Doc Sausage

Lucius H. Tyson (7 March 1912 – September 1972), who performed as Dr. Sausage or Doc Sausage, was an American singer, dancer, drummer and bandleader. He was active from the 1930s to the 1950s and is best known for his 1950 recording of "Rag Mop".

He was born in Brunswick, Georgia, and moved to New York City in 1936.[1] By 1938, he was performing with his group, Dr. Sausage and His Five Pork Chops. The group included Al "Dr. Horse" Pittman.[2] His pianist Jimmy Harris was killed in a car crash that year,[3] but the following year the group performed as a "specialty" feature in a revue, Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1939, at the Hudson Theatre. Their act was influenced by performers such as Cab Calloway, and contained comedy, swing jazz, and vocal harmonies.[4] The group first recorded for Decca Records in 1940, on a version of "Wham (Re-bop-boom-bam)" featuring Gerry "The Wig" Wiggins on piano. However, neither it nor other tracks for Decca were commercially successful.[4]

Tyson did not record again until 1950, when his new group, Doc Sausage and His Mad Lads, recorded for the Regal label. As well as Doc Sausage on vocals and drums, the group comprised Earl Johnson (tenor saxophone), Charles Harris (piano), Charlie Jackson (guitar), and Jimmy Butts (bass).[5] The group recorded eight tracks, including a version of "Rag Mop" which reached number 4 in the Billboard R&B chart,[1] and its follow-up, "Sausage Rock".[6] The record company went out of business soon afterwards, and Tyson seems not to have recorded again.[4]

Tyson died in New York in 1972 at the age of 60.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 390.
  2. ↑ "On This Day in Jazz Age Music: September 17th". Retrieved 8 October 2013
  3. ↑ Jet, 11 September 1952, p.42
  4. 1 2 3 John Foliot, Doctor Sausage and His Five Pork Chops, 4 July 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2013
  5. ↑ Mike Leadbitter and Neil Slaven, Blues Records, 1943-1970: a selective discography, Record Information Services, 1987, p.349
  6. ↑ Global Dog Productions, 45 Discography for Regal Records. Retrieved 11 March 2013
  7. ↑ Social Security Death Index 120-48-2840

External links

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