Arnett T. Nelson was born March 3, 1892, in Ellisville, Mississippi, and grew up in Laurel, Mississippi (142 miles northeast of New Orleans, LA). According to the US census for 1935 & 1940, he lived at the Mecca Apartments, 3338 South State, Chicago. He died on March 14, 1959 in Chicago. It seems that Arnett Nelson was never interviewed. The only original publications about him that I have found are:
Collins, Lee. Oh! Didn’t He Ramble. University of Illinois Press (1947).
Gulliver, Ralph. “Jimmy Wade.” Storyville 56: 55-68 (1974/75).
Hillman, Christopher, and Middleton, Roy with Chaigne, Michel. Chicago Swingers. Cygnet Publications i-v, 1-105 (2010).
Virgo, Ernest S: Arnett Nelson. The “Unknown Clarinet.” Record Research Magazine no. 159/160: 13-14 (1978).
Ernest Virgo also wrote the sleeve notes for the LP - Magpie PY 1803 Arnett Nelson – The Rhythm Kings – When the Music Sounds Good 1935-1938 – issued in 1978.
The below chronology and general information are taken from Collins (1947), Gulliver (1974/75), Virgo (1978), and Hillman, et al. (2010).
According to Lee Collins, Arnett Nelson played his first job in New Orleans in a band lead by Lee’s trumpet playing father. He joined after Lorenzo Tio, Sr., left the band. Tio Sr. left New Orleans in 1907. If Nelson was born in 1892, then he would have been 15 years old—possible?
Virgo (1978) reports from La
