becoming the club’s manager. “He also organized regional orchestras for touring acts such as Sammy Davis, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and Dinah Washington to name a few. Most importantly Cobb committed a significant amount of his time to nurturing young musicians. Many major recording R&B, soul, and jazz artists of the day called upon him constantly for arrangements, band personnel, and gigs.” After a bout of tuberculosis where Cobb spent time in East Texas recuperating, “he narrowed his touring to the Texas region from 1959 to 1973. He continued recording from 1957 for the Prestige label, then he recorded extensively with VeeJay, Prestige, Muse, Black and Blue, Bee Hive, Progressive, Soul Note, MCA, and the Fantasy labels between 1957 and 1988.” In March of 1958, Cobb and his band were featured in a Houston show with Clifton “King Bee” Smith that also included Buddy Johnson and his band, B. B. King, Sam Cooke, Ernie Freeman, The Dubs, and Drifters. “Cobb began an international touring schedule in 1973 with his daughter, Lizette as his personal manager three years after his wife died of a sudden pulmonary hemorrhage, a chronic problem resulting from the car accident in 1956. He toured consistently, in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, with the Lionel Hampton Allstars, as a member of the renowned 28
Handbook of Texas Online, s.v... Handbook of Texas Online, s.v...
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