Biography
Born on October 14, 1889, in New Orleans, jazz pianist and composer Spencer Williams attended the local St. Charles University prior to settling in Chicago during 1907. By 1917 he had reached New York City, where he joined Fats Waller in writing several pieces that included the 1918 song “Squeeze Me.” The jazz standards he produced afterward comprise an extensive catalog that features “Basin Street Blues,” “I Ain’t Got Nobody,” “Tishomingo Blues,” “Everybody Loves My Baby,” “Mahogany Hall Stomp,” “Royal Garden Blues,” “I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly Roll,” “Fireworks,” and “Shim-Me-Sha-Wobble.” Williams sailed to Paris in 1925 to supply material for Josephine Baker and La Revue Negre; three years afterward he rejoined the U.S. and contributed vocals and piano to recordings with Lonnie Johnson and Teddy Bunn. He established residence in England in 1936 and joined Benny Carter on “When Lights Are Low.” Following an extended stay in Sweden through most of the 1950s, Williams came back to the United States in 1957 and died in New York on July 14, 1965.
Albums
Singles
