R&b Time - Noble Thin Man Watts

Roburt · September 8, 2013

Noble "Thin Man" Watts was born in DeLand, Florida in 1926, Noble Watts started out playing piano, then progressed to the violin and trumpet before discovering the tenor sax in his teens. His mother encouraged his efforts to learn to play the different musical instruments and she bought him each new one in the hope of keeping him from indulging his desire to get into boxing. In 1942, he enrolled at Florida A&M University, At the University he joined the establishment's renowned marching band with a pair of future jazz legends, Cannonball Adderley and his brother Nat Adderley. At Florida A & M he turned his raw talent into prowess on the sax, learnt to read music and became a well-trained highly proficient musician. He was hired straight from college by the Griffin Brothers and then played with fellow saxman Paul 'Hucklebuck' Williams both live and on the TV show 'Showtime At The Apollo'. He first went into the recording studio with Williams to play on sessions backing up top black singers of the time. He continued to build his musical reputation in New York playing with the house band at Sugar Ray Robinson's club ('Sugar Rays') on 7th Ave (between 123rd & 124th St) in Harlem as a member of Lionel Hampton's orchestra. He also toured extensively on R&R package tours with the likes of Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and others. His booming tenor sax style influenced the likes of King Curtis and Clarence Clemons.

He commenced his solo record career in 1954 with a coupling put out on DeLuxe ("Mashing Potatoes / Pig Ears and Rice"). He continued to record behind others before resurrecting his solo career in 1957 with a number of singles on Baton Records. He enjoyed his biggest hit with "Hard Times (the Slop)" in 1957. Another single, "Jookin" found lots of fans both in the music industry and elsewhere. With the success of his records plus his great live show performances, he soon became one of the hottest tenor saxmen on the 1950s R&B scene. This was the era of honking tenor sax, when sax players led the transformation of R&B into rock 'n' roll. Saxmen like Big Jay McNeely and Noble Watts were early R&R superstars, Watts was acknowledged as one of the greatest exponents of that honking tenor style. Sugar Ray Robinson took over as his manager and installed him as the band leader at his club. But he failed to maintain his high musical profile despite teaming up with vocalists such as June Bateman, his days as a musical leader appeared to be over. During the 1960's, even though he had 45's out on Sir, Cub, Enjoy, Peanut, Jell, Arrawak, Clamike & Brunswick most were released without the buying public taking too much notice. His profile dipped even further in the 1970's and he eventually returned to the area of his birth.

However, his career was resurrected in the late 80's with the help of Bob Greenlee (producer / musician). Greenlee, a fan of the 'Thin Man' from way back found him playing lounge music in Central Florida and was determined to resurrect his career. Greenlee got Watts to join the Midnight Creepers and released albums by them on King Snake Records (Sanford, Florida). With Greenlee's help, Watts was once again endorsed as a musical innovator. In 1979 he had a retrospective LP out on UK Flyright Records and in 1987 another UK album release on Bedrock Records. This was followed in 1993 back in the US by an album on Ichiban's Wild Dog label. Noble performed less frequently in later years, though he did headline a concert staged in DeLand to celebrate his 75th birthday. His nickname really fit the bill but as he always exuded a regal bearing his given name was just as appropriate. He was noted for being a a real gentleman and a consummate musician. Watts spent the last few months of his life in a nursing home coping with emphysema and pneumonia. He passed away back in 2004 in DeLand, Florida aged 78.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLCYuuFpQ6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbfCh6Esl1k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf8KONi05w8