[Deathwatch] Paul 'Huckle-Buck' Williams, musician, 87

[Deathwatch Central]

Saxophonist Paul 'Huckle-Buck' Williams Dies at 87
Wed Sep 25, 5:28 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jazz saxophonist and band leader Paul Williams,
whose 1949 Rhythm and Blues hit, "The Huckle-Buck," was covered by
Frank Sinatra, has died, his former record label said on Wednesday. He
was 87. 

Savoy Jazz released a statement saying Williams had died of cardiac
arrest on Sept. 14 and a funeral service was held on Sept. 20, in
Harlem. 

Williams scored one of the first big hits of the R&B era in 1949 with
"The Huckle-Buck," based on Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time." 

It was the biggest-selling record in the Savoy label's 60-year history,
topping the R&B charts for 14 weeks, and spawned vocal versions by
Sinatra and others. 

"The Huckle-Buck" was one of three Top 10 and five Top 20 R&B hits
Williams scored for Savoy in 1948 and 1949. Other Top 10 hits were
"35-30" in 1948 and "Walkin' Around" in 1949. 

Williams was later part of Atlantic Records' house band in the '60s and
directed the Lloyd Price and James Brown orchestras until 1964. 

After leaving the music business temporarily, he opened a booking
agency in New York in 1968. 

Born July 13, 1915, in Birmingham, Alabama, Williams played with
Clarence Dorsey in 1946, and then made his recording debut with King
Porter in 1947 for Paradise before forming his own band later that
year. 

Saxophonists Noble "Thin Man" Watts and Wild Bill Moore, trumpeter Phil
Guilbeau, and vocalists Danny Cobb, Jimmy Brown, Joan Shaw, and Connie
Allen were among Williams' band members. 

He is survived by sons, Earl and Eric, and a daughter, Erin.