Wild Bill Davison
William Edward Davison (January 5, 1906 – November 14, 1989), nicknamed "Wild Bill", was an American jazz cornetist. He emerged in the 1920s through his work playing alongside Muggsy Spanier and Frank Teschemacher in a cover band where they played the music of Louis Armstrong, but he did not achieve wider recognition until the 1940s. He is best remembered for his association with bandleader Eddie Condon, with whom he worked and recorded from the mid-1940s until Condon's last concert at the New School for Social Research in New York in April 1972 (Chiaroscuro Records, CRD 110). His nickname of "Wild Bill" reflected a reputation for heavy drinking and womanizing in his younger years. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Defiance (city in and the county seat of Defiance County, Ohio, United States), Died November 14, 1989 (Santa Barbara (city in and county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1924 - 1950
Roles Represented in DAHR: cornet, trumpet
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 44 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | E0VB-4056 | 10-in. | 4/6/1950 | At the jazz band ball | Chicago Jazz ; Gene Krupa ; Bobby Soots | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | E0VB-4057 | 10-in. | 4/6/1950 | I want gold in my pocket (when there's silver in my hair) | Chicago Jazz ; Gene Krupa ; Bobby Soots | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | E0VB-4136 | 10-in. | 4/6/1950 | Bonaparte's retreat | Chicago Jazz ; Gene Krupa ; Bobby Soots | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | E0VB-4137 | 10-in. | 4/6/1950 | My Scandinavian baby | Chicago Jazz ; Gene Krupa ; Bobby Soots | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | E0VB-5551 | 10-in. | 9/11/1950 | Walking with the blues | Chicago Jazz ; Gene Krupa ; Bobby Soots | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Victor | E0VB-5553 | 10-in. | 9/11/1950 | I'm forever blowing bubbles | Chicago Jazz ; Gene Krupa | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| OKeh | 8631 | 10-in. | 4/10/1924 | Walking, talking dolly | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra of Cincinnati | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| OKeh | 8632 | 10-in. | 4/10/1924 | From one till two (I always dream of you) | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra of Cincinnati | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| OKeh | 8633 | 10-in. | 4/10/1924 | Blue evening blues | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra of Cincinnati | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| OKeh | 8634 | 10-in. | 4/10/1924 | Horsey! Keep your tail up (Keep the sun out of my eyes) | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra of Cincinnati | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal duet | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Gennett | 12156 | 10-in. | 2/16/1925 | Will you remember me? | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra of Cincinnati | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Gennett | 12157 | 10-in. | 2/16/1925 | Because they all love you | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra of Cincinnati | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Gennett | 12230 | 10-in. | 4/30/1925 | Mandy, make up your mind | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Gennett | 12231 | 10-in. | 4/30/1925 | Steppin' in society | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Gennett | 12282 | 10-in. | 7/16/1925 | Sloppy Sue | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra of Cincinnati | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Gennett | 12283 | 10-in. | 7/16/1925 | Pale moon | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Gennett | 12373 | 10-in. | 10/14/1925 | In the purple twilight | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Gennett | 12374 | 10-in. | 10/14/1925 | You are just a vision | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Gennett | 12375 | 10-in. | 10/14/1925 | Sloppy Sue | Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, trumpet | |
| Decca | 73279 | 1/16/1946 | After you've gone | Bing Crosby | instrumentalist, cornet | |||
| Decca | 73280 | 1/16/1946 | Personality | Bing Crosby | instrumentalist, cornet | |||
| Decca | 73278 | 1/16/1946 | Blue (and broken hearted) | Bing Crosby | instrumentalist, cornet | |||
| Decca | 73308 | 1/25/1946 | Deep delta blues | Denver Darling ; Wild Bill Davison ; The Range Rider Singers | instrumentalist, cornet | |||
| Decca | 73309 | 1/25/1946 | When I get to where I'm goin' | Denver Darling ; Wild Bill Davison ; The Range Rider Singers | instrumentalist, cornet | |||
| Decca | 73310 | 1/25/1946 | Silver dew on the blue grass | Denver Darling ; Wild Bill Davison ; The Range Rider Singers | instrumentalist, cornet |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Davison, Wild Bill," accessed January 4, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102402.
Davison, Wild Bill. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 4, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102402.
"Davison, Wild Bill." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 4 January 2026.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Wild Bill Davison
Discogs: Wild Bill Davison
Allmusic: Wild Bill Davison
Grove: Wild Bill Davison
Britannica: Wild Bill Davison
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Davison, Wild Bill, 1906-1989 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79070428
Wikidata: Wild Bill Davison - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2570296
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/56795825
MusicBrainz: Wild Bill Davison - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/9a28858b-f931-4bc0-810d-f7274c1c3d8a
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/38209 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/38209
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