't download titles upon finding them, they vanish, perhaps forever, including tunes from 1929 by Price. Two, however, remain (at the time of this writing):

'The Right String but the Wrong Yo Yo'   Price w Douglas Finnell & His Royal Stompers  1929

Recorded 26 Oct 1929   Matrix DAL466   Issued on Brunswick 7123 A

Composition: Douglass Finnell

'Sweet Sweet Mama'   Price w Douglas Finnell & His Royal Stompers  1929

Recorded 26 Oct 1929   Matrix DAL467   Issued on Brunswick 7123 B

Composition: Douglass Finnell

Price drops out of Lord's jazz discography at that point, not showing up again until Price's move to New York City where he would hire on as a studio musician with Decca for fifteen years, to appear on about 300 titles. Lord's disco shows first tracks for Decca on February 19, 1936, for vocalist, Monette Moore: 'Rhythm for Sale' and 'Two Old Maids in a Folding Bed'. Another early partner in the thirties was Trixie Smith on May 26, 1938, for such as 'Freight Train Blues' and 'Trixie's Blues':

'Rhythm for Sale'   Price backing Monette Moore  1936

Recorded 19 Feb 1936   Matrix 60520-B   Issued on Decca 7161 A

Composition: Monette Moore

'Two Old Maids in a Folding Bed'   Price backing Monette Moore  1936

Recorded 19 Feb 1936   Matrix 60521-A   Issued on Decca 7161 A

Composition: Monette Moore

'Freight Train Blues'   Price backing Trixie Smith  1938

Recorded 26 May 1938   Matrix 63866   Issued on Decca 7489

Composition: Everett Murphy / Thomas Dorsey

'Jack I'm Mellow'   Price backing Trixie Smith  1938

Recorded 26 May 1938   Matrix 63871   Issued on Decca 7528

Composition: Trixie Smith

Among the more significant figures to share Price's career arrived in the person of trumpeter, Henry Red Allen, to support vocalist, Blue Lu Barker, on August 11, 1938, on titles like 'New Orleans Blues' and 'He Caught That B & O'. Sessions would follow with Barker into 1939. Twenty years later Price would join Allen's group at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1959 for such as 'Ballin' the Jack' and 'Yellow Dog Blues'. Price would side for Allen numerously into 1962, later in August of 1965 at the Blue Spruce Inn in Roslyn, Long Island, for 'Feelin' Good'.

'Don't You Make Me High'   Price backing Blue Lu Barker w Danny Barker's Fly Cats  1938

Recorded 11 Aug 1938   Issued on Decca 7506

Composition: Danny Barker

The Fly Cats: Guitar: Danny Barker   Piano: Sammy Price   Trumpet: Henry Red Allen

Clarinet: Buster Bailey   Bass: Wellman Braud   Drums: Paul Barbarin

Price formed his group, the Texas Blusicians (variously spelled Bluesicians), in 1940 for 'Jumpin' the Boogie'' and 'Swing Out in the Groove'. Price would operate that band for decades to come.

'The Goon Drag'   Sammy Price & His Texas Blusicians   1941

Recorded 3 April 1941 in NYC   Composition: Sammy Price

The Texas Blusicians: Trumpet: Shad Collins / Bill Johnson   Alto sax: Don Stovall

  Tenor sax: Lester Young   String bass: Duke Jones   Drums: Harold West

'Do You Dig My Jive'   Sammy Price & His Texas Blusicians   1941

Recorded 11 June 1941   Composition: Sammy Price

The Texas Blusicians: Trumpet: Chester Boone   Trombone: Floyd Brady   Alto Sax: Don Stovall

  Tenor Sax: Skippy Williams   String bass: Ernest Hill   Drums: Herb Cowens

Highlighting the forties was Sister Rosetta Tharpe in late 1944 for 'Strange Things Happening Every Day':

'Strange Things Happening Every Day'   Price backing Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Issued on Decca 8669   1944

Composition: Bernie Hanighen

Another amidst the galaxy of musicians whom Price supported during the forties was Mezz Mezzrow, his first such occasion on July 30, 1945 for titles like 'House Party' and 'Perdido Street Stomp'. A couple more sessions were held the next day, a few more in 1947:

'Tommy's Blues'   Sammy Price w Mezz Mezzrow (clarinet)

Recorded 18 Dec 1947 in Chicago

Also in this band:

Sidney Bechet (soprano sax)   George "Pops" Foster (string bass)   Kaiser Marshall (drums)

Price continued with his Blusicians into the fifties:

'Louisiana Lament'   Sammy Price & His Texas Blusicians   POP 60020   1955

Composition: Sammy Price

The Texas Blusicians: Trumpet: Emmett Berry   Trombone: George Stevenson

  Clarinet: Herbie Hall   String bass: Pops Foster   Drums: Freddie Moore

Among highlights in the fifties were sessions in Belgium and Cannes in 1958 with trumpeter, Teddy Buckner, and soprano saxophonist, Sidney Bechet. Other members of the band on the album, 'Festival de Jazz', were Vic Dickenson at trombone, Arvell Shaw on string bass and drums split between Roy Eldridge and J.C. Heard. Titles on that album don't necessarily correspond to filmed live performances below:

'Festival de Jazz: Knokke & Cannes 1958'   Price w Buckner & Bechet

Recorded  7 July in Knokke & 10 July in Cannes [Discogs]

'Sunny Side of the Street'   Price w Buckner & Bechet

Filmed 7 July in Knokke

Composition: Jimmy McHugh

'Rosetta'   Price w Buckner & Bechet

Filmed 10 July in Cannes

Composition: Earl Hines / Henri Woode

'Once in a While'   Price w Buckner & Bechet

Filmed 10 July in Cannes

Composition: Bud Green / Michael Edwards

'Sweet Georgia Brown'   Price w Buckner & Bechet

Filmed 10 July in Cannes

Composition: Ben Bernie / Kenneth Casey / Maceo Pinkard

Price was also filmed in the fifties performing with his Septet consisting of trumpet by Doc Cheatham, alto sax by Eddie Barefield, trombones by Elmer Crumley and J.C. Higgimbotham, string bass by Jimmy Lewis and J.C. Heard on drums: