Jackson & His Southern Stompers

Jackson and His Southern Stompers sounds like it could be a gang of roughnecks that would run a hippie out of Mississippi, but in reality is just another obscure combo from the '20s about which discographers and historians scratch their head, if not other parts of their bodies that have become infected due to too much contact with grungy old 78s. While some of these brilliant minds believe Jackson was simply a pseudonym for a record producer who made a habit out of such behavior, there is also much evidence to support pianist Mike Jackson being the man in charge of this outfit. The two songs recorded by this group, "Dusky Stevedore" and "Take Your Tommorow and Give Me Today," feature a pianist backed by drums, banjo, saxophone, trumpet, and a brass bass. None of these musicians are identified on logs from the 1928 New York City recording session, originally released by the Marathon imprint. Both songs come from the busy team of Andy Razaf and J.C. Johnson; "Dusky Stevedore" had originally been promoted on the hillbilly market via vocalist Roy Evans, only to be quickly redistributed through Columbia's pop music series. It is not known whether Jackson and His Southern Stompers ever performed live. Similar sounding, but not related band names include Jackson & His Computer Band, an electronic outfit, and rockers Mike Jackson and the Soul Providers. ~ Eugene Chadbourne