Bert Williams

Bert Williams was the recording industry's first important and enduring black artist. His dry but insightful humor, coupled with a downtrodden but persevering persona, found popular success at the turn-of-the-century which continued into the Roaring Twenties. Williams was also a noteworthy songwriter, performed on stages ranging from minstrel shows and vaudeville to Broadway, and made great strides in overcoming racial barriers in American entertainment. Williams was born in Nassau in the West Indies, on November 12, 1874 or 1875. In 1885 he moved with his family to California. By 1893 he had teamed with long time partner George Walker and begun honing his talents in and around San Francisco. Two years later the act relocated to Chicago, but it was the following year they made their Broadway debut in Oriental America, the first "Negro" production featured on the Broadway stage. At about this time the team began turning a serious hand to songwriting. Soon after the turn-of-the-century, Williams and Walker increased the range and ambition of their activities. On October 11, 1901, they made their first recordings, including a comic duet called "Good Morning, Carrie" which became a major success. In the summer of 1902 they began work on a new production, In Dahomey, which would become the first major musical written and performed by black entertainers to run on Broadway. The show became a great success, not just in New York but on a tour which took in most of the country as well as England, including a performance at Buckingham Palace. While Williams and Walker had a couple more hit recordings, Bert Williams' solo performances were soon eclipsing them. Chief among these was his own composition, "Nobody," which was a huge hit in 1906. It became his signature song, and was...