"Musicians Jazzed up 20' & 30's"' by Susie Sansom-Piper, Rockdalde Reporter

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS

SERIES 4, PART 2

By SUSIE SANSOM-PIPER

Reporter contributor

Rockdale Reporter - 02-10-2011

Musicians ‘jazzed up’ 20s and 30s

Editor’s note: The fourth edition of Susie Sansom Piper’s Black History Month series “On The

Other Side of the Tracks” looks back to music and entertainment.

Back in the late 20s and early 30s, four Moultry brothers, four Kennedy brothers and

two Shields brothers had the first 10-piece jazz band in this vicinity. They called it

the Moultry Brothers Orchestra.

Edgar “Buddy” Moultry played saxophone, Johnnie Moultry clarinet, James “Jim” Moultry

trombone and Julius “Bose” Moultry trumpet.

Jessie Shields played the piano and Johnnie Shields was the drummer.

It’s not known what instruments the Kennedy brothers played.

“Frog” Dillard of Taylor and “The Grey Ghost” of Austin were also pianists for the

group at one time or another.

The Moultry Brothers Orchestra were constantly in demand for fairs, especially in

Georgetown and Rockdale.

They were also headliners for the annual Juneteenth celebrations in Rockdale.

SINGERS - Popular dances during this era were the Charleston, Two-Step, Buck Step, One-

step and Black Bottom.

Well known jazz singers were Willie James Cooper, Mattie Mae Prater and Hattie Beth

Cooper. The legend is that Hattie Beth could sing so well, until she sung her way out

of Huntsville Prison for Women.

The most popular songs of the era included “Should I?” ,“Tiger Rag”, “St. Louis Blues”,

“Let Me Call You Sweetheart”, “Love, Oh Love, Loveless Love” and many more.

Men wore single-breasted and double-breasted suits, while ladies wore frilly satin

dresses, usually with a pleated skirt, long beads and matching headbands.

The “California rush” and lure to the big cities soon caused the disintegration of the

band.

Some other well-known jazz and popular entertainers in the music world during this time

Curry on the piano and Lon L. Williams Sr. on trumpet.

CRAYTONS - The Crayton brothers and Bogus Miller Sr. featured a popular string band.

Percy Crayton, a former Wiley College student and photographer, played violin.

Tommy Crayton Sr. played guitar, Quincy Crayton mandolin and Bogus Miller guitar.

Many of these musicians played for the popular Saturday night country suppers and

private white parties and entertainments. Willie James Cooper was a well-known blues

and pop singer, while Sugarfoot Green was a widely-traveled and well-known minstrel

man.

Pee Wee Crayton, well-known blues singer and guitarist, was born in the Liberty Hill

community, became an Austin resident and later resided in California.

Although self-made and self-taught musicians, they gave joy and love through their

music and left many pleasant memories of the jazz age.

All articles from the Rockdale Reporter are published with permission.
All credit for this article goes to
Susie Sansom-Piper and
the Rockdale Reporter

Pee Wee Crayton

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