Research Catalog

Sammy Price papers

Title
Sammy Price papers, 1929 -1992.
Author
Price, Sammy.
Supplementary Content
Finding aid

Details

Additional Authors
Price, Sammy.
Description
11 linear feet (10 record cartons and 1 flat box)
Summary
The Sammy Price papers, 1929-1992, consist of materials pertaining to his musical and political career. Included in the collection are interviews with Price and various versions of his autobiography, "What Do They Want"; interviews; published and unpublished sheet music; flyers; and programs. There are also contracts and correspondence which detail the financial and legal background for his songs, performances, concerts and engagements, and royalties, taxes, and bank statements. Materials concerned with Price's political activities include correspondence primarily related to Price's capacity as director of Neighborhood Board No. 2, but there are also letters generated by his work as executive director of Sam Price and Associates, and other organizations, along with memorabilia, financial documents, and printed matter.
Subject
  • Price, Sammy
  • Sam Price and Associates
  • HARYOU-ACT (Organization)
  • African American musicians > Biography
  • Pianists > United States
  • Piano music (Jazz)
  • Piano music > United States
  • Jazz musicians > United States
  • African Americans in the performing arts > United States
  • African American entertainers > United States
  • African American singers > United States
  • African American dancers > United States
  • African American band directors > United States
  • African American jazz musicians > New York (State) > New York
  • African Americans > Music
  • African Americans > Civil rights
  • African American leadership > New York (State) > New York
  • Harlem (New York, N.Y.) > Social conditions
  • United States > Social conditions > 1960-1980
Genre/Form
  • Flyers.
  • Letters.
  • Sheet music.
  • Contracts.
Note
  • Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.
Access (note)
  • Restricted access to some of the materials related to employees.
Source (note)
  • Sharon Mack
Biography (note)
  • Samuel "Sammy" Blythe Price (Oct. 6, 1908, Honey Grove, Texas - Apr. 14, 1992, New York City), a self-taught pianist, debuted onstage dancing the Charleston with the Alphonso Trent Orchestra in 1925. He toured with the Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA) circuit, playing piano with renowned musicians like Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson. Price was an accomplished and prolific recording artist as well, recording his first blues album in 1929 in Dallas, Texas, for J. Mayo Williams. From 1937 to 1954, Price was a recording artist, house pianist, recording supervisor and band leader at Decca Records in New York. He performed with singers such as Trixie Smith, Coot Grant and Wesley Wilson, Blue Lu Barker, Bea Booze, and Peetie Wheatstraw for Decca. He eventually landed his own session in 1940 Sam Price and His Texas Blusicians.
  • Price organized the Jazz Festival Society of Philadelphia and the Harlem Jazz Festival Society. In the mid 1950s, he was booked by Jeunesses Musicales de France, and toured in Europe and North Africa with Emmett Berry, George Stevenson, Herbie Hall, Pops Foster, and Fred Moore. Eubie Blake ordained Price as the "boogie-woogie" king.
  • While in New York, Price became politically active in Harlem after meeting Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., on a NAACP boat ride. Price's uncle, Joseph E. Ford, managed Powell's political affairs. In the 1960s, Price became the executive director of the Neighborhood Board No. 2, Inc., a community organization governed by Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU-ACT), an organization that worked with young African-Americans in Harlem. Neighborhood boards were established to give residents of Harlem an active voice in creating policies that specifically addressed their needs, with particular emphasis on the needs of the underprivileged.
Call Number
Sc MG 465
OCLC
949779517
Author
Price, Sammy.
Title
Sammy Price papers, 1929 -1992.
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
sheet
Access
Restricted access to some of the materials related to employees.
Biography
Samuel "Sammy" Blythe Price (Oct. 6, 1908, Honey Grove, Texas - Apr. 14, 1992, New York City), a self-taught pianist, debuted onstage dancing the Charleston with the Alphonso Trent Orchestra in 1925. He toured with the Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA) circuit, playing piano with renowned musicians like Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson. Price was an accomplished and prolific recording artist as well, recording his first blues album in 1929 in Dallas, Texas, for J. Mayo Williams. From 1937 to 1954, Price was a recording artist, house pianist, recording supervisor and band leader at Decca Records in New York. He performed with singers such as Trixie Smith, Coot Grant and Wesley Wilson, Blue Lu Barker, Bea Booze, and Peetie Wheatstraw for Decca. He eventually landed his own session in 1940 Sam Price and His Texas Blusicians.
Price organized the Jazz Festival Society of Philadelphia and the Harlem Jazz Festival Society. In the mid 1950s, he was booked by Jeunesses Musicales de France, and toured in Europe and North Africa with Emmett Berry, George Stevenson, Herbie Hall, Pops Foster, and Fred Moore. Eubie Blake ordained Price as the "boogie-woogie" king.
While in New York, Price became politically active in Harlem after meeting Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., on a NAACP boat ride. Price's uncle, Joseph E. Ford, managed Powell's political affairs. In the 1960s, Price became the executive director of the Neighborhood Board No. 2, Inc., a community organization governed by Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU-ACT), an organization that worked with young African-Americans in Harlem. Neighborhood boards were established to give residents of Harlem an active voice in creating policies that specifically addressed their needs, with particular emphasis on the needs of the underprivileged.
Connect to:
Finding aid
Local Subject
Black author.
Added Author
Price, Sammy. What do they want.
Research Call Number
Sc MG 465
View in Legacy Catalog