"THE BOY AND THE BOAT" Willie "The Lion" Smith Commodore 525 EE+ 1939 solo piano
$
22
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Description
(This week is HOT PIANO week, with multiple solo offerings by ART TATUM, JELLY ROLL MORTON, FATS WALLER and other titans of the keyboard. Be sure to check out my other listings!)
WILLIE "THE LION" SMITH was a recognized virtuoso force in the New York jazz world from the early 'teens, one of the feared Harlem Piano Mafia (with James P. Johnson and Fats Waller); he had played on some seminal records like the first official "race" release, "Crazy Blues" with Mamie Smith in 1920; and "Keep Your Temper" with the Gulf Coast Seven in 1925. AND YET, the "Lion" had never released any solo records until 1939, when he made a bumper crop for the newly formed COMMODORE RECORDS. He made up for the lost time, and HOW!
Here are two of them: "THE BOY AND THE BOAT" and "BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA." Impeccably and inimitably played, these are exemplary performances that made everyone in the music biz in '39 wonder what took him so long!
This original 1939 Commodore 525 is in lovely E+ condition. It's a beautiful pre-war pressing, laminated, with gold-print labels. That's my handwriting on the sleeve label, which you'll get for no extra cost!
*****
These records come from my private collection, which I have been accumulating since 1967, and now am downsizing! My highest priority in these eBay auctions is to give you the best possible idea of a record’s true condition and aesthetic value. I always post at least four clear images, showing the record fore and aft, a close-up of the label, and the whole disc, warts and all. If my purple prose won’t cut it, the pictures will! Shipping is done with expert care. Your record will brave Media Mail in a stout corregated box, between four sheets of cardboard and a couple of “packers.” I hope you are amused by these descriptions, and by the quality of service being offered.
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