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Clarence “Jelly” Johnson Player Piano Rolls Part 1 – Jazz and Blues

Although Clarence Johnson left us no piano solo disc recordings, no band recordings, and only about two dozen vocal accompaniment sides, he still remains one of the most influential artists in the history of Chicago South Side Piano.  Unlike Blythe, who was prolific in all forms of recordings, Johnson’s personal playing style is documented wholly on the vocal accompaniments and player piano rolls.  Fortunately, he made many piano roll recordings for us to study and enjoy today.

One of Johnson’s earliest performances, dating from 1919.  Even by this early date, his individual blues playing style was already well developed.

Very little is known about Clarence Johnson, and this has been published elsewhere.  What I will add are my personal recollections from Mike Montgomery, via numerous conversations and after having examined his copious notes regarding Clarence.  Johnson was Mike’s favorite pianist.

Mike had similar files on many of the Chicago pianists.  I have been unable to trace what became of Mike’s notes regarding the Black artists, and assume these were privately sold after his death. I have located several folders regarding other artists who recorded for Capitol, but the current whereabouts of his notes on the blues/jazz greats remains a mystery to me.

In the late 1960s or early 70s, Mike was able to locate Clarence Johnson’s aunt, who had essentially raising him as a boy.  The logistical challenge that Mike faced in doing this is incredible.  One can well imagine the difficulties of a White researcher trying to find relatives of a long-deceased Black pianist by the name of Johnson in the deep, highly segregated South at that time.  I am certain that John and Alan Lomax could have related many interesting tales of these adventures. But they had the resources of the Library of Congress behind them.  Mike didn’t.

Johnson’s most successful composition, written in collaboration with his friends Lloyd and Warren Smith. One of three performances by the composer, for three different roll companies. Johnson’s interlude in this particular performance is very similar to “Old Fashioned Love” by James P. Johnson, although James P.’ song was published about 2 years after this roll was issued!

This version also features an original interlude and coda section, improvised by Johnson, but completely different from the Staffnote roll.

The QRS version displays yet another completely different Johnson interpretation.  The interlude section is likewise original, and contains licks later used by Blythe in such performances as “Pomeranian Blues.”  This, as numerous other Johnson rolls which pre-date Blythe’s recording activities, are a testament to the great influence that the enormously talented Johnson had on Blythe.

Mike successfully located Clarence Johnson’s aunt, and was very kindly greeted by her.  She related that Clarence was a child prodigy at the piano, never having had formal lessons to her knowledge, and that she remembered his playing well.  Mike had a cassette tape recorder with him at the time, and played for her a number of Johnson’s rolls, after which she exclaimed “yes, that’s Clarence’s playing.”

This rather early (ca. 1920-1) performance displays Johnson’s ragtime influence, but more importantly the influence of James P. Johnson and the Harlem Stride Style. Played at a nominal tempo the piece is a blues-tinged novelty rag of sorts. Played fast (as likely done by the composer) it is a cutting-contest number.  “Colored Fingers Rag” was never published in sheet music as such, although a few years after the roll was issued Clarence Williams published the main theme of the work as the trio section of “Darktown Capers,” crediting himself and Johnson as composers.

However, Mike would quickly relate that after playing nearly a dozen of these recordings, some of which also included Blythe (as well as other artists who do not necessarily sound like Johnson), Clarence’s aunt always responded affirmatively that it was indeed his playing.  It was obvious and quite understandable to Mike that so many years had passed that this truly sweet and kind Lady had only a faint memory of Clarence’s actual playing at the time.  But her deep love for her nephew, and how proud she had always been of his accomplishments, was most apparent.

At the time, Clarence Johnson’s aunt gave Mike a precious gift of original photographs of her nephew.  These are most likely the only of their kind extant, and were contained within Mike’s research folder.

Clarence Johnson had apparently served in the US Army in WWI. The finest of the Johnson photographs shows him in uniform, and I remember it very well.  Clarence was a rather light-skinned, tall and handsome man.  His fingers are probably the longest I have ever seen on any person.  Perhaps even more so than Eubie Blake, whom I knew as a friend (and Eubie could nearly strike a 12th on the piano keyboard).

After discharge from the Army, Clarence apparently found employment as one of the staff pianists for the US Music Roll Co. of Chicago.  His earliest rolls date from about 1919 (it is possible that Charlie Warfield’s “Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home” was Johnson’s first roll).  Even these earliest rolls show the hallmarks of a highly gifted and original blues player.

A collaborative work of Lloyd Smith and Thomas A. Dorsey, in tribute to the great King Oliver.  This is one of the rare occasions on which Johnson was credited as Clarence “Jelly” Johnson.

Without doubt, at that time Johnson met Clarence M. Jones, who had been recording for US, Imperial and Wurlitzer in Chicago for some years already.  Jones was both a highly innovative composer and pianist, and (as stated in the Blythe section) had grown up in the ragtime era and later adapted his style to blues playing.  I am most certain that Clarence M. Jones was a seminal influence on Johnson, and most likely he strongly encouraged the younger man to continue roll recording.

During the 1919-1922 period, Clarence Johnson and Clarence M. Jones both often used the pseudonym “Chester Gordon,” or “Chet Gordon” on their US Music titles. It is likely that this pseudonym was also used by other US artists such as Mae Brown (who was the US recording manager) and possibly Paul Pratt (the great ragtime composer, who recorded rolls for US under his own name and as “Paul Parnell.”)  In all truth, it is frequently another instance of “educated guesswork” to decide whether Johnson or Jones was the true artist.  On blues and jazz material this job is somewhat easier, for there are many stylistic hallmarks of each player that one can use as a basis.  For popular one-steps and fox-trots, frequently it’s extremely difficult to make any assumptions.  In the case of four-hand arrangements, well it’s virtually impossible.

One of Lemuel Fowler’s earliest compositions, this piece was recorded on only this piano roll and on Black Swan as a vocal with band accompaniment. Clarence Johnson’s blues performance is remarkable.

Clarence obviously was known by the nickname “Jelly,” although on both his vocal accompaniments and roll recordings this distinction is actually very rare. However, several of the very few rolls that Johnson is known to have recorded for the Billings Roll Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin do credit him as Clarence “Jelly” Johnson.  He is “Clarence Johnson” on all rolls recorded for Capitol or QRS.

Clarence Johnson was friends with Lloyd and Warren Smith, who had about 1921-22 established a very small and short-lived music publishing shop called “The Original Home of Jazz.”  Smith published Johnson’s own “Jelly’s Blues” in sheet music form with full design cover, and similarly their collaboration “I’m Goin’ Away Just To Wear You Off My Mind.”  Smith also published “My Good Man’s Blues,” which was subtitled “Mahalia’s Blues,” but the original sheet music at the Library of Congress lacks a design cover. As such, this might have remained a typeset “professional copy,” and may or may not have ever been commercially distributed in sheet music form.  The tune was recorded by Edna Taylor with Clarence on piano (Pm 12057) and both Smith and Johnson made roll recordings of the piece.

To describe Clarence Johnson’s playing, the term “eloquence” comes to mind.  He was extraordinarily accurate, and clearly worked out his ideas very fully prior to any recording sessions.  Johnson’s blues playing is simply beautiful in all respects.  Like his great friend Jimmy Blythe, Clarence passed at the young age of 30 years.  In his short lifetime, he produced a great musical legacy for us all to study, appreciate and enjoy.

Lemuel Fowler’s greatest hit, and actually quite a commercial success in terms of sheet music sales. The publisher, Ted Browne, promoted the work by apparently commissioning Clarence Johnson to record the piece for his special “Browne” label, which was probably only sold at his music shop in Chicago. The Billings Company of Milwaukee handled the recording, so this is actually a Staffnote roll.  Only one other ‘Browne” roll is known to exist, also from a Staffnote recording, in this case by Clarence M. Jones.

This tune was solely credited to Clarence Johnson as composer in both sheet music (published by Lloyd Smith’s “Original Home Of Jazz”) and piano rolls. The QRS version is played by the composer.  “Jelly’s Blues” was later re-titled “St. Louis Man,” and recorded by Blythe on sides with both the Dixie Four and the State Street Ramblers.

A blues song by Dave Ringle, the US recording by Clarence Johnson is arguably one of the most beautiful examples of his playing extant.  The tune was also issued in a Capitol A-roll version, and the performance, while dating ca. 5 years later than the date of this roll, is so similar as to confirm Johnson as the artist on the Capitol roll. (The Capitol roll is even more elaborate, showing Johnson’s development during the intervening years).

A personal tribute to Clarence Johnson.  Years ago I had a copy of the Victor 78rpm of Laura Smith singing “Lonesome Refugee (Blues)” accompanied by Clarence M. Jones.  There was something about the tune that appealed to me personally.  I liked Clarence Jones’ piano accompaniment, but felt at the time maybe more could be done with the tune.

So I started working up my own arrangement, but I wanted to play it in the style of Clarence Johnson and as a form of personal tribute to him.
For some reason (probably laziness) I never made a cassette tape recording of my playing it.  But I was so fascinated in piano rolls, and wondered what it might sound like on a roll.  My late friend John Farrell was doing all sorts of roll arranging, and he was an inspiration.

One of the most unique rolls in existence, this roll is played by Clarence Johnson in collaboration with Jimmy Blythe. However, it is not a 4-hand performance in any way.  In a manner unprecedented on rolls, this issue was inscribed “Verse Played By J. Blythe, Chorus Played By C. Johnson.”  While the roll label shows this to be a Johnson/Smith composition, other sources indicate that most likely Alexander Robinson was the actual composer.

This was 1980.  There were no PC’s or programs like Cakewalk or Finale.  So, making a piano roll was an incredible amount of work.  What I did was to mark a huge length of blank paper with horizontal guidelines for tempo, and then drew an 88-note scale so that I would know where to cut holes in the paper.  I cut holes for each note and chord in the paper with an X-acto knife.  This probably took me a couple of weeks of spare time, after work.

Mike Montgomery was the first one I ever played this roll for.  He enjoyed it a lot, and since I dearly loved Mike I gave it to him as a gift.  Now that’s 37 years ago.   As fates would have it, the roll came back to me in 2005 when I acquired his collection. So then I was able to optically scan it.  It is included here within the Clarence Johnson jazz/blues section.

Clarence Johnson’s Piano Rolls Part 1 – Jazz and Blues.