Monk Higgins
Milton James Bland, better known as Monk Higgins, was an American composer, producer, arranger, tenor saxophonist, keyboardist, and music executive born in Menifee, Arkansas.
Biography
Milton James Bland was 6'3" and played football, He was born to J.T. Bland and Alma Howell, along with his sister, Violet Rose Bland Later in life, he turned down an offer to coach football at his alma mater Arkansas State University.While at ASU, Bland majored in music theory and orchestration. He taught high school music in Hayti, Missouri before he continued his studies at the Chicago School of Music. He also earned a living as a social worker and a school teacher. In 1962, he joined the Artists and repertoire department of One-derful Records.
In 1965, Bland moved to Dick Simon's Satellite Record Company where he was the director of A&R and the principal producer. Chess Records was their distributor. He also wrote arrangements with Burgess Gardner and became one of the architects of Chicago's hard-soul sound. He worked briefly at Chess Records in 1967. He worked with Holly Maxwell at Star Records and Junior Wells at Bright Star. In the mid 60s, Milton Bland adopted the moniker "Monk Higgins". He would use it for the bulk of his career; although, he did resume use of his birth name towards the end of his life.
Higgins's biggest hits were the instrumental tracks "Who-Dun-It?", and "Gotta Be Funky". His instrumental "Ceatrix Did It" was the sign-off song for soul-DJ 'Dr. Rock' on WMPP, East Chicago Heights, Illinois. Higgins worked with a variety of musicians including Gene Harris, Bobby Bland, The Chi-Lites, Junior Wells, Freddy Robinson, Muddy Waters, Cash McCall, Etta James, Blue Mitchell and The 3 Sounds.
Higgins' 1967 move to Los Angeles was prompted by the offer to orchestrate strings for Nina Simone's Gifted & Black. He soon began working on other projects like Stanley Turrentine's Flipped-Flipped Out and The 3 Sounds' Elegant Soul. He wrote most of the material for Blue Mitchell's Collision in Black and also released a solo album, Monk Higgins in MacArthur Park .
In 1970, Higgins formed his own label named Stonegood. In 1975, he composed the music for the Pam Grier film Sheba, Baby. In the 70s, he worked extensively in television advertising. Higgins wrote jingles for Toyota and Mogen David. In 1976, he joined Al Bell's newly formed label Independent Corp. of America.
In the 80s, his band 'The Specialties' were the featured artists at Marla Gibb's jazz club in Los Angeles.
His wife, Virgina P. Bland, was also a composer. They married on June 15, 1959. She was often credited as "Vee Pea" on his records. They had three daughters. Joan Elizabeth Bland Janesse Paula Bland and June Gerria Bland On July 3, 1986, Higgins died from a respiratory ailment at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, California, He is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Discography
As leader
45 rpm singles- "Sawdust" / "The Fat Man"
- "Mister Luckee" / "Ain't That Hateful"
- "Who-Dun-It?" / "These Days Are Filled With You"
- "Now That's Sayin' Sumpin'" / "Easy Does It"
- "What Fah" / "Ceatrix Did It"
- "Different Strokes " / "How Come?"
- "Comin' Up The Middle" / "Monkin' Around"
- "Yesterday" / "The Look Of Love"
- "Mac Arthur Park" / "Vee Pea"
- "Watermelon Man" / "Extra Soul Perception"
- "I'll Still Be There" / "Baby You're Right"
- "Arkansas Yard Bird" / "I'll Still Be There"
- "Gotta Be Funky" / "Big Water Bed"
- "Treat Her Like A Lady" / "Two In One"
- ''Live in Mac Arthur Park''
As producer and sideman
- Etta James. Call My Name ; producer.
- Blue Mitchell. Collision in Black ; producer, composer, arranger, tenor saxophone, piano, organ.
- The Three Sounds. Elegant Soul ; producer, composer, arranger, conductor.
- Jimmy McCracklin. The Stinger Man ; producer, composer, arranger, conductor, piano, organ.
- Blue Mitchell. Bantu Village ; composer, arranger, conductor, piano, percussion.
- Freddy Robinson. The Coming Atlantis ; producer, conductor, arranger, organ.
- The 3 Sounds. Soul Symphony ; producer, composer, arranger, conductor.
- Freddy Robinson. Hot Fun In The Summertime ; producer, conductor, arranger.
- Gene Harris. The 3 Sounds ; composer, arranger, organ.
- Freddy Robinson. Off the Cuff ; producer, arranger, conductor, electric piano.
- Bobby Bland, Come Fly With Me ; producer, arranger.
- Bobby Bland, I Feel Good, I Feel Fine ; producer, conductor, arranger.
- Bobby Bland, Sweet Vibrations ; producer, conductor, arranger, piano.
- Bobby Bland, Try Me, I'm Real ; producer, piano.
- Bobby Bland, Tell Mr. Bland ; producer, conductor, arranger, percussion.‡
- Who-Dun-It, You're a Winner ; producer, conductor, tenor saxophone.+
‡As both Milton Bland and Monk Higgins
In popular culture
In 1987, "One Man Band ", from Higgins' 1974 LP Dance to the Disco Sax, was featured on the breakbeat series Ultimate Breaks and Beats.Higgin's 1969 cover of "Little Green Apples" on Extra Soul Perception was sampled in Gang Starr's "Code of the Streets".
For "Bad Boy No Go a Jail" on the Clockers soundtrack, Mega Banton sampled Higgins' "Sittin' Duck" from Elegant Soul by The 3 Sounds.
Higgins received renewed attention in 2024 after Mustard sampled two songs from his 1968 LP MacArthur Park: the title track and a cover of Ray Charles' "I Believe to My Soul". Mustard used the samples in beats he sold to Kendrick Lamar. A snippet of "MacArthur Park" appears in Lamar's "TV Off", and the horn fanfares in "I Believe to My Soul" form one of the audio signatures in "Not Like Us".