Noble "Thin Man" Watts

Noble "Thin Man" Watts (born February 17, 1926 in DeLand, Florida; died August 28, 2004) was a blues, jump blues and rhythm and blues saxophonist. He primarily played tenor saxophone.

[edit] Musical development and career

Watts studied violin and trumpet in his youth, later switching to sax. He gained musical training at Florida A&M, where he played in the school's marching band with future saxophone legend Cannonball Adderley. Hired to play with The Griffin Brothers after college, Watts began his professional career. During the 1950s, he would work with Lionel Hampton, Dinah Washington, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, the Everly Brothers, and others.^[1] He also appeared on American Bandstand with Johnny Mathis in 1957 [1] and performed in the house band at a Harlem club owned by boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. Watts's career would eventually decline by the mid-1960s. He played lounge music in parts of Florida before being "rediscovered" by producer Bob Greenlee. He made something of a comeback after that in 1987 and worked for Greenlee's record label.

In 2004 Mr. Watts died of a combination of pneumonia and emphysema. He was survived by his wife June.

All Music Guide critic Bill Dahl considers Watts "one of the most incendiary [...] fire-breathing tenor sax honkers" of the 1950s. ^[1]

This article on a United States musician who plays a woodwind instrument is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.