I’ve been pulling my vinyl Delmark Records releases out consistently over the past couple of weeks.  Aside from the well-know artists and titles who have recorded and or been captured upon the legendary label originated by the equally renowned Bob Koester (he of my one-time blues mecca, Chicago’s Jazz Record Mart), there are jewels aplenty in the Delmark Records catalog that are simply not known to many blues fans.  The great release by Barrelhouse Buck McFarland, Alton Blues, is one such astounding collection (see review below).  While making my way through my Delmark Records LPs, I stumbled across a collection by Clarence “Jelly” Johnson entitled Low Down Papa, and once it was placed on my turntable and played, I realized Johnson’s brilliance all over again.  I’ve never profiled Johnson before, and now that his work is top-of-mind, it’s time to do so.

I’m going to start out with a couple of huge disclaimers.  First, very little is known about Clarence “Jelly” Johnson’s early formative years.  If you are a frequent reader of this column, you know that with so many of the earliest blues artists, especially those who worked on the periphery of the music and did not achieve “legendary” status, oftentimes scant information is readily available about them.  And, while Johnson’s work in the blues field is astounding, he was not strictly confined to the genre, as his leanings into jazz were many.  But overall, the blues melancholy was fundamentally apparent in Johnson’s work.

What is known is that Johnson was born in Kentucky in 1901.  While Johnson’s migration to the piano and the impetuses for it remain shrouded in mystery, what is know is that Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917, serving time with the Illinois 8^th Regiment until his discharge in 1919.

Now, some historical context is needed to establish what was musically transpiring, especially in the major Midwestern city of Chicago, Illinois.  At this period of Chicago musical history, and that of the vast metropolis in general, the great north-south State Street was affectionately coined with the moniker “The Stroll,” as it was a magnet, a drawing card, a veritable beacon for Black songwriters, performers, and shopkeepers looking to sell their musical offerings and wares to prospective producers and retail customers; there was a mighty lure across the expanse of the many jam-packed blocks on State Street for Black individuals.

Entrepreneurs abounded on State Street.  One of the businessmen who set-up shop on State Street was a man named Clarence Williams, operating his store, The Home Of Jazz, in the 3100 block south on the fabled thoroughfare, a central location of the avenue’s energies.  But, Williams wasn’t the only person operating a retail music operation geared toward Blacks in the big city.  One Lloyd Smith has likewise established his Garden Music Co. in the 400 block east on the city’s south side 43^rd Street area.  In late 1922, Smith eventually decided that the even bigger city of New York and its lure was his calling, and when he made the decision to head far eastward, Williams bought his State Street operation, changing the name of it to The Original Home Of Jazz in the process. 

But, Williams needed partners to consummate the deal.  As such, Williams brought a couple of associates into his new operation, one by the name of Warren Smith (his brother), and one by the name of Clarence Johnson.  The store immediately had cache as the place for the jazz and blues guys of great reputations to hang-out, including blues and gospel giant Georgia Tom Dorsey, jazz luminaries Joe Oliver (cornet player and bandleader) and Jelly Roll Morton (rag time and jazz piano player and bandleader), and boogie woogie and jazz artists such as the incomparable Jimmy Blythe (piano), among so many others.  The operation was seen as a musical oasis of the highest distinction.

So, we know that Clarence Johnson had an interest in music through his alliance with The Original Home Of Jazz.  And by this time, his piano skill set, however it was incubated and distilled, was formidable.  It is also known that Clarence Johnson began laying down music for piano rolls right around 1919 after his discharge from the U.S. Army.  For those not aware of exactly what a piano roll is, it is a music storage means that is utilized to operate on a player piano.  The way piano rolls work is that they are uninterrupted paper rolls with small holes pressed into them.  These holes are in fact, then, note regulator information, if you will.  When the holes pass above a sensing tool that is called a tracker bar, the call to play a specific musical note on a player piano is activated.  These rolls were very popular for home use and also commercial purposes where music was desired (i.e. bars, restaurants, etc.).  Initially, Johnson’s piano roll work was geared toward home us.

Clarence Johnson’s first piano rolls were fabricated for Chicago’s U.S Music Co., and by the time he was recording these piano rolls, he was also in high demand for club work for both his blues and jazz playing proficiencies.  But, regarding Clarence Johnson’s work as a provider of piano rolls, he was favored as such because his manner of playing was not only considered highly expert, but he was known to be exceptionally economical an artist, meaning that he flawlessly provided mistake-free song interpretations, leading to very little in the way of necessary re-takes or correcting of his work.  This obviously save the piano roll manufacturers money.  By the way, Johnson also made piano rolls under the alias of “Chet Gordon.”  It is unclear why he did this on certain tunes.  No doubt in some way this decision tied back to a monetary benefit for either him, the piano roll producer, or perhaps both.

All said and done, Clarence Johnson’s production for the U.S. Music Co. was high.  However, he switched over to producing piano rolls to Columbia Music Roll Co.  Johnson’s move proved to be very strategic as the Columbia Music Roll Co. could provide even greater exposure for Johnson’s valued work.  How?  At the time of Johnson’s move to the Columbia Music Roll Co., it was committed to be the source for piano rolls for the mighty Sears Roebuck retail stores and catalog, a retail colossus.  Plus, the Columbia Music Roll Co. was making the more sizeable piano rolls that were required to be used in the machines in restaurants and bars or anywhere folks were willing to pay money to hear a quality song.  It always links back to money somehow, doesn’t it?  Think of these piano roll machines as the early precursors to the coin operated juke boxes that eventually became all the rage.

In 1923, Clarence Johnson made a move from Chicago eastward to New York City.  But, this relocation was only temporary, as his motivation was to produce music rolls for yet another producer, the ORS Co., it too, like Columbia Music Roll Co., a significant player in the piano roll business.  While there, Johnson made five piano rolls.  It seems that in the piano roll business, Johnson had found a profitable niche for his well-developed blues and jazz piano knowhows.

Also by this time, Clarence Johnson’s esteemed blues and jazz piano capabilities were finding him in great demand as an accompanist to various singers who were recording 78rpms including Alberta Hunter and Eubie Blake, the Majestic Dance Orchestra, Mamie Smith, Lizzie Miles, Edna Hicks, Sara Martin, Ollie Powers, Clarence Williams’ Blue Five, Clarence Williams’ Jug Band, Rosa Henderson, and Chicago blues singers Edna Taylor and Sodarisa Miller, among so many others for labels including Paramount, OKeh, Columbia, Victor, Gennett, and Brunswick, amongst various others throughout the ten-year period of 1922-1931.  Such was Johnson’s precision and spot-on piano playing.  As an aside, a few releases saw the light of day after Johnson’s death for labels including Decca.

By the late 1920s, Clarence Johnson had made Detroit, Michigan his home.  As shown above, he was accompanying other recording artists during this period, and in Detroit he continued showcasing his work in various venues.  However, by 1933 Clarence Johnson was suffering with the hideous tuberculosis disease, with him succumbing to the infirmity in early August.

Clarence “Jelly” Johnson’s playing was, unlike other of era, not exceedingly accented.  No, Johnson’s playing was more stylish, refined, if you will.  And, his skill at backing blues vocalists and blues-tinted songs was astounding. 

As I previously inferred, Delmark Records earned a mound of praise for offering the Low Down Papa collection.  The Low Down Papa collection is one that contains extraordinary piano roll efforts laid down by Johnson that any blues lover will greatly appreciate.  The piano solos within these tunes are smoldering, and the sound on the Delmark Records release is of high quality.  Here we find Johnson in his bluest veins with a rare classiness, by a piano professional whose grand skill set speaks to his capacity to have drawn large club audiences, all infused with a crafty, convincing waggishness.  Across this sterling collection, Johnson addresses the good and adverse in life, doing so while all the while keeping an even, ever-optimistic view on life itself.  That is the mark of a great bluesman; keeping one’s head high.

And, within the Low Down Papa body of work, the astute listener will detect the coming boogie woogie craze, with Johnson here pre-dating it by a good ten-year stretch.  Such was his vision.

The power and importance of Johnson’s work cannot be stressed enough.  Below are the tracks for his great Low Down Papa Demark Records release.  Check it out and you too will be a Clarence “Jelly” Johnson convert.  It is an unparalleled blues document. 

Clarence “Jelly” Johnson – Low Down Papa – Delmark Records DE 813 – Released in 2011

• Moanin’ The Blues
• It’s All Over Now
• Have Mercy
• Dyin’ With The Blues
• Graveyard Bound
• Corn Trimmers
• That’s Your Yass, Yass, Yass
• The Bye Bye Blues
• Five O’Clock Stomp
• Houston Blues
• Gotta Be Booked Blues
• I Wish You Would
• I’m Going To Wear You Off My Mind
• Gulf Coast Blues
• You’re Always Messin’ Around With My Man
• Low Down Papa
• Jelly’s Blues
• He May Be Your Man
• Joe Oliver Blues
• You Shall Reap What You Sow