Tom Delaney (songwriter)
| Tom Delaney | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Thomas Henry Delaney |
| Born |
September 14, 1889 Charleston, South Carolina, United States |
| Died |
December 16, 1963 (aged 74) Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Genres | Blues, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, pianist, singer |
| Years active | 1920s-1930s |
Tom Delaney (September 14, 1889 – December 16, 1963) was an African-American blues and jazz songwriter, pianist and singer, who wrote a number of popular songs, mainly in the 1920s.[1] His work was recorded by many of the more fashionable singers and musicians of the period and later times, including Lillyn Brown, Lucille Hegamin, Ethel Waters, Earl Hines, Count Basie, Bix Beiderbecke, Big Joe Williams, Clara Smith, Alberta Hunter, Clarence Williams, James P. Johnson, Woody Herman, Bukka White, Toots Thielemans, and Dinah Washington.[2]
Although known primarily as a writer of other performers songs, Delaney recorded a small amount of his own material.[3]
Biography
Thomas Henry Delaney was born in Charleston, South Carolina, United States.[3] He spent his childhood in various orphanages.[4] These included the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, where Delaney got his first experience of music and formed the Springfield Minstrels, later touring the East Coast in a song and dance duo billed as Mitchell and Delaney.[5]
One of Delaney's earliest compositions, "Jazz Me Blues", was published in 1921, and became one of his more durable works. Lucille Hegamin recorded it that year and it went on to become a jazz standard.[3] In the same year, "The Down Home Blues", when recorded by Ethel Waters with Delaney on accompanying piano, became her first hit.[3] It reached number 5 on the U.S. chart.[6] Delaney also became Waters manager.[5]
His 1923 composition, "Sinful Blues", was one of several of Delaney's that became under the influence of the then record producer and publicist, Joe Davis. Consequently, many subsequent recordings list Perry Bradford as the songwriter, although Delaney did remain the accredited composer for Maggie Jones' "If I Lose, Let Me Lose (Mamma Don't Mind)", and Clara Smith's "Troublesome Blues" (1927).[1] Whereas, Helen Gross' 1924 rendition of Delaney's "I Wanna Jazz Some More", became more notable for his rhyming line of "Miss Susan Green from New Orleans."[7] For some reason, a number of Delaney's songs were not published at all, such as "Goopher Dust Blues" (with the deliberate or otherwise error in spelling), and "Grievin' Mama." His "All the Girls Like Big Dick" was too risque a title for release in the 1920s, despite a loosening of morals in that period, but was published by Davis in the 1950s.[1]
In 1929, Delaney composed "Down on Pennsylvania Avenue", using in the lyrics his own bad luck lines; "Now if you want good lovin' and want it cheap, just drop around about the middle of the week, when the broad is broke and can't pay rent, get good lovin' boys, for 15 cents." It was one of only four songs recorded by Bertha Idaho.[4] There is some confusion as to whether Delaney, or Clarence Williams, supplied the piano accompaniment to Idaho's recordings.[5]
Delaney's own recorded work amounted to a couple of singles, both recorded in New York. and released on Columbia Records in 1922. These were :-
- "Bow Legged Mama" / "Parson Jones (You Ain't Livin' Right)"
- "I'm Leavin' Just to Ease My Worried Mind" / "Georgia Stockade Blues"[3][8]
Delaney's version of his own song, "Georgia Stockade Blues", appeared on the 1999 compilation album, Broke, Black And Blue : An Anthology Of Blues Classics And Rarities.[9]
Death
Delaney died in December 1963, in Baltimore, Maryland, from atherosclerosis at the age of 74.[10]
Selected songs
| Date | Song title | Songwriter | Recorded by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | "Jazz Me Blues" | Tom Delaney | Lillyn Brown, Lucille Hegamin, Art Pepper, Bert Lown, Earl Hines, Woody Herman, Claude Bolling, Charlie Shavers, Count Basie, Toots Thielemans, Bix Biederbecke, Rex Stewart, Roy Eldridge, Pete Fountain, Boris Vian |
| 1921 | "The Down Home Blues" | Tom Delaney | Ethel Waters, James P. Johnson, Eubie Blake |
| 1923 | "Log Cabin Blues" | Tom Delaney | Trixie Smith, Blind Boy Fuller, Clarence Williams |
| 1923 | "Sinful Blues" | Tom Delaney (often credited to Perry Bradford) | Bessie Smith |
| 1924 | "I Wanna Jazz Some More" | Tom Delaney | Helen Gross |
| 1924 | "Alabama Blues" | Tom Delaney / Bukka White | Bukka White |
| 1924 | "Absent Minded Blues" | Tom Delaney | Margaret Johnson |
| 1924 | "Southbound Blues" | Tom Delaney / Ma Rainey | Ma Rainey |
| 1925 | "Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Mornin'" | Pearl Delaney / Tom Delaney | Clara Smith, Margaret Johnson, David Bromberg, Sidney Bechet, Aretha Franklin, Big Joe Williams, Dinah Washington, Alberta Hunter |
| 1925 | "Follow the Deal on Down" | Tom Delaney | Bessie Smith |
| 1925 | "If I Lose, Let Me Lose (Mamma Don't Mind)" | Tom Delaney | Maggie Jones |
| 1925 | "You May Go but You'll Come Back Some Day" | Tom Delaney | Maggie Jones |
| 1925 | "I'm A Back Bitin' Mama" | Tom Delaney | Maggie Jones |
| 1925 | "Never Drive a Beggar from Your Door" | Tom Delaney | Maggie Jones |
| 1927 | "Police Blues" | Tom Delaney | Martha Copeland |
| 1927 | "Troublesome Blues" | Tom Delaney | Clara Smith |
| 1928 | "Graveyard Love" | Tom Delaney | Bertha Idaho |
| 1928 | "Walk That Broad" | Tom Delaney / Warren Frisino | Clarence Williams |
| 1928 | "Somethin' Goin' On Wrong" | Tom Delaney / James P. Johnson | Martha Copeland |
| 1928 | "Slow and Steady" | Tom Delaney / King Oliver | King Oliver |
| 1929 | "Move It on Out of Here" | Tom Delaney | Bertha Idaho |
| 1929 | "Down on Pennsylvania Avenue" | Tom Delaney | Bertha Idaho |
| 1934 | "Jazz It Blues" | Tom Delaney | Clarence Williams, Bob Crosby, Joe Venuti, Les Paul |
| N/K | "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven (But Nobody Wants To Die)" | Al Fields / Tom Delaney / Timmie Rogers | Ellen McIlwaine |
[1][2][3][4][8][11][12][13][14]
References
- 1 2 3 4 Eugene Chadbourne. "Tom Delaney : Artist Biography". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
- 1 2 "Tom Delaney Credits". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Edward Komara, ed. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Blues (Second ed.). Taylor & Francis Group. p. 262. ISBN 0-415-92700-5.
- 1 2 3 Eugene Chadbourne. "Bertha Idaho : Artist Biography". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
- 1 2 3 Bruce Bastin (1995). Red River Blues : The Blues Tradition in the Southeast (First ed.). Illini Books. p. 47. ISBN 0-252-06521-2.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Pop Memories: 1890-1954. Record Research. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
- ↑ Scott Yanow. "Various Artists / Female Blues Singers, Vol. 7: G/H (1922-1929)". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
- 1 2 Henry König (2014-08-29). "Labelliste von 'Columbia (USA)'. (1923-1933)". Musiktiteldb.de. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
- ↑ "Rube Lacey". WIrz.de. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
- ↑ Doc Rock. "The Dead Rock Stars Club : 1960s". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
- ↑ "Bertha Idaho Songs". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
- ↑ Mike Schwimmer. "Trust Me Liner Notes". Scribd.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
- ↑ "List of Compositions and Recordings" (Pdf). Rainerjazz.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
- ↑ "Clarence Williams (Great Original Performances 1927 To 1934)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.