Monkey Joe
Jesse "Monkey Joe" Coleman (January 26, 1906 – November 16, 1967) was an American country blues pianist and singer, who recorded sporadically from the 1930s into the 1970s. Coleman was born in Shelby County, Tennessee. He worked locally in Jackson, Mississippi, in juke joints in the 1930s, and recorded with Little Brother Montgomery in 1935 on Bluebird Records. He began using the moniker "Monkey Joe" during that decade. Late in the 1930s he worked as a session musician for Lester Melrose, and recorded under his own name with Charlie McCoy, Fred Williams, Big Bill Broonzy, and Buster Bennett as backing musicians. Coleman also appears to have worked under several other names, such as "Jack Newman" at Vocalion Records and "George Jefferson" as an accompanist on recordings for Lulu Scott. He also recorded on Okeh Records for a time. Little is known of Coleman's whereabouts, aside from recording credits, from before the 1960s. He worked often in Chicago blues clubs in the 1960s, and he became the subject of some interest due to the blues revival in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He worked again with Little Brother Montgomery in the 1970s on an album entitled Crescent City Blues. Document Records released a two-volume CD set of Monkey Joe's works in 1996. In 2022 the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed the headstone for Jesse Coleman at the Washington Memory Gardens in Homewood, Illinois. |
Birth and Death Data: Died November 16, 1967
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1935 - 1939
Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 34 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | BS-94414 | 10-in. | 8/10/1935 | Sweet patuna stomp | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with guitar and piano | vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-94415 | 10-in. | 8/10/1935 | Gonna beat it back to Memphis, Tenn. | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with guitar and piano | vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-94416 | 10-in. | 8/10/1935 | Monkey Joe got the blues | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with guitar and piano | vocalist | |
| Victor | BS-94417 | 10-in. | 8/10/1935 | Hard times blues | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with guitar and piano | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2188 | 10-in. | 5/9/1938 | Ever dream you was lucky? | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with mandolin, piano, and drums | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2189 | 10-in. | 5/9/1938 | Three o'clock blues | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and drums | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2190 | 10-in. | 5/9/1938 | O.K. with me baby | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with mandolin, piano, and drums | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2191 | 10-in. | 5/9/1938 | Hair parted in the middle | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with mandolin, piano, and drums | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2192 | 10-in. | 5/9/1938 | I knocked upon your door | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and drums | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2193 | 10-in. | 5/9/1938 | Some sweet day | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with mandolin, piano, and drums | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2298 | 10-in. | 9/8/1938 | Taxes on my pole | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with alto saxophone, mandolin and piano | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2299 | 10-in. | 9/8/1938 | Must I break 'em on down | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with alto saxophone, mandolin and piano | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2300 | 10-in. | 9/8/1938 | Just out the big house | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with alto saxophone, mandolin and piano | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2301 | 10-in. | 9/8/1938 | Preach, pray and moan | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with mandolin and piano | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2302 | 10-in. | 9/8/1938 | New York Central | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with guitar and piano | vocalist | |
| Columbia | C2303 | 10-in. | 9/8/1938 | Rabbit foot blues | Monkey Joe | Male vocal solo, with guitar and piano | vocalist | |
| Columbia | WC2526 | 10-in. | 3/31/1939 | Wise to the jive | Monkey Joe ; Music Grinders | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
| Columbia | WC2527 | 10-in. | 3/31/1939 | I was laying 'em down | Monkey Joe ; Music Grinders | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
| Columbia | WC2528 | 10-in. | 3/31/1939 | Tailor made woman | Monkey Joe ; Music Grinders | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
| Columbia | WC2529 | 10-in. | 3/31/1939 | Trouble comin' on | Monkey Joe ; Music Grinders | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
| Columbia | WC2530 | 10-in. | 3/31/1939 | Good business #2 | Monkey Joe ; Music Grinders | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
| Columbia | WC2531 | 10-in. | 3/31/1939 | Mobile and K. C. line | Monkey Joe ; Music Grinders | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
| Columbia | WC2532 | 10-in. | 3/31/1939 | B. V. D. blues | Monkey Joe ; Music Grinders | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
| Columbia | WC2533 | 10-in. | 3/31/1939 | Headache blues | Monkey Joe ; Music Grinders | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist | |
| Columbia | WC2702 | 10-in. | 9/13/1939 | You don't have to tell me | Monkey Joe ; Music Grinders | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Monkey Joe," accessed December 24, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/110919.
Monkey Joe. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 24, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/110919.
"Monkey Joe." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 24 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Monkey Joe - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no98048196
Wikidata: Jesse "Monkey Joe" Coleman - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6900756
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/103921752
MusicBrainz: Jesse "Monkey Joe" Coleman - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/31defac8-5549-4f99-abd7-43dea3a38590
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