| Red Prysock | |
| Background: | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| Birth Name: | Wilburt Prysock |
| Birth Date: | 2 February 1926 |
| Birth Place: | Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Death Place: | Chicago, Illinois |
| Genre: | R&B |
| Occupation: | Musician |
| Instrument: | Saxophone |
| Years Active: | 1950s–1960s |
| Label: | Mercury |
Wilburt "Red" Prysock (February 2, 1926 – July 19, 1993)[1] was an American R&B tenor saxophonist,[2] one of the early Coleman Hawkins-influenced saxophonists to move in the direction of rhythm and blues, rather than bebop.[3]
With Tiny Grimes and his Rocking Highlanders, Prysock staged a saxophone battle with Benny Golson on "Battle of the Mass".[4] He first gained attention as a member of Tiny Bradshaw's band, playing the lead saxophone solo on his own "Soft", which was a hit for the Bradshaw band in 1952.[2] Prysock also played with Roy Milton and Cootie Williams.[2]
In 1954, he signed with Mercury Records as a bandleader and had his biggest hit, the instrumental "Hand Clappin'" in 1955.[2] During the same year, he joined the band that played at Alan Freed's stage shows.[2] He also played on several hit records by his brother, singer Arthur Prysock, in the 1960s.[5]
Prysock was born in 1926 in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States,[2] and died of a heart attack in 1993 in Chicago, at the age of 67.[1] [6] He served in the United States Army during World War II, which was when he learned to play saxophone. He was buried at the Salisbury National Cemetery in Salisbury, North Carolina.[7]