Wilmer Watts
Wilmer Wesley Watts (* 1892 (?) In Mount Tabor , North Carolina ; † August 1943 ) was an American old-time musician . Watt's most famous recordings include Banjo Sam and Cotton Mill Blues .
Life
Childhood and youth
Wilmer Watts was born in Mount Tabor (now Tabor City ) in Columbus County , North Carolina. His year of birth is controversial; while Patrick Huber gives 1892, Joe Bussard mentions 1896 and 1898 as possible dates. Watts discovered his musical talent as a child and learned a number of string instruments. After the First World War - around 1919 - he settled in Gaston County , where he worked in various textile factories.
Career
Watts worked as a weaver in textile factories in Belmont, Gastonia , Bessemer City and Hickory throughout his life . At the Climax Mill in Belmont Watts met Frank Wilson , also a worker there. With him he made his first eight recordings under the name Watts & Wilson in 1927 for Paramount Records . The first session for Paramount took place in Chicago in January or February 1927 , but only The Sporting Cowboy was recorded but not released. In April of the same year Watts and Wilson returned to Chicago with guitarist Charles Freshour, where they recorded seven other titles.
The Climax textile factory was, like hundreds of other factories in the Piedmont region, full of talented musicians and Watts founded the after his first Paramount recordings with the two workers Palmer Rhyne (1903-1967) on the steel guitar and Charles Freshour ( guitar ) Gastonia Serenaders , later renamed Wilmer Watts and the Lonely Eagles . With this group Watts traveled to New York City in October 1929 , where he recorded a total of 16 more songs for Paramount. Worth mentioning here are the Cotton Mill Blues , Watts' last recording and his only solo piece Banjo Sam and The Fate of Rhoda Sweetin . The latter was a ballad written by Charles Freshour about the murder of his sister, and Freshour probably sings on the recording. Some of the recorded songs were also released on Paramount's subsidiary Broadway Records , while only the Ginger Blues and A Soldier of Honor disappeared in Paramount's dark archives and did not appear on record.
No further recordings for Watts followed after 1929, but he continued to play in the area and occasionally appeared as a "one-man band" with guitar, drums , fiddle , banjo and harmonica . With his daughters, Watts also appeared as The Watts Singers at local events, on street corners, at church festivals and on the radio around Charlotte and Spartanburg .
Wilmer Watts died in August 1943. His daughters then appeared under the name Watts Gospel Singers .
Discography
| year | title | # | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paramount Records | |||
| 1927 | When the Roses Bloom Again / The Sporting Cowboy | 3006 | as Watts & Wilson |
| The Empty Cradle / The Night Express | 3007 | as Watts & Wilson | |
| Walk Right in Belmont / Chain Gang Special | 3019 | as Watts & Wilson | |
| Knocking Down Casey Jones / Been on the Job Too Long | 3210 | ||
| Charles Guitaw [!] / Working for My Sally | 3232 | ||
| Say Darling Won't You Love Me / Banjo Sam | 3242 | ||
| She's a Hard Boiled Rose / The Fate of Rhoda Sweetin | 3247 | ||
| Fightin 'in the War with Spain / Cotton Mill Blues | 3254 | ||
| Sleepy Desert / When the Snow Flakes Fall Again | 3282 | ||
| Take This Little Bunch of Roses / Bonnie Bess | 3299 | ||
| Unpublished titles | |||
| 1927 |
|
Paramount | |
| 1929 |
|
Paramount | |
literature
- Patrick Huber: Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South (2008); University of North Carolina Press, ISBN 0-8078-3225-1
- Tony Russell: Country Music Records - A Discography 1922-1942 (2004); University of Oxford Press, ISBN 0-19-513989-5
Individual evidence
- ↑ Huber: Linthead Stomp , p. 291
- ↑ http://www.venerablemusic.com/catalog/TitleDetails.asp?TitleID=11576
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Watts, Wilmer |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Watts, Wilmer Wesley (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American old-time musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1892 or 1896 or 1898 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mount Tabor , North Carolina , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 1943 |