Saxophonist Tommy Wills had been recording in the Cincinnati area as far back as 1955. Think Ace Cannon and Boots Randolph and you'll have a pretty good idea of Wills's sound.
Wills always recorded on his own labels, beginning with Club Miami (the night spot in Hamilton, Ohio, where the sax man first gained notice), Big Bang and Terry in the 1950s. The records themselves were pressed by other companies, usually in Cincinnati. In the '60s and '70s Wills formed at least five other labels, including Airtown, which started around 1965 in Dayton, Ohio, and later moved to Richmond, Ind., still within easy driving distance of Cincinnati.
Funky Sax, a Wills original, graced the "B" side of a single that came out in 1967 or '68. The "A" side, billed as a tribute to Ray Charles, was a medley of Born to Lose and I Can't Stop Loving You, two songs that were on Charles's groundbreaking 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.
For my money, however, Funky Sax is the tune to listen to.
Funky Sax
As late as 2010 Wills -- who was well into his 80s -- was still performing the occasional gig in the Indianapolis area.
Here's a sampling of the ballad style of Tommy Wills. I'm not certain of the date of this recording.
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