Clara Smith Vol. 4 (1926-1927)

Volume 4 of Clara Smith's complete works as reissued by Document in the 1990s opens with "Look Where the Sun Done Gone," "Rock, Church, Rock," and a cover of Ma Rainey's "Jelly Bean Blues." These sides were cut on May Day 1926 with backing by her Novelty Band — trombonist Tom Edwards, clarinetist Clarence Adams, pianist Stanley Miller, and banjoist Herman Gibson. She is accompanied by pianist Lemuel Fowler on the jazzy "How'm I Doin'? (Hey, Hey!)" and "Whip It to a Jelly." Other pianists heard on this volume are Fletcher Henderson, Clarence Parson, Porter Grainger, and Stanley Miller. On "You Don't Know Who's Shakin' Your Tree" and the "Race Track Blues," she is accompanied by her Jazz Babies, a quartet that included cornetist Joe Smith, who was a regular participant in sessions headed by Fletcher Henderson and Bessie Smith. Reedmen Ernest Elliott and Bob Fuller crop up on tracks 14 and 17 through 20; and the holy rolling singers who sound off during "Livin' Humble" and "Get on Board" were billed as Sisters White & Wallace and have since been identified as Ethel Grainger and Odette Jackson. This segment of the Clara Smith story ends with "That's Why the Undertakers Are Busy Today" and the "Black Woman's Blues," recorded on the first of June 1927. On June 28 of that year in St. Paul, MN, a different woman named Clara Smith recorded four titles for Mayo Williams' short-lived Black Patti label. These rare sides appear at the end of Document's sixth and final volume of the primary Clara Smith's complete works.