Song:Trouble In Mind
Album:Richard M. Jones and the Blues Singers (1923-1938)
Pianist Richard M. Jones was mainly a sideman in the 20s and 30s. He is best known for writing the blues standard Trouble In Mind. He first recorded it in 1924 with singer Thelma La Vizzo. Jones was born June 13, 1892 in Donaldsville, LA. He started out playing cornet with the Eureka Brass Band. But then he turned to piano and he played clubs in New Orleans. Jones moved to Chicago in 1918 and went to work for bandleader Clarence Williams in his publishing company. And that's how Jones got into the record business. He continued to work as a sideman and occasionally he would record as a leader. But he was known for accompanying singers. Trouble In Mind is probably Jones' best known song. He first recorded it for Paramount Records in 1924. The singer is the otherwise unknown Thelma La Vizzo. She only recorded a couple of times with Jones and she disappeared. You can get this recording on this CD from Document which features various singers that Jones recorded in the 20s and 30s. In 1926, Jones played piano on a recording of Trouble In Mind featuring singer Bertha "Chippie" Hill and Louis Armstrong on cornet. Since then Trouble In Mind has become a standard recorded by all kinds of artists. The best known versions are by Dinah Washington in 1952 and Nina Simone in 1961. Jones worked for Okeh, Decca and Mercury as a producer and talent scout and he led his band The Jazz Wizards until his death on Dec. 8, 1945 at age 53. Here's a video for Trouble In Mind by Richard M. Jones featuring Thelma La Vizzo.
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