- Roosevelt Williams
Roosevelt Thomas "Grey Ghost" Williams (
December 7 ,1903 -July 17 ,1996 ) was anAfrican-American blues pianist with a 70-year career spanning from the 1920s through the 1990s.Williams was born in
Bastrop, Texas and received only basic musical training when he was a teenager. He traveled to the area dances androadhouse s by riding emptyboxcar s. He would seem to appear out of nowhere and then disappear immediately after performing, which earned him thenickname , "Grey Ghost." [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=-w-uGwm_LhcC&pg=PA379&lpg=PA379&dq=hitler+blues&source=web&ots=tRc80LDx4a&sig=LNrG3xfaY4DIp6ICjqP6ROpF9Lk#PPA379,M1 Komera, Edward M. "Encyclopedia of the Blues". Routledge (2006) pp 379-380.] ]In 1940, author William A. Owens made a live recording of Williams singing "Hitler Blues," a song written by Williams. The song received mention in
TIME magazine and was broadcast byBBC Radio on a program hosted byAlistair Cooke in 1940 about the American musical response toWorld War II . This did not make Williams famous, but he became a regular innightclub s like theVictory Grill and other venues that catered to the African-American community duringracial segregation in the United States . [ [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/AMDB/Profile?oid=oid:168385 Austin Music Database] ]In 1965, archivist Tary Owens (1942-2003) recorded several Grey Ghost songs. After decades of relative obscurity, Owens tracked down Grey Ghost again in the mid-Eighties. Williams had tired of traveling and settled in Austin and began driving a school bus for the
Austin Independent School District . Williams was long retired, but Owens not only issued the 1965 recordings on his Catfish label in 1987, but also convinced Williams, now 84, to start playing again and introduced him to a new generation of blues fans. Owens arranged for Williams to make a CD of new recordings at the age of 89. Williamseponymous solo album was released onOctober 10 ,1992 on Owens' Spindletop label. [ [http://bestof.houstonpress.com/2000-01-13/news/lost-legends/3 McVicker, Steve. "Lost Legends". "Houston Press" January 13, 2000.] ]The City of Austin proclaimed
December 7 ,1987 , as Grey Ghost Day, and he was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 1988. Williams performed regularly until the time of his death in Austin at age 92.References
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