Lillian Glinn – Complete Recorded Works (1927 – 1929)

Lillian Glinn

Complete Recorded Works (1927 – 1929)

Featuring the recordings of:

Lillian Glinn, vocal accompanied by Willie Tyson, piano; unknown, 12-string guitar added on 4; Octave Gaspard, brass bass (except on 4). Lillian Glinn, vocal accompanied by Willie Tyson, piano; unknown, cornet added on 9; unknown, brass bass added on 9. Lillian Glinn, vocal accompanied by unknown, cornet unknown, clarinet; unknown, piano; unknown, brass bass. Lillian Glinn, vocal accompanied by possibly Pete Underwood, trumpet; Taylor Flanagan, piano; probably Perry Bechtel, guitar. Lillian Glinn, vocal accompanied by unknown, piano; unknown, banjo; possibly Octave Gaspard, brass bass.

Genres: Blues, Urban Blues, Texas Blues, Female Blues, Jazz, 12-String Guitar, Country Blues Guitar, Blues Guitar, Jazz Guitar, Blues Piano,

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Fortunately for us, Columbia made several field recording trips to the South during the late 1920s. Lillian Glinn‘s manager, R. T. Ashford, secured a contract with Columbia which allowed her to participate in 4 of these sessions: Dallas in December 1927, New Orleans in April 1928, Atlanta in April 1929, and Dallas in December 1929- Her strong contralto voice proved popular, with records from the early sessions selling well enough to keep Columbia interested in making more recordings. The complete recordings are included in this album. Identifying the instrumentalists accompanying Lillian Glinn on these recordings has proved difficult for collectors. The December 1927 session includes Dallas pianist Willie Tyson, New Orleans-born Octave (Oak) Gaspard on brass bass, and an unknown guitarist added on Brown Skin Blues. Tyson and the powerful Gaspard seem to be present on several of Columbia’s recordings from Dallas. Tyson plays solid, though not spectacular, accompaniment on these sides. It is a pity that his only solo effort, recorded a few days after the Glinn session, was rejected. The New Orleans sides remain a mystery. One hopes to hear the Tony Parenti band or Halfway House Orchestra on Where Have All The Black Men Gone, but, despite close proximity in recording dates, the soloists do not seem to be members of these bands. The Atlanta recordings are thought to include Henry Mason of J. Neal Montgomery‘s band on trumpet. The thin tone and simple phrasing on the Glinn sides are similar to Mason’s work on the two sides available as examples of the Montgomery band. However, the guitarist sounds to this writer like a white musician. To further confuse matters, Glinn refers to the pianist on Cannon Ball Blues as “Mr. Flanagan“. It is possible that all or part of this trio is made up of white musicians, particularly given that several white jazz and dance groups were recorded in Atlanta at this time. Back in Dallas for her final session, Tyson and Gaspard are replaced by an unknown pianist and a less powerful brass bass player. An unknown banjo player is added on a few of these sides, and is heard to good advantage on Don’t Leave Me Daddy. After the final session in 1929, Lillian Glinn gave up her life as a professional singer and returned to the church. She lived a simple life centered on her church, and moved to California where blues researcher Paul Oliver interviewed her in 1970. This handful of recordings remains as her musical legacy.

DOCD-5184