Meade Anderson Lewis, b. September 4, 1905 in Chicago, IL, d. June 7, 1964 in Minneapolis, MN. Although he was popular in Chicago bars in the 20s, Lewis was little known elsewhere and made his living running a taxicab firm with fellow-pianist Albert Ammons. A record he made in 1927, 'Honky Tonk Train Blues', but which was not released until 1929, eventually came to the attention of John Hammond Jnr. some half-dozen years later. Encouraged by Hammond and the enormous success of 'Honky Tonk Train Blues', which he re-recorded in 1936 (and later), Lewis became one of the most popular and successful of the pianists to enjoy fleeting fame during the boogie-woogie craze. With Ammons and Pete Johnson, billed as the 'Boogie Woogie Trio', he played at Hammond's Carnegie Hall 'Spirituals to Swing' concert and at many top New York clubs. Later resident in Los Angeles, Lewis continued to tour and make records. From the mid-30s onwards, Lewis often played celeste and records such as those he made in the early 40s with Edmond Hall's Celeste Quartet, where the remaining members of the group included Israel Crosby and Charlie Christian, showed him to be much more versatile than his mass audience appeared to assume. Lewis died following a road accident in 1964.
