Bill Doggett - The Right Choice

Released: 1991
Size: 113,2 MB
Time: 49:10
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Styles: Jazz oriented R&B
Art: Big Front

01. Fur Piece [4:53]
02. Rough Neck [6:11]
03. Warm Breezes [4:08]
04. Mush Mouth [3:58]
05. Du-Da [4:55]
06. Things Ain't What They Used To Be [5:12]
07. I'm Ready [3:02]
08. The Wright Choice [5:23]
09. Honky Tonk (Parts 1 & 2) [4:52]
10. Just A Blues [6:33]

William Ballard Doggett was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.His mother, a church pianist, introduced him to music when he was nine years old. By the time he was fifteen, he had joined a Philadelphia area combo, playing local theaters and clubs while attending high school.Doggett later sold his band to Lucky Millinder, and worked during the 1930s and early 1940s for both Millinder and arranger Jimmy Mundy. In 1942 he was hired as The Ink Spots' pianist and arranger.Toward the end of 1947, he replaced Wild Bill Davis as the pianist for Louis Jordan's Tympany Five. It was in Jordan's group that he first achieved success playing the Hammond organ. In 1950 he is reputed to have written one of Jordan's biggest hits, "Saturday Night Fish Fry", for which Jordan claimed the writing credit.In 1951, Doggett organized his own trio and began recording for King Records. His best known recording is "Honky Tonk", a rhythm and blues hit of 1956 which sold four million copies (reaching No. 1 R&B and No. 2 Pop), and which he co-wrote with Billy Butler. The track topped the US Billboard R&B chart for over two months. He won the Cash Box award for best rhythm and blues performer in 1957, 1958, and 1959. He also arranged for many bandleaders and performers, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Lionel Hampton.As a jazz player Doggett started in swing music and later played soul jazz. His bands included saxophonists Red Holloway, Clifford Scott, Percy France, David "Bubba" Brooks, Clifford Davis, and Floyd "Candy" Johnson; guitarists Floyd Smith, Billy Butler, Sam Lackey and Pete Mayes; and singers Edwin Starr, Toni Williams and Betty Saint-Clair. His biggest hits, "Honky Tonk" (the Part 2 side of the record) and "Slow Walk" featured saxophonist Clifford Scott.He continued to play and arrange until he died, aged 80, of a heart attack in New York.With his instrumental hit "Honky Tonk" in February 1956, Bill Doggett created one of rock's greatest instrumental tracks. Although it generated scores of offers to perform in rock & roll clubs throughout the United States, Doggett remained tied to the jazz and organ-based R&B that he had performed since the 1930s. Continuing to record for the Cincinnati-based King label until 1960, he went on to record for Warner Brothers, Columbia, ABC-Paramount and Sue. This is the last album Bill Doggett recorded before his death in 1996, for Forevermore Records subsidiary, After Hours Records.

AMG Review :
Considering his popularity and influence, it is surprising how few Bill Doggett albums have been reissued on CD. This late-period effort, which features the organist with several medium-sized groups, is quite jazz-oriented while not wandering far from Doggett's early R&B roots. Among the key sidemen are trumpeter Eddie Preston, Bubba Brooks, and Howard Kimbo on tenors, altoists Bill Easley and Jimmy Cozier, and guitarists Gregory Townson and George Naha. In addition to the inevitable "Honky Tonk," Doggett plays "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," and a variety of basic originals. Fun music.
(~ Scott Yanow)

Line-up/Musicians:
- Eddie Preston / trumpet
- Bernard "Pretty" Purdie / drums
- Greg Townson / guitar
- Tony Williams / vocals
- Dennis Wilson / trombone
- George Naha / guitar
- David Bubba Brooks / tenor sax
- Howard Kimbo / tenor sax
- Jimmy Cozier / alto sax
- Haywood Henry / baritone sax
- Bill Doggett / organ
- Bill Easley / alto sax
- Leonard Gaskin / bass

Produced by: Greg Townson, Bill Doggett, Marty Duda

My repost from old blog
The Right Choice

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