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TOMMY TUCKER

“HIGH HEEL SNEAKERS”

(Robert “TOMMY TUCKER” Higginbotham)

Checker 1067

No. 11     March 21, 1964

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Tucker was born Robert Higginbotham in Springfield, Ohio on March 5, 1933.      He acquired his

“Tommy Tucker” name while sitting on the bench during a high school football game.   Some friend

affectionately  yelled at him, “Little Tommy Tucker’s  a real mother f***er.”    Robert thought the

phrase was  catchy enough to make a memorable monicker.

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As “T Tucker,”  he joined his first band, the Bob Woods Orchestra, in the late ’40s, playing clarinet and

boogie-woogie  piano.    The band worked the clubs in  Columbus, Dayton, and Springfield.   They were

also called upon to backup name acts like Big Maybelle, Billie Holiday, Little Willie  John, and one

harp – player that would greatly influence Tommy Tucker–Jimmy Reed.

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In 1955, Tucker formed the Dusters, a doo-wop quintet, with James Crosby, Dave   Johnson, Clarence

LaVille (from the old Bob Woods band), and Yonnie Peoples.     Things looked hot when ARC Records

redubbed them the Cavaliers, recorded them, and issued a single, “Ivory Tower.”     Soon after, Hudson

Records brought the Cavaliers into the King Studios to cut “Please Don’t Leave Me To Cry.”    When

both 45s failed to sell, the group disbanded.        Tommy  moved to Dayton, where for the next few years

he worked a regular gig at the Harris Bar on 5th Street.

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Johnny Smith, Tucker’s manager, got the Hi, Atco, and Sunbeam labels to each record and release one

Tucker single, but all three disks–“Miller’s Cave,” “Rock And Roll Machine” (as by Tee Tucker), and

“My Blue Heaven”–fared poorly.    However, once he met Herb Abramson (owner of the A-1 Studios

and the Blaze, Festival, and Triumph labels), Tommy was set to score.     With Jimmy Reed in mind, he

took to the studios and cut a demo on “High Heel Sneakers,” accompanied by Dean Young on guitar,

Brenda Lee Jones on bass, and Johnny Williams on drums.  Instead of asking Reed to record a polished

version of the tune, Abramson, acting as Tommy’s manager and producer, had Chess Records’ Checker

subsidiary issue the rough demo as a finished track.

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The response was overwhelming and, unfortunately, unduplicable.        After “Long Tall Shorty” (#90,

1964)–soon covered by the Kinks for their  first  Lp–“Aiimony,” and further sides stiffed,  Tommy

returned to school.     In the late ’60s, he received a liberal-arts degree from the Thomas Edison College

in New Jersey.   He briefly returned to Chess for a few singles, and did a pre-Sinatra version of “That’s

Life” for Abramson’s Festival label.

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Tommy Tucker died of poisoning on January 22, 1982.    Reports vary as to the precise events preceding

his death.