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Will Shade
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Will Shade (February 5, 1898 – September 18, 1966) was an African-American Memphis blues musician best known for his membership in the Memphis Jug Band. Shade was commonly called Son Brimmer, a nickname from his grandmother Annie Brimmer, because "son" is short for "grandson". The name apparently stuck when other members of the band noticed that the "sun" bothered him and he used the "brim" of a hat to "shade" his eyes.
Shade got his first taste of blues music in 1925 when he first heard recordings by the Dixieland Jug Blowers, a jug band out of Louisville, Kentucky.
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Encyclopedia
Will Shade (February 5, 1898 – September 18, 1966) was an African-American Memphis blues musician best known for his membership in the Memphis Jug Band. Shade was commonly called Son Brimmer, a nickname from his grandmother Annie Brimmer, because "son" is short for "grandson". The name apparently stuck when other members of the band noticed that the "sun" bothered him and he used the "brim" of a hat to "shade" his eyes.
Biography
Will Shade got his first taste of blues music in 1925 when he first heard recordings by the Dixieland Jug Blowers, a jug band out of Louisville, Kentucky. Shade was excited by what he heard and felt that bringing this style of music to his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee could be promising. He then convinced a few of the local musicians, though still reluctant, to join him in creating one of Memphis's first jug bands.
The original Memphis Jug Band, as it was called, consisted of three other members besides Shade: Lionhouse, whom Shade converted from a whiskey bottle blower to a jug blower; Tee Wee Blackman on guitar; and Ben Ramey as a vocalist. Shade himself played the guitar, the "bullfiddle" or washtub bass, and the harmonica, the instrument that critics say he played best. He composed many of the band's songs and also sang vocals. His pure country blues harmonica style served as the foundation for later renowned harmonicists like Big Walter Horton and both Sonny Boy Williamson I and II. His distinctive guitar style has also been identified as that of the uncredited accompanist who backed up the Sanctified Church gospel singer Bessie Johnson on record.
The Memphis Jug Band grew and shrank in membership over the seven years that it was active, recording under a number of names and in a variety of styles ranging from blues and rags to gospel. All the while, though, Will Shade was the backbone of the group, as he was the one responsible for finding new members to keep the jug band alive. The group's best material came mainly from him; intelligently, Shade tried, whenever possible, to copyright his music under his name. Besides being the head of the band's music, Shade was also in charge of the business affairs of the Memphis Jug Band, planning gigs and distributing money.
The band eventually broke up in the late 1930s due to the extent of violence occurring in Memphis. During this time, in fact, the jug band era in Memphis came to an end. In the 1940s, Will Shade continued his music career by putting together various jug bands in other places nearby. He usually did so with his long time friend Charlie Burse, whom Shade had picked up in 1928 as a vocalist and tenor guitarist for the Memphis Jug Band.
By the 1960s, classic folk music had been revived and much of Shade's music with the Memphis Jug Band became popular again. Shade recorded his last album in 1963 as an accompanist to another former jug band leader, the medicine show minstrel and blues musician Gus Cannon, and was recorded informally by several music researchers in the early 1960s.
Will Shade died of pneumonia at John Gaston Hospital in 1966 and was buried in Shelby County Cemetery in Memphis. The fact that this is a public cemetery reveals the poverty that Shade faced in his later years. However, in 2008 a group of musicians based at the Old Town School of Folk Music held a fundraiser and purchased a headstone for Will Shade's grave.
Discography
Between 1927 and 1934, the Memphis Jug Band recorded over 100 sides, making it the most recorded jug band in Memphis. In the first four years alone, Shade and his band members recorded at least 60 songs with Victor Records. Over time, the band's style moved to a jazzier beat, as seen in the final 1934 recordings. Famous singles by the band include the "Lindberg Hop", "On the Road Again", "Newport News Blues," "K.C. Moan," and "Stealin' Stealin'".
See also
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