Charles Cyril "Charlie" Creath, born in 1890 in Ironton, Missouri was a multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. He started out in circus and theatre bands in the early 1900's. Sources give different dates, but sometime in the early 1920's, he began to lead bands on Steckfus riverboats out of St. Louis and continued doing that for a number of years.
He was a good musician, especially on trumpet and an entrepreneur, who had several bands operating under his name, if not his direct leadership. His Jazz-O-Maniacs recorded for the Okeh 800 race series in St. Louis. Illness slowed him down, but in the late 1930's, he ran a nightclub in Chicago and played with local groups until his 1951 death.
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| Sonny Lee |
Charlie Creath
Sonny Lee was from Texas and played with Peck Kelley before moving to St Louis, where he played with Frankie Trumbauer, Gene Rodemich and several other bands. He could play lead and solo and had a long career with top-level bands, recording most often with Jimmy Dorsey.
"Grandpa's Spells" is one of Jelly Roll Morton's most well-known and catchy tunes. Creath plays a strong statement of the melody before the rest of the group comes in with New Orleans polyphony. Willian Thornton Blue plays nice clarinet and Sonny Lee makes a solo trombone contribution. Hamilton is knocking out a solid rhythm on piano with Lonnie Johnson on guitar and Zutty Singleton (who married one of Creath's sisters) on drums.
Charles Creath (tp) Sonny Lee (tb) Horace Eubanks, William Thornton Blue (cl,as) William Rollins (ts) Cranston Hamilton (p) Pete Patterson (bj) Zutty Singleton (d) Lonnie Johnson (vcl-1,g-1). St. Louis, c. November 3, 1925.
- Market Street stomp- Okeh 8280,Philips 436005, Swag (Aus)1301, Par (E)PMC1166;
- Won’t don’t blues (1)- Okeh 8280, Jazum 8;
- Way down in lover’s lane- Okeh 8257, Philips 436005;
- Grandpa’s spells- Timeless (Du)CBC1-027 [CD]. Note: All above titles also on Parlophone (E)PMC7157, Timeless (Du)CBC1-036 [CD], Frog (E)DGF83 [CD].
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