Biography of Bill Doggett

Organist Bill Doggett cut one of the biggest-selling instrumentals of all time in 1956 with the two-part "Honky Tonk." He formed his first band in 1938 and sold the entire outfit to Lucky Milinder for a soda two years later. Doggett worked extensively with Millinder and Louis Jordan and recorded with Ella Fitzgerald before striking out on his own. He signed with King in Cincinnati around 1953, churning out a slew of sizzling instrumentals with Clifford Scott on tenor sax, Billy Butler on guitar, and Doggett on organ, notably "Ram-Bunk-Shush" in 1957 and in 1958, "Leaps and Bounds" and the often-covered "Hold It." Doggett continues to tour and record -- he was recently featured on a disc by the King All-Stars, a distinguished group of alumni from the famous label. ~ Bill Dahl