Editing Clarence Williams (musician) (section)

==Harlem Renaissance==
He was one of the primary pianists on scores of blues records recorded in New York during the 1920s. He supervised African American recordings (the 8000 [[race record|race]] series) for the New York offices of [[Okeh]] phonograph company in the 1920s in the [[Embassy Five Theatre|Gaiety Theatre office building]] in [[Times Square]].<ref name="broadway">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rqi3d1925IcC&dq=City+Investing+Five+Broadway+Theatres&pg=PA182|title=Broadway: An Encyclopedia|first=Ken|last=Bloom|year= 2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0203644355 |accessdate=16 April 2023|via=Google Books}}</ref> He recruited many of the artists who performed on the label. He also recorded extensively, leading studio bands frequently for OKeh, [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] and occasionally other record labels.<ref name=williams /><ref name=clarence />

He mostly used "Clarence Williams' Jazz Kings" for his hot band sides and "Clarence Williams' Washboard Five" for his [[washboard (musical instrument)|washboard]] sides. He also produced and participated in early recordings by [[Louis Armstrong]], [[Sidney Bechet]], [[Bessie Smith]], [[Virginia Liston]], [[Irene Scruggs]], his niece [[Katherine Henderson (singer)|Katherine Henderson]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.redhotjazz.com/khendersoncwo.html |title=Katherine Henderson accompanied by Clarence Williams and his Orchestra |publisher=Redhotjazz.com |access-date=2014-09-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051003/http://www.redhotjazz.com/khendersoncwo.html |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and others. Two of his 1924 recording bands, "The Red Onion Jazz Babies" and "Clarence Williams' Blue Five" featured cornetist Armstrong and soprano saxophonist Bechet, two of the most important early jazz soloists, in their only recordings together before the 1940s. Clarence Williams' Blue Five, a studio band only, formed after the success of King Oliver's recordings in order to explore the market for blues-oriented music.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York, NY|pages=155}}</ref> The rivalry between Armstrong and Bechet, who tried to outdo each other with successive solo breaks, is exemplified in "Cake Walkin' Babies from Home", the most celebrated of these performances, which survives in versions recorded by both bands.<ref>''Jelly Roll, Bix, and Hoagy: Gennett Records and the Rise of America's Musical Grassroots'' by Rick Kennedy, 2013, {{ISBN|978-0-253-00747-6}}, p. 87</ref> Although the narrative of a rivalry during these recordings is frequently discussed in scholarship, Armstrong and Bechet do have moments of friendly collaboration, such as the shared break in "Texas Moaner Blues."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York|pages=156}}</ref> [[King Oliver]] played cornet on a number of Williams's late 1920s recordings. He was the recording director for the short-lived [[QRS Records]] label in 1928.<ref name=williams /><ref name=clarence />

[[File:ICanBeatYouDoingXV.jpg|thumb|"I Can Beat You Doing What You're Doing Me"  by Clarence Williams and [[Armand J. Piron]], 1915 sheet music cover ]]
Most of his recordings were songs from his publishing house, which explains why he recorded tunes like "[[Baby Won't You Please Come Home]]", "Close Fit Blues" and "Papa De-Da-Da" numerous times.<ref>Lockhart, John M. "Words & Music", ''[http://www.riversidereader.com/ The Riverside Reader] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214003324/http://www.riversidereader.com/ |date=2012-12-14 }}'', February 4, 2008, p. 5</ref> Among his own compositions was "Shout, Sister, Shout" (1929), which was recorded by him, and also covered by [[the Boswell Sisters]], in 1931.<ref name=williams /><ref name=clarence />