Nobody but My Baby

78rpm Parlophone R 2531

It says “Louis Armstrong’s Original Washboard Beaters” on the label. So, what was going on here? Did they try to capitalize on Armstrong’s growing fame in Europe? Was it no mistake, just a way of selling more copies? Well, it might have been the only way to sell copies since “Clarence Williams Washboard Four,” who is in fact playing, was practically unknown over here at the time.

But that doesn’t take anything away from the music that is high class.

We hear Ed Allen, the St. Louis cornet player who was a great interpreter of the King Oliver style. As is often the case in William’s small band sessions, the identity of the clarinet player is less certain. Bennie Moten (the clarinetist, not the piano player in Kansas City) has been suggested, but since there is a publicity photo of the quartet with Prince Robinson, he may be the one responsible instead. In the rhythm section, Clarence had two aces at hand for his recording sessions, but it’s with a few exceptions one or the other, sometimes Cyrus St. Clair on tuba or, as in this case, Floyd Casey, who plays washboard. Since he has a strong left hand at the piano, William’s group is a well-functioning unit even without a bass.

The tune that is in a normal 32-bar format with a 16-bar verse was used also by “Fess Williams and his Orchestra.” Andy Razaf supplied the lyrics, and Clarence Williams, who made the music, recorded a couple of versions with singers and one with his wife Eva Taylor.