Who was Laddie Springs? A passing mention of his orchestra in a 14 August 1937 Journal and Guide article led me down a rabbit hole. It turns out Springs spent only a few years in Wilson, but what a life he led!
Laddie Springs was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In the 1910 census of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, N.C.: at 714 West Street, janitor Frank Springs, 36; wife Annie, 37; children Pearl, 14, Clyde, 11, and Lattie, 8; boarder Jim Stearling, 23, laborer on street car line; and mother-in-law Nancie Abernathy, 65.
In his late teens, Springs found work as a clothes presser.
1923 Charlotte, N.C., city directory.
But he was soon on the road — the beginning of a half-century of professional piano-playing on the chitlin’ circuit, in vaudeville theatres, in schools, in jazz clubs, and in private homes.
We first see him — just two years out of the laundry — heading the New Orleans Jazz Band at Bailey’s 81 Theatre on Atlanta’s Decatur Street. He was touring as part of Seals & Mitchell’s “big revue,” a variety show featuring musicians, “real dancers — who can sing,” and comedians. The 81 was a black-owned venue, but this frolic was for a whites-only audience.
Atlanta Journal, 27 November 1925.
The show was a hit, and Laddie Springs’ “famous” band was hailed as the “best in the country.”
Atlanta Constitution, 28 November 1925.
A week later, Seals and Mitchell’s chorus were in Birmingham, Alabama, with Springs fronting a different group — the Six Melody Boys.
Chicago Defender, 5 December 1925.
At the end of the year, Springs fetched up at the Booker Washington Theatre in Pensacola, Florida, with Frank Radcliff‘s Musical Comedy company.
Pensacola News Journal, 29 December 1925.
Eighteen months later, Laddie Springs leading a seven-piece orchestra. His wife Bernice Springs — I don’t know where they married — was planning “to spend a week with Ma Rainey in Chicago while she is recording and enjoying herself riding in her $13,000 bus.” The Springses could be reached at their home at 428 East 2nd Street in the old Brooklyn neighborhood of Charlotte’s Second Ward. (The site is now under a Hilton Garden Inn.)
Pittsburgh Courier, 2 July 1927.
In 1929, the Springs’ old colleagues in the Seals and Mitchell show wrote from San Bernardino, California, that they wanted to hear from “Laddie Springs and wife.”
Saint Louis Defender, 2 March 1929.
The Springses apparently rode out much of the Great Depression in Wilson. A 1932 social column in the Journal and Guide mentioned that Laddie Springs furnished music for a home wedding and, as a member of the Carolina Stompers Orchestra, entertained guests of the Pleasure Seekers Social Club.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 2 April 1932.
Several months later, both Springses performed for the Moonlight Chasers club at a house on Church Street.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 10 September 1932.
The following month, Laddie Springs played piano at a birthday party held at the Whitney Hotel.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 1 October 1932.
The Carolina Stompers performed at Wilson’s Black high school in February 1933. Vocalist Catherine Wilkerson performed “Strange,” composed by Laddie Springs, which became one of the band’s signature tunes.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 18 February 1933.
A few weeks later, the high school’s home ec club gave a dance at “Vicks Hall,” which was probably a space in the Odd Fellows building Samuel H. Vick had built.
Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 11 March 1933.
Doris Henderson was born 14 December 1935 in Wake County, N.C., to Bessie Henderson and Laddie Springs.
Laddie and Bernice Springs separated, and he moved north to Philadelphia. Bernice Springs appears to have remained for some time in Wilson County, where she is listed in the 1940 census enumeration of the town of Elm City.
On 27 October 1940, in Wilmington, Delaware, Laddie Springs, 36, of Philadelphia, single, musician, born in North Carolina to Frank and Anna Springs, married Mildred F. Smith, 30, of Wilmington, Delaware, divorced, born in Delaware to Wesley and Alretta B. Taylor.
In 1942, Laddie Springs registered for the World War II draft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his registration card, he was born 22 April 1904 in North Carolina; lived at 1340 North 57th Street, Philadelphia; his contact was Mildred Springs; and he worked for Pop Clede Subway Grill, Chester, Pennsylvania.
1950 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, city directory.
In the 1950 census of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: at 5526 Master, apartment 2, Laddie Springs, 45, orchestra musician, and wife Mildred, 42, operator in dress factory.
In 1970, Springs briefly joined Ed Ashley’s Jazz Band, which played small clubs in the Philadelphia area. The liner notes for their single album includes a brief bio of Springs, which noted that he had written “Strange” and had played duo piano with Earl Hines and Fats Waller in the 1930s.
Laddie Springs died in Philadelphia in July 1988. His obituary glosses over his early years on the road and his years in Wilson and erroneously credits him with founding the Carolina Stompers, but sheds light on his decades in Philadelphia. [Sidenote: my grandmother spent her more than four decades in Philadelphia at 5549 Wyalusing Avenue, just one block from Camphor Memorial United Methodist.]
Philadelphia Inquirer, 18 July 1988.
Image of “Strange” record courtesy of Swing Blues Jazz 78 RPM.
