# Jimmy Blythe > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jimmy_Blythe > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jimmy_Blythe.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Blythe > Source revision: 1349170265 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American pianist and composer}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Jimmy Blythe | birth_name = James Louis Blythe | alias = Duke Owens, George Jefferson | birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|5|20}} | birth_place = [South Keene, Kentucky](/source/Keene%2C_Kentucky), United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|1931|6|14|1901|5|20}} | genre = [Jazz](/source/Jazz), [boogie-woogie](/source/boogie-woogie) | occupation = Musician, composer | instrument = Piano }} '''James Louis Blythe''' (May 20, 1901 – June 14, 1931) was an American [jazz](/source/jazz) and [boogie-woogie](/source/boogie-woogie) pianist and composer. Blythe is known to have recorded as many as 300 [piano rolls](/source/piano_rolls), and his song "Chicago Stomp" is considered one of the earliest examples of boogie-woogie music to be recorded. ==Biography== Blythe was born in [South Keene, Kentucky](/source/Keene%2C_Kentucky), to former slaves turned-[sharecroppers](/source/sharecroppers) Richard and Rena Blythe. He was the youngest of five children to survive birth and became interested in the piano after observing local [ragtime](/source/ragtime) players.{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagosouthsidepiano.com/mecca-flat-blues-the-story-of-jimmy-blythe/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072107/http://www.chicagosouthsidepiano.com/mecca-flat-blues-the-story-of-jimmy-blythe/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 4, 2016|title=Mecca Flat Blues - The Jimmy Blythe Story|website=Chicagosouthsidepiano.com|access-date=September 10, 2015}} In 1917, he moved to [Chicago](/source/Chicago), [Illinois](/source/Illinois), where he worked in the Mavis Talcum Powder Company and studied the rudiments of piano, playing under the tutelage of orchestra leader [Clarence M. Jones](/source/Clarence_M._Jones), who found some success as an arranger. Although Blythe's life between 1919 and 1922 is obscured, it is speculated that he began preparing compositions in Jones's recording studio and performed at nearby music clubs.{{Cite AV media notes |title=Messin' Around Blues|others=Jimmy Blythe |year=2007 |first=Bob |last=Koester |type=booklet |publisher=Delmark Records}} In early 1922, Blythe was hired by the Columbia Music Roll Company to record [piano rolls](/source/piano_rolls) that were accessible at home and early [nickelodeons](/source/nickelodeon_(movie_theater)). Modeling some of his style after the teachings of Jones, he applied an increasingly popular [octave](/source/octave) and [boogie](/source/boogie-woogie) bass, with signature rhythmic [breaks](/source/break_(music)), to credited recordings for Columbia and, later the Capitol Music Roll Company of Chicago.{{cite web|url=https://syncopatedtimes.com/jimmy-blythe-1901-1931/|title=Jimmy Blythe (1901-1931)|work=Red Hot Jazz Archive|access-date=April 25, 2020}} Writer Bill Edwards remarks that, despite the limitations of piano rolls, Blythe "was able to take simple popular songs and create an engaging performance from them in short order. Many of these were taken from the simple sheet music and expanded to include blues riffs, stride or boogie-woogie bass, and even pseudo-novelty figures. Musicians around Chicago and beyond worked to emulate his engaging style as his fame grew".{{cite web|url=http://ragpiano.com/comps/jblythe.shtml|title=James Louis (Jimmy) Blythe|work=ragpiano.com|author=Edwards, Bill|access-date=September 10, 2015}} In April 1924, Blythe entered the recording studio with co-writer Alex J. Robinson to record for [Paramount Records](/source/Paramount_Records). One of the songs, "Chicago Stomp", became Blythe's most popular recording and made him the earliest boogie-woogie pianist to be recorded. It has also been suggested that his 1925 recording of "Jimmie Blues" influenced the work of [Clarence "Pine Top" Smith](/source/Clarence_%22Pine_Top%22_Smith) and [Albert Ammons](/source/Albert_Ammons).{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jimmy-blythe-mn0000349354/biography|title=Jimmy Blythe - Biography|work=allmusic.com|author=Yanow, Scott|access-date=September 10, 2015}} Blythe recorded with his own studio groups, including Blythe's Sinful Five, Jimmy Blythe and his Ragamuffins, and Blythe's Washboard Band, which usually featured clarinetist [Jimmy O'Bryant](/source/Jimmy_O'Bryant). He accompanied recording sessions by [Johnny Dodds](/source/Johnny_Dodds), [Ma Rainey](/source/Ma_Rainey), and [Jimmy Bertrand](/source/Jimmy_Bertrand), and made duets with [Buddy Burton](/source/Buddy_Burton) and Charlie Clark. In some instances when he penned songs with Robinson and other musicians such as [Trixie Smith](/source/Trixie_Smith), he used the pseudonyms "Duke Owens" and "George Jefferson". In 1930, Blythe substantially decreased his recording activity, appearing on two sides of Robinson's group, Knights of Rest. He was living with his sister and her husband when Blythe contracted [meningitis](/source/meningitis). Blythe died on June 14, 1931, aged 30. In November 2021, the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed a headstone for him in [Lincoln Cemetery](/source/Lincoln_Cemetery_(Cook_County)) in [Blue Island, Illinois](/source/Blue_Island%2C_Illinois), 90 years after his actual burial.{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagosouthsidepiano.com/jimmy-blythe-discography/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922165452/http://www.chicagosouthsidepiano.com/jimmy-blythe-discography/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 22, 2014|title=Jimmy Blythe Discography|website=Chicagosouthsidepiano.com|access-date=September 10, 2015}}{{Cite web|url=https://killerblues.net/headstones/headstone-directory/|title=Headstone Directory|website=Killerblues.net|access-date=December 30, 2025}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * {{Discogs artist|Jimmy Blythe}} * [https://syncopatedtimes.com/jimmy-blythe-1901-1931/ Jimmy Blythe (1901-1931)] at the Red Hot Jazz Archive {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Blythe, Jimmy}} Category:1901 births Category:1931 deaths Category:American jazz pianists Category:American male jazz pianists Category:Boogie-woogie pianists Category:Deaths from meningitis in the United States Category:Neurological disease deaths in Illinois Category:Infectious disease deaths in Illinois Category:Jazz musicians from Kentucky Category:People from Jessamine County, Kentucky Category:20th-century American pianists Category:20th-century American male pianists Category:Burials at Lincoln Cemetery (Cook County) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jimmy Blythe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Blythe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Blythe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.