Bill Doggett (1916-1996), pianist and arranger for the Ink Spots in the 1940s, put together his own trio in 1951.
His best known recording is ‘Honky Tonk,’ a rhythm and blues hit of 1956 that he wrote with Billy Butler and which sold four million copies, topping Billboard’s R&B chart for more than two months.
He continued to play and arrange for many bandleaders and performers, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Lionel Hampton, until his death from a heart attack in New York City on November 13, 1996. He was 80.