Wesley Wilson (October 1, 1893 – October
10, 1958) was an American blues and jazz singer and songwriter. His own
stage craft, plus the double act with his wife and musical partner, Coot
Grant, was popular with African American audiences in the 1910s, 1920s and
early 1930s.
His stage names included Kid Wilson, Jenkins, Socks, and either Sox Wilson
or Socks Wilson. His musical excursions included participation in the oddly
named duo of Pigmeat Pete and Catjuice Charlie. Wilson recorded songs such
as 'Blue Monday on Sugar Hill' and 'Rasslin' Till The Wagon Comes'.
Biography
He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Wilson played both
piano and organ, whilst Coot Grant strummed guitar as well as sing and
dance.
The duo's billing also varied between Grant and Wilson, Kid and Coot, and
Hunter and Jenkins, as they went on to appear and later record with Fletcher
Henderson, Mezz Mezzrow, Sidney Bechet, and Louis Armstrong. Their variety
was such that they performed separately and together in vaudeville, musical
comedies, revues and traveling shows. This ability to adapt also saw them
appear in the 1933 film, The Emperor Jones, alongside Paul Robeson.
In addition to this, the twosome wrote in excess of 400 songs over their
working lifetime. That list included 'Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of
Beer)' (1933) and 'Take Me for a Buggy Ride', which were both made famous by
Bessie Smith's recording of the songs, plus 'Find Me at the Greasy Spoon (If
You Miss Me Here)' (1925) and 'Prince of Wails' for Fletcher Henderson.
Their own renditions included the diverse, 'Come on Coot, Do That Thing'
(1925), 'Dem Socks Dat My Pappy Wore,' and 'Throat Cutting Blues' (although
the latter remains unreleased).'
Although Grant and Wilson's act, once seen as a serious rival to Butterbeans
and Susie, began to lose favor with the public by the middle of the 1930s,
they recorded further songs in 1938. Their only child, Bobby Wilson, was
born in 1941. By 1946, and after Mezz Mezzrow had founded his King Jazz
record label, he engaged them as songwriters. In that year, the association
led to their final recording session backed by a quintet incorporating
Bechet and Mezzrow.
Wilson retired in ill health shortly thereafter, but Grant continued
performing into the 1950s. In January 1953, one commentator noted that the
couple had moved from New York to Los Angeles, but were in considerable
financial hardship.
Wilson died from a stroke, aged 65, in October 1958 in Cape May Court House,
New Jersey.
In 1998, his entire recorded work, both with and without Grant, was made
available in three chronological volumes by Document Records.
