Charlie Spand (1893 – after
1958) was a blues and boogie-woogie pianist noted for
his barrelhouse style, infact, he was deemed one of the most influential piano
players of the 1920s. Little is known of his life outside of music, his
playing has stylistic links to the Birmingham pianists.
Charlie’s recordings have long been recognised by both blues
and jazz enthusiasts as a special vintage of African-American music, a
combination of a blues poet, notable for his carefully thought-out lyrics, with
inspired piano playing is indeed irresistible.
There has been speculation about Charlie’s place of
birth, a claim he was born in Elljay, Georgia, a song he wrote, Alabama Blues, refers to his birth in
that part of the country.
Charlie was one of
the original boogie-woogie pianists, including William Ezell and others, who
performed on Brady Street and Hastings Street in Detroit, in the 1920s
Charlie recorded
25 songs 1929 and 1931.The 1929 Richmond sessions recorded seven songs with
guitar accompaniment to his piano playing and singing. Most of these were
directly attributed to Blind Blake.
After a gap in his recording career, in June 1940 Charlie recorded what were
to be his final eight tracks, during this session Charlie was backed by Little
Son Joe and Big Bill Broonzy. After these recordings were made, the story of Charlie goes cold
Beyond this recording session there exists a record
that we lost him sometime after 1958 but there is some doubt about the actual
date.
