Solomon Charles Waterford (October 26, 1916 – February 1, 2007), known as Crown Prince Waterford, was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer who recorded in the 1940s and 1950s with

Jay McShann James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Walter Brown, and B ...

, Pete Johnson and others.

Life

Charles Waterford was born in

Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro () is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, Craighead County. In 2023, the city had an estimated population of ...

, and was encouraged in his singing career by his parents, who were musicians. By his late teens he was living in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, and in 1936 sang there with Leslie Sheffield's Rhythmaires, a band that included guitarist

Charlie Christian Charles Henry Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist. He was among the first electric guitarists and was a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as ...

, bassist Abe Bolar and drummer

Monk McFay Nathaniel Jack "Monk" McFay (June 27, 1908, Wichita Falls, Kansas – October 22 or 23, 1994, Los Angeles) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader, known especially for leading jazz bands in Hawaii. McFay was working as a bellhop in Amarillo, ...

. After auditioning in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

for Andy Kirk's 12 Clouds of Joy, he joined that band and performed with them as a

blues shouter A blues shouter is a blues singer, capable of singing unamplified with a band. Notable blues shouters include: *Big Maybelle *Big Mama Thornton *Piney Brown *Walter Brown (singer), Walter Brown, of the Jay McShann orchestra *Beulah Bryant *H-Bomb F ...

in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He also spent some time in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Biography
''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

''. Retrieved 31 March 2014Phast Phreddie Patterson, "Obituary: Crown Prince Waterford"
''Goldmine'', 13 April 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2014
''Black Cat Rockabilly''. Retrieved 31 March 2014 By 1944 he was appearing regularly in

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s. He joined

's band as a replacement for vocalist Walter Brown, and recorded several tracks with the band for the

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian J ...

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, including "Crown Prince Boogie," after which he started billing himself as "The Crown Prince Of The Blues". He was replaced in McShann's band after a few months by

Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues and jazz singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, an ...

, and returned to Chicago. Around August 1946, credited as "Crown Prince" Charlie Waterford, he recorded his own "Girl Friend Blues" for the Hy-Tone label there, with Freddie Williams' band. Robert Pruter, Robert L. Campbell, and Tom Kelly, "The Hy-Tone Label"
. Retrieved 31 March 2014 The following year he recorded for

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

and

Capitol Capitol, capitols or The Capitol may refer to: Places and buildings Legislative building * United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C. * National Capitol of Colombia, in Bogotá * Palacio Federal Legislativo, in Caracas, Venezuela * National Ca ...

, in the latter case with a band led by

Maxwell Davis Thomas Maxwell Davis, Jr. (January 14, 1916 – September 18, 1970), was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist, arrangement, arranger, bandleader and record producer. Biography Davis was born in Independence, Kansas in 1916. In 1937, h ...

that featured pianist Pete Johnson. His tracks included the salacious "Move Your Hand Baby". He recorded for King Records in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

in 1949, with both

Harold Land Harold de Vance Land (December 18, 1928 – July 27, 2001) was an American hard bop and post-bop tenor saxophonist. Land developed his hard bop playing with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown band into a personal, modern style, often rivalling Clifford ...

and his All-Stars and Joe Thomas, but later only recorded intermittently. He recorded for Excello in 1959, and in the early 1960s attempted to cash in on the

twist Twist may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage * ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist'' * ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...

craze with recordings for the

Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

label credited to "Crown Prince Waterford and his Twistologists". As new musical styles developed, he gave up the music business, and was ordained as the Rev. Charles Waterford in 1965. He set up several churches in northern

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and recorded a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

album, ''The Reverend Waterford Sings''. Brian Baumgartner, Review of ''All Over But The Shoutin'', ''Juke Blues'' no. 53, p. 61
''Jimmckaba.com'', Retrieved 31 March 2014 After retiring from the ministry, he approached the organisers of the Springing The Blues festival in

Jacksonville Beach, Florida Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. The population was 23,830 at the 2020 census. The city is part of group of communities collectively referred to as the Jacksonville Beaches on the northern ...

, in 2002, and at the age of 85 performed there with a band led by pianist Jim McKaba. They also recorded and released an album, ''All Over But The Shoutin. Waterford died in Jacksonville in 2007, aged 90, and was buried at

Florida National Cemetery Florida National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located near the city of Bushnell, Florida, Bushnell in Sumter County, Florida. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs it encompasses and began interments ...

, Bushnell.

Discography

Compilation album

* ''Shoutin' The Blues - Complete recordings with Jay McShan and Pete Johnson'',

Oldie Blues Oldie Blues was a Dutch record label founded and owned by Martin van Olderen. History The label was founded in 1974 and focused primarily on piano blues, boogie-woogie and Delta blues, issuing 46 LPs and 13 CDs.Wynn, Neil, ''Cross the Water Blu ...

(1985)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterford, Crown Prince 1916 births 2007 deaths People from Jonesboro, Arkansas American blues singers American jazz singers Jump blues musicians Urban blues musicians Jazz musicians from Arkansas 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers