Joe Williams
Joe Williams (born Joseph Goreed; December 12, 1918 – March 29, 1999) was an American jazz singer. He sang with big bands, such as the Count Basie Orchestra and the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, and with small combos. He sang in two films with the Basie orchestra and sometimes worked as an actor. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Cordele (county seat in Crisp County, Georgia, USA), Died March 29, 1999 (Las Vegas (City of Clark County, and largest city in state of Nevada, United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1929 - 1958
Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist, songwriter, composer
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | CCO5170 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Blow, Mr. Low-Blow | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5172 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Chi (Chicago) | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5173 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Lyin' girl blues | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5251 | 10-in. | 4/20/1951 | Stop, pretty baby, stop | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5252 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Mistreatin' woman blues | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5253 | 10-in. | 6/15/1950 | Week day blues | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5254 | 10-in. | 4/20/1951 | 4 a.m. | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5278 | 10-in. | 8/24/1951 | Last night's party | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5280 | 10-in. | 8/24/1951 | Boot 'em up | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5281 | 10-in. | 8/24/1951 | Sugar bounce | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5402 | 10-in. | 1/21/1953 | Probably | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and vocal chorus | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CCO5403 | 10-in. | 1/21/1953 | Voodoo blues | Red Saunders Orchestra ; Joe Williams | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Brunswick | M195 | 10-in. | Sept. 1929 | I want it awful bad | Joe Williams | Male vocal solo, with guitars and harmonica | vocalist | |
| Brunswick | M196 | 10-in. | Sept. 1929 | Mr. Devil blues | Joe Williams | Male vocal solo, with guitars and harmonica | vocalist | |
| Roulette | 12419 | 10-in. | approximately 1957 | Gee baby ain't I good to you | Count Basie Orchestra ; Joe Williams | vocalist | ||
| Roulette | 12446 | 10-in. | approximately 1957 | What's new | Jimmy Mundy ; Joe Williams | vocalist | ||
| Roulette | 12794 | 10-in. | approximately 1958 | How can you lose (what 'cha never had) | Count Basie Orchestra ; Joe Williams | vocalist | ||
| Roulette | 12795 | 10-in. | approximately 1958 | Five o'clock in the morning | Count Basie Orchestra ; Joe Williams | vocalist, songwriter | ||
| Chess | 4301 | 10-in. | 12/31/1952 | Every day I have the blues | King Kolax Orchestra ; Joe Williams | vocalist, songwriter | ||
| Chess | 4305 | 10-in. | 12/31/1952 | They didn't believe me | King Kolax Orchestra ; Joe Williams | vocalist, songwriter | ||
| Decca | 73752 | 12/2/1946 | Louella | Andy Kirk Orchestra | vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Williams, Joe," accessed December 25, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/104184.
Williams, Joe. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/104184.
"Williams, Joe." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 25 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Joe Williams
Discogs: Joe Williams
Allmusic: Joe Williams
Grove: Joe Williams
IMDb: Joe Williams
Britannica: Joe Williams
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Williams, Joe, 1918-1999 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n83051519
Wikidata: Joe Williams - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1691660
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/22339127
MusicBrainz: Joe Williams - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/de09faf8-c78b-4c3a-9c0d-76b1de15f40e
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/111601 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/111601
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