Bill Doggett

Bill Doggett 1980

William Ballard Doggett (* 16th February 1916 in Philadelphia ; † 13. November 1996 in New York ) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues - a pianist and organist .

Live and act

When Doggett was nine, his mother, a church pianist, introduced him to music. At 15, he joined a combo in the Philadelphia area. During his high school years, he performed in local theaters and clubs. From 1935 he played in various bands, such as Jimmy Gorham's Band (1935-1938), in which he even rose to bandleader shortly before he left. In the meantime Doggett had recruited his own band, which he integrated into Lucky Millinder's band from 1938 . He made his recording debut with Little Old Lady From Baltimore in 1939. He stayed with Millinder as a pianist until the end of 1941 (one of his last recordings on November 6, 1941 was That's All ) and left him his own band. In early 1942, Doggett began as arranger and pianist for Ink Spots , which he stayed with until October 1944. From 1947 he briefly replaced the organist Wild Bill Davis in Louis Jordan's Tympany Five. Doggett can be heard here on the famous recordings of Saturday Night Fish Fry (September 1949) or the Blue Light Boogie (July 1950). From June 1951 he also played organ regularly in Ella Fitzgerald's recording sessions , and from June 1952 he performed with his own organ-dominated trio in the New York nightclub Baby Grand .

Bill Doggett - Honky Tonk Part 1

Until then, the talented Doggett could only be heard as a band member on records by other artists. That changed in January 1952 when he got a recording deal with King Records with his combo . A first recording session was scheduled for January 19, 1952 in New York, during which, in addition to 3 other recordings, the A-side of his first single Big Dog (King # 4530) was made. His producer Henry Glover showed patience, because it took 19 singles to hit the charts for the first time. On June 16, 1956, he recorded his own composition Honky Tonk Pt. 1 / Honky Tonk Pt. 2 (King # 4950), an organ-emphasized and heavily syncopated instrumental recording which, after its release in August 1956, immediately reached first place on the Rhythm & Blues chart and stayed there for 10 weeks. With record sales of 4 million, the song became the top-selling hit of the King label and was also a good crossover with No. 2 on the pop hit parade . The fast-paced organ riff in the live recorded song forms the basis for staccato solos by tenor saxophonist Clifford Scott, which in turn were connected by fast guitar chords by Billy Butler . The follow-up single Slow Walk / Hand in Hand (King # 5000) was released in December 1956 and made it into fourth place on the R&B charts. On December 21, 1956, he remembered Lucky Millinder's composition Ram-Bunk-Shush in the recording studio , which he led to No. 10 R&B in March 1957. A last big hit was the song Hold It / Birdie , recorded on June 17, 1958 , which reached a third position on the R&B charts.

In 1961, Doggett moved to Warner, then Columbia and ABC.

In the 1970s he celebrated a comeback at the Nice Jazz Festival, which was documented on several LPs on the French Black & Blue label, but it was short-lived.

Discography (selection of singles)

• Big Dog / Big Dog (King 4530), January 19, 1951
• Mistreater / Early Bird (King 4591) October 30, 1952
• Real Gone Mambo / No More in Life , (King 4617), February 18, 1953
• There's No You / Easy (King 4711) December 15, 1953
• Winter Wonderland / Christmas Song (King 4742), May 24, 1954
• Street Scene / Oof! (King 4795) March 23, 1955
• Honky Tonk Pt. 1 / Honky Tonk Pt. 2 (King 4950), June 16, 1956 (The single was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2006. )
• Slow Walk / Hand In Hand (King 5000), October 29, 1956 / June 16, 1956
• Ram-Bunk-Shush / Blue Largo (King 5020), December 21, 1956 / October 12, 1956
• Leaps and Bounds Pt. 1 / Leaps And Bounds Pt. 2 (King 5101), September 18, 1956
• Hold It / Birdie (King 5149), June 17, 1958 / April 3, 1958
• Rainbow Riot Pt. 1 / Rainbow Riot Pt. 2 (King 5159), September 23, 1958
• Bill Doggett (Black & Blue 1978) with Eddie Lockjaw Davis , Eddie Vinson , Milt Hinton , JC Heard