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CHARLIE SPAND

No bare facts are known about the origin and life of Charlie Spand before the 1920s. The first factual information is his residence in Detroit, Michigan, where he played piano along with others such as Will Ezell on Hastings and Brady Streets in the Black Bottom, Detroit's black section. Together with other pianists he formed the boogie nucleus of the city.
By the end of the 1920s the artists were ‘floating' from one city to another. Spand was remembered as having played at rent parties in Chicago during the 1928-1930 period. Arthur ‘Blind' Blake's apartment in Chicago became a meeting place for pianists, including Spand and Ezell. Both became recording artists for Paramount as well as Little Brother Montgomery, who met and played with Spand during the 1928-1930 period.

Spand's recording career started at the Gennett recording studio in Richmond, on June 6, 1929. He cut two titles at this first session: Soon This Morning Blues and Fetch Your Water. The accompanying guitarist is believed to have been ‘Blind' Blake. During the next two years he cut at least 24 songs for the Paramount label, duetting with ‘Blind' Blake on a rendition of Moanin' The Blues. Spand's last session for the Paramount label was recorded in Grafton, Wis. in July 1931, by which time the company was on its last legs.

Nothing much is known about Spand's activities during the 1930s. Spand might have been playing in ‘Cripple' Clarence Lofton's Big Apple Tavern. But although it's rumoured that he returned to Detroit.
Boogie-woogie was in full swing by the late 1930s. Spand may have taken advantage of the revival of interest in piano blues and boogie-woogie.
He got the opportunity to do two separate recording sessions for OKeh Records in June 1940, recording a total of eight songs, including a remake of his Soon This Morning. These were made in Chicago, when Spand was backed by ‘Little' Son Joe and ‘Big' Bill Broonzy.

Jimmy Yancey (left) mentioned that Charlie Spand (right) visited his apartment in the early 1940s.

Charlie Spand was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer, noted for his barrelhouse style. Spand's playing was typical of the Detroit pianists of his day. Spand was deemed one of the most influential piano players of the 1920s.
Despite his popularity, Charlie Spand remains a shadowy figure despite numerous attempts to uncover his story. After World War II no definite reports on Spand are to be found, either in Chicago or in Detroit. Several sources believed that he died in Chicago around 1975.

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