Teddy Williams

By Marv Goldberg

© 2025 by Marv Goldberg

This is gonna be a short one. Teddy Williams released four records in three years (on Prestige, Federal, and M-G-M), became a member of the Ink Spots, and was never in a single ad as appearing anywhere. He then seemingly dropped off the face of the earth.

It's a common name and, to make my life complete, there were several other singers named "Teddy Williams": one was a blues singer; one was the bass with the Crystals/Opals and then the Vocaleers; one was the bass with the 4 Fellows; and Irwin "Teddy" Williams was a tenor with the Checkers. There was also an orchestra leader by that name (Teddy Williams And His Teddy Bears). Even baseball's Ted Williams was often referred to as "Teddy".

Theodore Lawrence Williams was born in Manhattan on June 20, 1927. He was the only child of Oliver Sanford Williams and Carrie Ruth Crafton. His father was a policeman in the Borough of Queens and was occasionally mentioned in newspaper articles.

I'm not sure if this is the family, but it's worth mentioning. The March 4, 1933 New York Age said:

Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Williams have returned to Corona [a section of Queens] and are now residing in their pretentious home at 32-20 108th Avenue. [The italics are mine.]

The moral here, boys and girls, is don't use big words if you don't know what they mean.

In the April 1940 census, the family was living in Queens (but not at the address in the prior paragraph). Oliver was a New York City Policeman.

A few months later, Oliver made the pages of the July 27 New York Age, under the heading "Boys Attack Negro Cop As He Makes Arrest". It went on to say that he was off-duty and sitting in his car outside his house, when he saw some boys jumping over a hedge of a nearby home. He went around to the back of that home and saw them trying to force open a rear window. He drew his gun and marched them to the front of the house, asking someone to phone the police. A crowd started to gather and three boys ran out of the crowd and attacked him. Fortunately, a patrol car arrived at that moment and arrested them all.

By the time Teddy registered for the draft (on June 22, 1945), the family had moved to 131st Street in Harlem. Since he was born on June 20, he probably should have registered the day before, and that may account for why he gave his birthday as June 21.

The first time we hear of Teddy Williams singing was on March 27, 1949, when he was one of the acts at the "Your Favorite Beautician" contest at Harlem's Club Calypso. Others on the bill included singer/actress Amanda Randolph, Bill Johnson & the Musical Notes, and Deek Watson's Brown Dots. This was a Big Deal affair, with a first prize of $60, sponsored by Uncle Walt's Sausage Company. (Honest, I'm not making this up.)

Since the December 24, 1949 New York Age had a photo of Teddy holding up a sign with his name and "Ruban Bleu" on it, I guess he was appearing at Manhattan's Le Ruban Bleu, although his name was never otherwise associated with it. It was part of a photo set taken at a benefit for the Carlton Avenue Branch YMCA, held at Brooklyn's Arlington Inn on December 22. Others who entertained were the Blenders, Doc Pomus, Albennie Jones, and Babs Gonzales.

Somehow Teddy got to record two songs for Prestige records on March 5, 1950: "A Touch Of The Blues" and "Dumb Woman Blues". The band consisted of Gene Ammons (tenor sax); Edward Hammond "Sonny Stitt" Boatner Jr, (tenor and baritone sax); Irving "Duke" Jordan (piano); Tommy Potter (bass); and Jonathan "Jo" Jones (drums).

The March 18, 1950 New York Age had an article about Teddy that said so little that I have to believe it was written by a press agent. It was titled "Saga Of The Singer Who Knew What Type Music He Could Sing":

It was four or more months ago when this young fellow walked up to the bar and interrupted my elbow-bending with the query "You write for The Age, don't you?" Since the query was true, and since the asker was 6 feet tall and the door was far away, the answer was a soft, almost inaudible "Uh huh."

"Well," said he, "I'm getting sick and tired of it. Every time I got lined up for a recording job, the people want me to sing like somebody else. Make like Mr.B. [Billy Eckstine] they say, or 'Put some of Bing's boo-boo-pa-doo in it.'

"Well," he went on, "I'm sick and tired of it."

'Twas learned that the "sick and tired" young man was Teddy Williams, a young singer who had thrown up his hands in disgust at not being allowed to sing his own style for the recording companies seeking his services. He had a kind of music to make, and he'd make that kind and none other.

Later, with Dan Burley, Chippy Hill, Laurel Watson, Doc Pomus, Albennie Jones and others, we worked the Carlton Ave. Branch Y benefit show and Teddy tore down the house singing. Then followed a stint at the Powellton Inn in Philly, and later Ted and Shirley de Sharvis broke it up at a news service presentation show. Still Teddy hadn't gotten his voice on wax." The same thing," he'd relate "They want me to sing like somebody else."

Recently, however, Charlie and Dick Carpenter took Teddy under their managerial wing and arranged dates with Birdland Records. In a frantic two hours last week the young singer put up for posterity (on wax) his own "Dumb Woman Blues" and "A Touch of the Blues." Both sides show promise, and reveal Teddy Williams as an Up-and-Comer. The Birdland label is the property of the club of the same name, and is destined for the top. Teddy Williams should go there with the company if he continues to wax the kind of "Williams music" he put on his first two sides.

Note that Birdland and Prestige were associated labels. It names a couple of places where Teddy had appeared, but other than that Beautician contest, his name never appeared in an ad.

For a couple of years, the New York Age had a Round Robin entertainment schedule. Each week, they'd print the name of a club where the next "show" would take place (basically any singer who wanted to would show up). It was a great way of getting people to come out to clubs they'd never visited before. The March 25 "On The Stroll" column in the Age said that, in the most recent one, held at the Club Baron, Teddy Williams "that new recording star" sang "That Lucky Old Sun", as well as something he'd written himself (presumably "Dumb Woman Blues", which hadn't yet been released).

Week after week, Teddy's name would appear as someone who'd been at the most recent Round Robin.

And then, the 1950 census rolled around. The family was now in Manhattan and his father was no longer a policeman, but an apartment building caretaker. The strange one is Teddy himself; his occupation is listed as "Armed Forces", although he never seems to have left the Round Robin club scene. Possibly he was in the National Guard, but there's no record of that.

In May 1950, Prestige issued "A Touch Of The Blues", backed with "Dumb Woman Blues". While Prestige mentioned it in an ad in the June 3 Billboard, the sides weren't reviewed.

The November 18 New York Age still had Teddy as part of the Round Robin scene. He'd appeared at Luda's Caravan, singing "some of the latest hits plus such stoppers as 'That Old Black Magic'."

More recording. On January 21, 1951, in New York, Teddy waxed four tunes for Federal Records: "Heading For The River", "If I Didn't Love You" (with the Federalites), "(Take My Money) Take My Love" (with the Federalites), and "Gonna Fix Your Wagon". The Federalites were a female group, who also backed up Joe Bailey a month later; however, nothing is known about them.

In February, Federal released "(Take My Money) Take My Love", coupled with "If I Didn't Love You" (credited to "Teddy Williams and The Federalites").

For two weeks (February 17 and 24, 1951), Teddy had his own column in the New York Age. Called "Round Town", it was another column that talked about Round Robin events. In the first one, he talked about "my first 1951 ROUND ROBIN tonight at Luda's Caravan TONIGHT." [The repetition is his.] In the second one, he said the show would be at Small's Paradise, with the Blue Grass Cafe the following week. From then on, the "Round Town" column was written by Robert McAlpin; Teddy never wrote another one.

In March, Federal issued "Gonna Fix Your Wagon", coupled with "Heading For The River", as "Teddy Williams With Al Cobbs and Orchestra". As with his first two records, these weren't reviewed.

And then, Teddy teamed up with Babs Gonzales for a European tour. The June 29, 1951 Down Beat had this:

Babs Gonzales left New York May 18, as part of a vocal group known as the Manhattan singers, for a European tour, opening June 1 in Stockholm.

Deal, set by Claes Dahlgren, calls for appearances in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland during the next three months. Other members of the quartet are Carl Davis, Teddy Williams, and guitarist Lord Westbrook.

Dahlgren was a Swedish radio personality who promoted jazz programs. The four (all singers, except for Westbrook) sailed to Southampton, England on May 18 on the S.S. Washington: Lee Brown (Babs Gonzales' real name), Chauncey "Lord" Westbrook, Carl Davis, and Ted Lawrence Williams. They all said they'd be gone for three months (except Gonzales, who said 3-6 months).

There are no reports of what they did in Europe, but they were gone for about three and a half months. On October 1, 1950, Carl Davis and Chauncey Westbrook returned to New York on the S.S. America from Le Havre, France. On the 13th, "Brown, Lee Known as B. Gonzales" returned on the S.S. De Grasse, also from Le Havre. Conspicuously missing is Teddy Williams. I've searched the full manifests for both dates and he's not there; I've looked at every Williams returning on any day in October 1951 and he's not there; I've even tried every "T. Williams" returning at any time in 1951 and he's not there. I assume he swam home, since he eventually did return.

We know that because, he next joined Bill Kenny's Ink Spots, replacing Billy Bowen, who had left by March 1952, at the latest. At that point, the Ink Spots were: Bill Kenny (tenor lead), Charlie Fuqua (baritone/guitar), Adriel McDonald (bass), Teddy Williams (tenor/baritone), and Harold Francis (pianist).

From August 10-16, those Ink Spots played The Frolics, in Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts. After that engagement, Charlie Fuqua left to set up his own Ink Spots group. Teddy left at the same time (although he didn't become part of Charlie's new group) and was replaced by Ernie Brown.

More recording: on December 8, 1952, Teddy recorded four songs for M-G-M, under the auspices of Joe Davis, who ran M-G-M's R&B department: "Bar And Grill Blues", "Why Do You Do Things To Cause Me Sorrow?", "Don't Fool With Me" (which had been done by the 5 Red Caps in 1943), and "A Woman Ain't Nothin' But Trouble".

His signing by M-G-M was reported in the January 3, 1953 Billboard, although, following industry practice, he'd already recorded.

Around February 1953, M-G-M released "Bar And Grill Blues", backed with "Why Do You Do Things To Cause Me Sorrow?". This was confirmed by the February 21 New York Age:

Handsome Teddy Williams, who has beaten many a path from Harlem to the Brill Building, in hopes that some record company would give a listen to his voice, has signed with M-G-M Records. He just cut "Why Do You Do Things To Cause Me Sorrow?" with "Bar And Grill Blues" on the flip side.

The disc was reviewed by Billboard on March 21:

Bar And Grill Blues (69): Williams gets more feeling into his chanting when he's handed a blues item like this one. [I guess they're comparing it to the flip side, since they've never reviewed any of his recordings before.]

Why Do You Do Things To Cause Me Sorrow? (67): Williams has some of the Eckstine sounds in his voice, but impresses mostly as a good band singer. The ork is good and the ditty is an attractive pop-like item.

The June 13, 1953 Billboard had a big article about Joe Davis leaving M-G-M to set up his own Jay-Dee Records. It was an amicable parting, since Jay-Dee would be pressed by M-G-M, and they allowed Davis to take some of their R&B artists with him, including the Crickets, the Blenders, Paula Watson, Beulah Bryant, Leslie Uggams, and Teddy Williams.

However, there were no Teddy Williams releases on Jay-Dee and it isn't known whether he ever recorded for them.

The June 27 New York Age had a list of people seen at the opening of Club Lido on 125th Street in Harlem. Present were Mantan Moreland, Slim Gaillard, Tito Puente, Everett Barksdale, Claude Hopkins, and Teddy Williams. It didn't say if any of them entertained.

The October 31, 1953 Age had a column that talked about an appearance somewhere (it was impossible to figure out from the text) of Babs Gonzales. In his small audience was Herb Lance, Teddy Williams, and WLIB DJ Buddy Bowser.

As that Ham once said: "The rest is silence". There was never another word about Teddy Williams, not even a record of his death. I don't know if he ever married or had any children. There's even a slim chance that he's still alive as I'm writing this in 2024.

There are a couple of intriguing snippets, but I can't confirm either one is about him (remember it's a common name):

A Langston Hughes play, The Prodigal Son, was staged in May 1965. In the singing ensemble was a Teddy Williams.

The March 27, 1976 New York Amsterdam News had an incredibly depressing column called "Mr. 1-2-5 Street". It contained three columns of crimes: murders, burglaries, shootings, stabbings, etc. The last sentence was "Teddy Williams was shot in the face and they are holding his wife Marta."

Teddy's father died on May 6, 1965; his mother on April 12, 1990. There was no obituary for either that might have named Teddy as being still alive.

Teddy Williams was a good singer with a brief career. I pride myself that I'm good at digging, but Teddy did his best to evade me. I'll try not to take it personally.


PRESTIGE (Teddy Williams)
715 A Touch Of The Blues / Dumb Woman Blues - ca. 5/50

FEDERAL
12017 (Take My Money) Take My Love / If I Didn't Love You - 2/51
            Above: Teddy Williams and The Federalites [a female group]
12025 Gonna Fix Your Wagon / Heading For The River - 3/51
            Above: Teddy Williams With Al Cobbs and Orchestra

M-G-M (Teddy Williams)
11446 Bar And Grill Blues / Why Do You Do Things To Cause Me Sorrow? - ca. 2/53

   UNRELEASED M-G-M
      Don't Fool With Me (recorded December 8, 1952)
      A Woman Ain't Nothin' But Trouble (recorded December 8, 1952)