Noah Biggs

Biggs, who passed away in 1978, apart from owning Shiptown he had wide-ranging business interests. He also owned Nimrod’s, long gone now, but a mainstay of African-American commerce for years located one block from Frank Guida’s record store. Local concerts by Shiptown artists would happen at places like the Longshoreman’s Hall in Norfolk, but the most popular club was the Wagon Wheel in Gloucester.The raw Norfolk, Virginia, USA ,R&B and performances that Biggs sponsored on Shiptown (and its sister label, How Big, established in 1969) by local performers, including Williams, soul singer Barbara Stant, and flamboyant bandleader Flip Flop Stevens Biggs also managed Norman Johnson and the Showmen, the region’s most popular vocal group. He helped to put the Showman, formerly the Humdingers, in the capable hands of New Orleans producer Allen Toussaint. They made the charts twice (in 1961 and 1964) with “It Will Stand,” a stirring anthem about rock ‘n’ roll that may be the music world’s first self-referential “golden oldie.” When the Showmen left Biggs, “it just about killed him,” says ReNardo Biggs (Noah's son). “He loved Norman Johnson like a son.”