From:  "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Apr 28, 2004  1:39 am
Subject:  This Is My Story : Sherman Williams
 
SHERMAN WILLIAMS (By Dave Penny)

The history of jump and R&B, like any other music, is littered with the
names of legendary local heroes who managed to eke out a living in their
immediate neighbourhoods without making much (or any) impact on the
national music scene. Sadly, many went unrecorded and their legacy is
reduced to a handful of press cuttings and faded photographs, but some
were able to record for their local independent labels - either with a
private "custom" or "vanity" pressing or in a limited commercial run -
and are thus immortalised for latter day collectors.

Alto saxophonist Sherman Williams was almost relegated to the former
category, having been a professional musician in the Nashville area for
more than a decade before he started recording. He formed his own small
jump and swing band around October 1940 but went unrecorded until July
1947 when he began recording for Bullet Records in Nashville, leading a
band that consisted of Charles Gillum (trumpet), Bill Jones (tenor sax),
Edward "Skippy" Brooks (piano), James Brown (bass) and Alvin Woods
(drums), the Williams band drew its inspiration from the era's little-big
jump combos like Louis Jordan's Tympany Five, Jack McVea's Door
Openers, and Roy Milton's Solid Senders. Milton and his band, in
particular, held a close association with Williams; around the time that
Williams recorded probably his first recordings in Nashville in 1947,
his band also recorded for the Miltone-related Foto Records in Los
Angeles (in fact, it has been reported that Williams may have run the
Foto, Ace and Miltone labels instead of Milton, who was just the record
company's public face).

In 1948, Williams recorded for Excelsior and Gold Star, but shortly
after his female vocalist Iona Wade left to join ex-Milton tenor
saxophonist Bill Gaither's new group (recording for the fledgling MGM
Records). It is believed that Milton, an exclusive Specialty recording
artist, pulled some strings to get Williams some lucrative session work
with Art Rupe's company, and by early 1949, Sherman was doing session
work for Art Rupe's Specialty label with pianist Earl Jackson's band.
Williams recorded a one-off for Los Angeles based Plymouth Records
around June 1949 and in late 1949/early 1950 Sherman and his band were
in Houston recording behind Skippy Brooks for his sole Peacock release,
which included a recut of his signature tune, Skippy's Blues
(coincidentally, ex-Williams vocalist Iona Wade also recorded for
Peacock around this time with Jay McShann's band). The Williams' band
lost their chief asset in early 1950 when Skippy Brooks left to return
to Nashville, while trumpeter Charles Gillum quit around the same time
to join Roy Milton's Solid Senders, by this time the new Williams band
was resident at Central Avenue's Barrel House night club, enjoying rave
reviews and appreciative crowds.

In November 1951 Sherman Williams formed his own record label, Unique
Records, in South Central Avenue, which debuted with his band's
penultimate release, The Bounce (parts 1 & 2), featuring an early
appearance by West Coast vocal group The (Hollywood) Four Flames.
Within a few months, Sherman had sold his label to Art Rupe, who had
his eye on the talented vocal group, and The Bounce was reissued on
Rupe's short-lived Fidelity label, along with another Unique release by
The Flames.

Sherman Williams' final known release was issued on Max Freitag's L.A.
based Flip label in 1956*, however around this time he returned to his
old stomping grounds and was last reported in the late 1950s, still
working in small Nashville night clubs with a band that included Tot
Randolph, Blind Jimmy Osborne and Bobby Hebb.

Although none of his releases had the slightest whiff of chart success,
the Williams recorded legacy is a solid body of jump-blues and R&B.
Iona Wade provided some of the highlights; she is known to have worked
with James Moody's modern jazz band in the mid 1950s before drifting out
of the public eye. The band's other star was Skippy Brooks, who later
became a mainstay of the house band for Excello Records and made
many recordings as the pianist with drummer Kid King's Combo.

* There was a release in 1960 on the New York City based Cee-Jay label,
but this was probably a different Sherman Williams.

Recommended listening:-
Classics 5076 - Apart from the 1956 release on Flip, this CD releases
all the issued sides by Sherman Williams' band, including the Peacock
coupling issued under Skippy Brooks' name.

Stompin' 23 - Includes one side - "Looking For My Baby" - from Williams'
1956 Flip release.