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237:, with whom he worked from 1946 to 1949. He wrote two of the Ravens' first hit records, "Write Me a Letter", credited as the first R&B record to hit the national pop top 25, and "Bye Bye Baby Blues", and co-wrote several others with the group's singer
363:, the arrangement was as it is on the record. Howard Biggs did the charts for the session based on our arrangement. He tried to replace our opening ("dip dip dip...") with a musical intro. It was scrapped because it didn't work".
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said of him: "Unlike most colored pianists, he doesn't lean much to boogie-woogie, but specializes in unusually smart arrangements of pops, show tunes, middlebrow and classics." He became established as a pianist with the
370:, and in the mid-1970s performed regularly as a solo jazz pianist in clubs and restaurants in the city. He married Joan Cockrell, thirty years his junior, in Houston in 1984. He died in Houston in 1999.
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Orchestra, before working as pianist and arranger with many R&B vocal groups on their live performances and recordings, starting with
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before becoming resident composer with the Negro
Repertory Company in Seattle. In 1937 he composed the score for the company's production
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185:, the son of naval machinist Antonio Biggs and Thelma Buchanan, he learned piano as a child and gave his first concert at the First
268:. He established a songwriting partnership with Joe Thomas, and they co-wrote the songs "Got You on My Mind", a #2 R&B hit for
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the following year. However, the group's singer
Richard Lewis said: "The true story is, when we auditioned 'Get A Job' for
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256:. Over the next few years he worked as pianist and arranger for several leading R&B vocal groups including
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241:. Biggs then joined another group, the Beavers, for whom he wrote "I'd Rather Be Wrong Than Blue" with
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Kimberley Mangun, "A Renaissance in
Seattle and Portland", in Cary D Wintz, Bruce A. Glasrud (eds.),
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324:. He later led the Howard Biggs Orchestra which backed leading jazz and R&B vocalists including
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The Harlem
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In early 1950 Biggs left the
Beavers when he was appointed musical director at
157:(October 13, 1916 – November 24, 1999) was an American pianist, songwriter and
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In 1957, while working at the Junior label, he was credited with arranging "
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After touring as a concert performer, he played in lounges on the
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and The
Glowtones, and for various record labels including
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American pianist, songwriter and arranger (1916–1999)
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The
Edinburgh Companion to Shakespeare and the Arts
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474:"Negro Repertory Company: An Evening With Dunbar",
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286:I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)
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161:. He is noted for his involvement with
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670:20th-century American male musicians
427:Washington State Births 1907–1919.
510:The Billboard Music Year Book 1944
316:with a band that included bassist
187:African Methodist Episcopal Church
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625:Texas Marriage Index, 1966–2002,
568:Marv Goldberg, "The Ravens", 1996
197:, based on the life and poems of
412:Biography by Eugene Chadbourne,
548:Songs written by Howard Biggs,
300:; "Melancholy Me", recorded by
660:20th-century American pianists
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37:Billboard 1944 Music Yearbook
214:before heading east to join
580:Biggs, Howard: Repertoire,
272:in 1952, later recorded by
165:and other styles including
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597:Love Played A Leading Part
585:. Retrieved 20 August 2015
570:. Retrieved 20 August 2015
553:. Retrieved 20 August 2015
535:. Retrieved 20 August 2015
480:. Retrieved 20 August 2015
478:, University of Washington
292:in 1954 and later by both
417:. Accessed 20 August 2015
391:. Accessed 20 August 2015
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448:, Routledge, 2012, p.219
191:University of Washington
204:The Taming of the Shrew
665:American male pianists
655:Musicians from Seattle
613:, November 1975, p.177
195:An Evening with Dunbar
44:Background information
366:Biggs later moved to
459:Kurt E. Armbruster,
389:Dead Rock Stars Club
199:Paul Laurence Dunbar
183:Seattle, Washington
72:Seattle, Washington
531:2016-03-03 at the
314:Little Jimmy Scott
155:Howard Maceo Biggs
54:Howard Maceo Biggs
247:Jelly Roll Morton
222:. At that time,
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82:November 24, 1999
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322:Mundell Lowe
310:Brook Benton
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290:Roy Hamilton
282:Eric Clapton
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216:Noble Sissle
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145:1927– c.1980
141:Years active
84:(1999-11-24)
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23:Howard Biggs
650:1999 deaths
645:1916 births
550:MusicVF.com
302:Eddy Howard
298:The Beatles
239:Jimmy Ricks
639:Categories
374:References
270:John Greer
262:RCA Victor
243:Joe Thomas
235:The Ravens
212:West Coast
132:Instrument
122:songwriter
65:1916-10-13
50:Birth name
345:Get a Job
225:Billboard
177:Biography
529:Archived
181:Born in
159:arranger
126:arranger
582:BMI.com
512:, p.296
357:pop hit
353:R&B
351:, a #1
163:doo-wop
118:Pianist
100:R&B
599:(1996)
266:Junior
96:Genres
347:" by
135:Piano
35:From
361:Kae
355:and
336:and
296:and
264:and
167:jazz
104:jazz
91:, US
79:Died
59:Born
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