Noble "Thin Man" Watts

The 1950s R&B scene was rife with fire-breathing tenor sax honkers, and Noble "Thin Man" Watts was one of the most incendiary. Watts enrolled at Florida A&M University in 1942 (his mates in the school marching band included future jazz luminaries <a href="spotify:artist:7KjjSmSX5wCE1KYOerEf6D">Nat</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5v74mT11KGJqadf9sLw4dA">Cannonball Adderly</a>). <a href="spotify:artist:7w4imfif9uHQa2iPA4RScM">The Griffin Brothers</a>, one of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dot+Records%22">Dot Records</a>' top R&B acts (obviously, this was before the days when Randy Wood's label provided safe haven for the hopelessly pale likes of <a href="spotify:artist:7fmKtIgmxqNEKjATioVNsu">Pat Boone</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5H2SmWlJAuebbHm6gzVq80">Gale Storm</a>) hired young Noble Watts after he got out of college. Watts joined baritone saxist Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams in 1952, recording with him for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Jax%22">Jax</a> and taking sax solos behind <a href="spotify:artist:32LHRiof0sa4taYew9i3Fa">Dinah Washington</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3uZRvkqeNHKLMFQrJBaUCX">Amos Milburn</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4EYVgfZJ8wKXWmIvCx3gOY">Ruth Brown</a> on the groundbreaking mid-'50s TV program Showtime at the Apollo (Williams led the house band for the <a href="spotify:artist:5voZg3xW2tctTCgwCwvEYZ">Willie Bryant</a>-hosted extravaganza). Later, there was a stint with <a href="spotify:artist:2PjgZkwAEk7UTin4jP6HLP">Lionel Hampton</a>.

Watts' own discography commenced in 1954 with a tasty coupling for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DeLuxe%22">DeLuxe</a> ("Mashing Potatoes"/"Pig Ears and Rice"). A 1956 single for Vee-Jay with Williams' band ("South Shore Drive") came just prior to Watts' salad days on the New York-based <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Baton%22">Baton</a> label. With his band the Rhythm Sparks in support, Watts wailed "Easy Going," "Blast Off," "Shakin'," "Flap Jack," and quite a few more searing instrumentals for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Baton%22">Baton</a> from 1957 to 1959, the biggest of all being "Hard Times (The Slop)," which propelled the saxist onto the pop charts in December of 1957. Guitar twanger <a href="spotify:artist:1I5Cu7bqjkRg85idwYsD91">Duane Eddy</a> must have dug what he heard: he covered the grinding shuffle for Jamie a few years later. That wasn't Noble Watts' only connection to rock & roll. He played behind <a href="spotify:artist:2zyz0VJqrDXeFDIyrfVXSo">Jerry Lee Lewis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3wYyutjgII8LJVVOLrGI0D">Buddy Holly</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:293zczrfYafIItmnmM3coR">Chuck Berry</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4ACplpEqD6JIVgKrafauzs">the Everly Brothers</a>, and many more on various late-'50s package tours.

Boxer Sugar Ray Robinson managed Watts during the late '50s and early '60s, recruiting the saxist to lead the house band at the pugilist's Harlem lounge. Things got thin for the Thin Man during the '60s (45s for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sir%22">Sir</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cub%22">Cub</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Enjoy%22">Enjoy</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Peanut%22">Peanut</a>, Jell, Clamike, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Brunswick%22">Brunswick</a> came and went without much notice) and '70s, but he mounted a comeback bid in 1987 with a fresh album, Return of the Thin Man, for Bob Greenlee's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kingsnake%22">Kingsnake</a> logo (later picked up by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Alligator%22">Alligator</a>). King of the Boogie Sax followed in 1993 for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ichiban%22">Ichiban</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Wild+Dog%22">Wild Dog</a> imprint, and Watts continued to work as a session saxist for Greenlee when he wasn't pursuing his own interests. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi