J. Mayo Williams

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J. Mayo Williams
Williams in 1920
Born:(1894-09-25)September 25, 1894
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Died:January 2, 1980(1980-01-02) (aged 85)
Chicago, Illinois
Career information
Position(s)End
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight174 lb (79 kg)
CollegeBrown
Career history
As player
1921Canton Bulldogs
1921–1923Hammond Pros
1924Dayton Triangles
1924Hammond Pros
1925Cleveland Bulldogs
1925–1926Hammond Pros
Career highlights and awards
Military career
Allegiance
United States
Service/branchUnited States Army seal U.S. Army
Years of service1917–1919
Battles/warsWorld War I

Jay Mayo "Ink" Williams (September 25, 1894 – January 2, 1980) was a pioneering African-American producer of recorded blues music. Some historians have claimed that Ink Williams earned his nickname by his ability to get the signatures of talented African-American musicians on recording contracts,[1] but in fact it was a racial sobriquet from his football days, when he was a rare Black player on white college and professional teams.[2] He was the most successful "race records" producer of his time, breaking all previous records for sales in this genre.

Biography

Williams was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the son of Millie and Daniel Williams.[a] When he was seven years old, his father was murdered, and the family returned to his mother's hometown of Monmouth, Illinois, where he grew up.

Williams attended

First World War.[b] During the 1920s, he played professional football and was one of three black athletes (along with Paul Robeson) to play in the fledgling National Football League during its first year. His playing career lasted until 1926. During that span he played for the Canton Bulldogs, the Dayton Triangles, the Hammond Pros and the Cleveland Bulldogs
.

After graduating in 1921, he moved to

Freddy Keppard.[4] He also managed a crew of songwriters, including Tiny Parham, Thomas A. Dorsey, and Alexander Robinson.[5]

A Black Patti label

In 1927, Williams was recruited to operate

Stagger Lee", and of which only one copy is now known to exist. Black Patti soon failed, and Williams moved to Brunswick Records and its subsidiary label Vocalion, where he recorded Clarence "Pine Top" Smith and Leroy Carr, among others.[4] However, after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, record sales plummeted, and Williams found new work as a football coach at Morehouse College in Atlanta
.

In 1934, Williams was hired as head of the "race records" department at

The Harlem Hamfats
.

Williams was accused by some black musicians of a "dicty" attitude[7] – that is, acting as though he was a member of the white middle class. His efforts to refine the articulation of rural blues artists and polish their images were often met with hostility and misunderstanding. In addition to producing, he also managed some of the many artists he recorded, even sharing ownership of some songs as a co-writer. Songs on which he is credited as co-writer include "Corrine, Corrina", Nellie Lutcher's "Fine Brown Frame", Louis Jordan's "Mop Mop", "Keep A Knocking" Bert Mays and Stick McGhee's "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" among others.

Williams set up the Chicago Music Publishing Company (CMPC) as publisher for all the titles he recorded. The CMPC collected all royalties generated by the materials it held copyrights on, and was responsible for passing on some of the profits to the composer or performer. However, many successful artists that Williams recorded, including Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson, probably never received any royalties. Race record entrepreneurs knew that rural blues musicians were unfamiliar with copyright laws, and they further played upon the musicians' vulnerability by providing free liquor at recording sessions, hoping they would get drunk and sign their rights away.[1]

Williams' grave at Burr Oak Cemetery

After leaving Decca in 1945, Williams worked freelance and ran several small, independent labels.

Lil Armstrong, Bonnie Lee, Oscar Brown and Hammie Nixon.[8]

As plans were being initiated to conduct interviews with Williams to gather his life story in 1980, he died in a Chicago nursing home. He was buried at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

Legacy

Williams was a member of the National Football Hall of Fame Association. In 2004, he was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.[9]

Notes

  1. ^ Most sources state that he was born in Monmouth, Illinois. This is incorrect; see talk page.
  2. ^ See talk page.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-87722-583-4
    .
  2. ^ Whitman, Burt (October 19, 1919) "22,000 See Brown Hold Harvard to a 7 to 0 Victory", Boston Herald. p. 17.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-888451-68-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-85112-673-1
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-8265-2175-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link
    )
  6. ISBN 978-0-253-00747-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link
    )
  7. ISBN 0-571-12939-0
    .
  8. ^ Clemson.edu Archived June 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "2004 Blues Hall of Fame Inductees". Blues Foundation. Retrieved January 7, 2023.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=J._Mayo_Williams&oldid=1210470766"