Biography

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Michael Frank, CEO
Earwig Music Company, Inc.
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Chicago, IL 60645
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Biography

born May 9, 1929 - died November 26, 2006

His extroverted antics and multi-colored fright wig might invite the instant dismissal of Cincinnati-based singer Robert "H-Bomb" Ferguson as some sort of comic lightweight. In reality, he's one of the last survivors of the jump blues era whose once-slavish Wynonie Harris imitations have mellowed into a highly distinctive vocal delivery of his own.

Ferguson's dad, a reverend, paid for piano lessons for his son, demanding he stick to sacred melodies on the 88s. Fat chance -- by age 19, Bobby was on the road with Joe Liggins & the Honeydrippers. When they hit New York, Ferguson branched off on his own. Comedian Nipsey Russell, then emcee at Harlem's Baby Grand Club, got the singer a gig at the nightspot. Back then, Ferguson was billed as "the Cobra Kid."

Singles for Derby, Atlas, and Prestige preceded a 1951-1952 hookup with Savoy Records that produced some of Ferguson's best waxings. Most of them were obvious Harris knockoffs, but eminently swinging ones with top-flight backing (blasting saxists Purvis Henson and Count Hastings were aboard the dates). Drummer Jack "The Bear" Parker, who played on the Savoy dates, allegedly bestowed the singer with his explosive moniker. Other accounts credit Savoy producer Lee Magid with coining H-Bomb's handle; either way, his dynamite vocals fulfilled the billing.

Ferguson eventually made Cincinnati his home, recording for Finch, Big Bang, ARC, and the far more prestigious Federal in 1960. H-Bomb terminated his touring schedule in the early '70s. When he returned from premature retirement, his unique wig-wearing shtick (inspired by Rick James' coiffure) was in full bloom. Backed by his fine young band, the Medicine Men, Ferguson waxed his long-overdue debut album, Wiggin' Out, for Chicago's Earwig label in 1993. It showed him to be as wild as ever (witness the gloriously sleazy "Meatloaf"), a talented pianist to boot, and more his own man than ever before. H-Bomb became a regular on the blues and R&B festival circuit, keeping Cincinnati as his home base until his death there on November 26, 2006.

Written by Bill Dahl

H-Bomb Ferguson Wiggin' Out
EWR-4926 CD

Genre: Blues
Sub-Genre: 60’s R&B/Funk & Blues Shouting
Release Date: October 8, 1993

Album Credits
Produced by Michael Robert Frank and H-Bomb Ferguson
© P 1993 Earwig Music Company, Inc.
Musicians: H-Bomb Ferguson - piano, lead vocals except track 11
Keenath Malachi Williams - drums, lead vocals on track 11, background vocals
Marty Charters - guitar
Eric Neuhausser - saxophone
John Smith - bass
Matthew Skoller - harmonica
Recorded February 3, 1993 at Acme Studio, Chicago, Illinois,
Recorded, mixed, edited and mastered for CD by Paul Smith; Pat LeVvintre - second engineer
Photography: James Fraher
Graphic Design: Al Brandtner, Brandtner Design, Chicago, Illinois
all songs written by Robert P. "H-Bomb" Ferguson, except as noted:
tracks 2,3,56,12,,13,14,15 published by Earwig Music and administered by BMG Music
track 1 written by Robert P. Ferguson and Albert Shubert, published by Lion Publishing Co.
track 4 published by Jimmy Skinner Music
track 7 published by Screen Gems-EMI Music
track 8 Go 'Head On, written by Marty Charters and Eric Neuhausser, published by Earwig Music and Elmoviper Music
track 9 Love Her Don't Shove Her, written by Mathew Skoller, published by Maxsko Music
track 10 published by Finch Publishing Company
track 11 He Say, She Say written by Marty Charters and Keenath Malachi Williams, published by Earwig Music and Mar-Mal Music

1.Midnight Ramblin' Tonight 2:27
2.Over You, Losin' My Mind 4:28
3.Shake Your Apple Tree 4:01
4.Heart In My Hand 4:10
5.Meatloaf 4:17
6.I Got A Love 2:54
7.My Brown Frame Baby 2:56
8.Go 'Head On 2:53
9.Love Her, Don't Shove Her 2:05
10.Don't Leave Me 4:06
11.He Say, She Say 5:18
12.Leavin' You Tomorrow 5:50
13.Ha Ha Ha, I Don't Want You No More 4:52
14.Foolin' Around 3:23
15.Moon, Shine On Me 4:21

Review Excerpts
"[This] long-overdue debut album joyously recalls the heyday of jump blues via salacious rockers like 'Meatloaf' and 'Shake Your Apple Tree.' Ferguson's young band, the Medicine Men, do a fine job of laying down exciting grooves behind the singer." -- Bill Dahl, Allmusic.com

"H-Bomb Ferguson does not play the piano. He fights it. He punches the white keys and jabs the black ones. When he sings, he alternates between a deep growl and a high, hoarse howl. Ferguson's style--wig and all--is captured on Wiggin' Out. This album's 15 tracks have a warm, LP-era sound with Ferguson's vocals soaring over his four-piece band, the Medicine Men. His voice is feisty and quick like a bantam-weight prizefighter as it delivers love letters with the power of a left hook to the jaw." -- The Cincinnati Enquirer