MONK HIGGINS
Genres: RnB, Jazz Related Soundtracks • United States

Monk Higgins is best known for the R&B hit instrumentals "Who Dun It" and "Gotta Be Funky." The prolific Higgins also wrote a slew of songs for others including Bobby Bland and one of the Chi-Lites' first singles, "Go Go Gorilla." A mainstay of the Chicago R&B/soul music scene, he was a producer/arranger/session player at Chess Records during the '60s. Higgins also worked with Three Sounds, Blue Mitchell, Junior Wells, Gene Harris, Muddy Waters, Freddy Robinson, and Etta James, among others. The saxman was born Milton Bland in Menifee, AR, on October 17, 1936. After moving to Chicago, Higgins started doing sides for George Lerner's One-Derful Records. Later, he began recording for St. Lawrence Records. One of his instrumentals for the label, the cool, funky "Who Dun It," hit number 30 R&B during the summer of 1966. The flip side was the melancholy past-midnight ballad "These Days Are Filled With You." While at read more...