Sold Date: August 18, 2021
Start Date: November 18, 2020
Final Price: £28.00 (GBP)
Seller Feedback: 13257
Buyer Feedback: 0

HARD TO FIND 78 FROM CLARA SMITH AND HER BAND ON THE ORIGINAL US COLUMBIA LABEL 

KITCHEN MECHANIC BLUES

b/w   MY TWO TIMIN' PAPA

WONDERFUL STUFF!!

 Little is known about Clara Smith's early life other that that she was from Spartanburg, South Carolina. She worked in vaudeville in the late Teens and early 1920s and eventually became a popular performer on the TOBA circuit. In 1923 she moved to Harlem where she worked in cabarets and theaters and began recording exclusively for Columbia. Many critics consider her late 1920's Blues recordings to be second only to Bessie Smith's records in quality.

 She was billed as the Queen of the Moaners and the World's Greatest Moaner and on her early records she was frequently accompanied by Fletcher Henderson on piano and on her later records featured bands that included first rate Jazz musicians like, James P. Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and Don Redman. She recorded three duets "Far Away Blues" and "I'm Going Back To My Used To Be" and "My Man Blues" with Bessie Smith. Bessie and Clara were not related, but they were close personal friends until Bessie got drunk one evening in 1925 and beat up Clara.

 An interesting bit of trivia was that Clara gave Josephine Baker her first taste of show business in 1920 when she gave the thirteen year old Baker a job as her dresser in her touring company. They also briefly became lovers. Clara Smith continued to record until 1932 and performed live until she died of a heart attack in Detroit in 1935. 

RECORD DETAILS:- 

US COLUMBIA 14097-D   10" 78 rpm  SHELLAC

Kitchen Mechanic Blues

(Stanley Miller)8-20-1925New York, New York

My Two Timing Papa

(Stanley Miller)8-20-1925New York, New York

Condition = V   

scuffs, scratches & marks but surface plays well for a record nearly 100 years old :)

there is some damage on the run in area which affects the first few grooves of the recording (see photo)

DON'T MISS OUT BUY NOW!