Coleman Hawkins and Mamie Smith

Question

I've been listening to the 1966 album Wrapped Tight by Coleman Hawkins. After reading its Wikipedia entry, Scott Yanow mentions the following about the album:

Hawkins's last strong recording finds the veteran, 43 years after his recording debut with Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds, improvising creatively on a wide variety of material... that shows that the tenor-saxophonist was still coming up with new ideas in 1965.

I'm curious about the part where he says that Coleman Hawkins was a part of Mamie Smith's band during the 20's. Which Mamie Smith songs had Hawkins as part of the personnel?

Answer 1

According to the Main Spring Press's Mamie Smith Discography, which sources Brian Rust's gigantic Jazz And Ragtime Records books, Coleman Hawkins likely played tenor saxophone on almost every Mamie Smith recording from May 1922 to January 1923; totaling eighteen recordings spread across nine recording sessions. They are:

Circa early May, 1922 in New York

• "Mean Daddy Blues"
• "Dem Knock-Out Blues"
• "Lonesome Mama Blues"
• "New Orleans"

Circa June 10, 1922 in New York

• "Mamie Smith Blues"
• "Alabama Blues"

Circa August 15, 1922 in New York

• "Stuttering"
• "Those Longing For You Blues"

Circa August 22, 1922 in New York

• "Got To Cool My Doggies Now"
• "You Can Have Him, I Don't Want Him, Didn't Love Him Anyhow Blues"
• "Strut Your Material" (Mamie Smith doesn't perform on this one; it's an instrumental)

Circa August 30, 1922 in New York

• "Wish That I Could But I Can't Forgive You Blues"

Circa September 6, 1922 in New York

• "Sighin' Around With The Blues"
• "That Da Da Strain"

Circa December 6, 1922 in New York

• "I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None O' This Jelly-Roll"
• "Don't Mess With Me"

Circa December 20, 1922 in New York

• "I'm Gonna Get You"

Circa January 9, 1923 in New York

• "You've Got To See Mamma Ev'ry Night (Or You Can't See Mamma At All)"

The lone recording session within this time period for which the Main Spring Press's Mamie Smith discography does not list Coleman Hawkins as the tenor saxophone player is the circa December 8, 1922 session in New York that yielded "Mean Man" and "The Darktown Flappers' Ball". However, according to Mamie Smith Discography, there is an unknown tenor saxophone on the track. Seeing that Hawkins recorded with Mamie Smith two days prior and twelve days afterwards, both also in New York, I'd say that it's definitely a possibility that Hawkins appears on those two tracks as well. This would bring his total to twenty recordings across ten recording sessions.