Jabo Williams

Jabo Williams (possible 1895 – 1953 or 1954) His total recorded output was a mere eight sides, which included his two best-known "stunningly primitive" songs, "Pratt City Blues" and "Jab's Blues". Details of his life outside of music are scanty.

Career It is supposed that Williams, who was African-American, was born in Pratt City, a neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama, but this is based exclusively on the mention of that location in his recording of "Pratt City Blues". and may have been born 1895. What is certain is that he relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, and was recommended to Paramount Records by Jesse Johnson, a local record store owner and talent scout. This partly paved the way for the better-known song "Sweet Home Chicago".

By the late 1940s and early 1950s, some of Williams's tracks were reissued by American Music Records, amongst others. His playing style was somewhat unusual, but such belated recognition failed to unearth Williams, the details of whose life remain a mystery. St. Louis bluesman Joe Dean (1908–1981) also remembered him, from a pool hall in St. Louis with a piano that had regular dances; Williams frequented the place when Dean was in his late teens. According to the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc, Williams reportedly died in Birmingham in 1953 or 1954.