Joe Tex
Joe Tex made the first Southern soul record that also hit on the pop charts ("Hold What You've Got," 1965, number five Billboard). His raspy-voiced, jackleg preacher style also laid some of the most important parts of rap's foundation. He is, arguably, the most underrated of all the '60s soul performers associated with Atlantic Records, although his records were more likely than those of most soul stars to become crossover hits.
Tex was born Joseph Arrington in Rogers, Texas, in 1935, and displayed his vocal talent early on, first in gospel, then in R&B. By 1954, he'd won a local talent contest and come to New York, where he recorded a variety of derivative (and endlessly repackaged) singles for King, some as a ballad singer, some as a Little Richard-style rocker.
Tex's career didn't take off until he began his association with Nashville song publisher Buddy Killen after Tex wrote James Brown's 1961 song "Baby You're Right." In 1965, Killen took him to Muscle Shoals, not yet a fashionable recording center, and they came up with "Hold What You've Got," which is about as close to a straight R&B ballad as Tex ever came. It was followed by many more, most of which made the R&B charts, a few cracking the pop Top 40.
Tex made his mark by preaching over tough hard soul tracks, clowning at some points, swooping into a croon at others. He was perhaps the most rustic and back-country of the soul stars, a role he played to the hilt by using turns of phrase that might have been heard on any ghetto street corner, "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" the prototype. In 1966, his "I Believe I'm Gonna Make It," an imaginary letter home from Vietnam, became the first big hit directly associated with that war. His biggest hit was "Skinny Legs and All," from a 1967 live album, his rapping pure hokum over deeply funky riffs. "Skinny Legs" might have served as a template for all the raucous, ribald hip-hop hits of pop's future.
After "Skinny Legs," Tex had nothing but minor hits for five years until "I Gotcha" took off, a grittier twist on the funk that was becoming disco. He was too down-home for the slickness of the disco era, or so it would have seemed, yet in 1977, he adapted a dance craze, the Bump, and came up with the hilarious "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)," his last Top Ten R&B hit, which also crossed over to number 12 on the pop chart.
In the early '70s, Tex converted to Islam and in 1972 changed his offstage name to Joseph Hazziez. He spent much of the time after "Ain't Gonna Bump" on his Texas farm, although he did join with Wilson Pickett, Ben E. King, and Don Covay for a re-formed version of the Soul Clan in 1980. He died of a heart attack in 1982, only 49 years old. Killen, King, Covay, Pickett, and the great songwriter Percy Mayfield served as pallbearers.
© Dave Marsh /TiVo
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Hold On! It's Joe Tex
Alternative & Indie - Lançado por Hallmark em 1 de jan. de 2000
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One Giant Step
R&B - Lançado por Real Rhythm And Blues Records em 11 de abr. de 2016
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Joe Tex 1956-1959
Jazz - Lançado por Black Sheep Music em 3 de abr. de 2013
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She's Mine
Soul - Lançado por ViewFinder Music em 1 de ago. de 2013
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Joe Tex Soul Legends
Soul - Lançado por StreamWorld Entertainment Classics em 5 de ago. de 2021
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First On the Dial
Soul - Lançado por Shout! em 5 de dez. de 2014
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Open the Door
Soul - Lançado por Academia Royal em 24 de jun. de 2013
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Joe Tex - The Blues Legends
Blues - Lançado por Golden Arrow em 6 de nov. de 2015
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Joe Tex - Just You & Me
Country - Lançado por Westmill em 25 de mar. de 2016
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Forever Soul (A Collection of Timeless Soul Artists)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Lançado por Hoogan Records em 3 de mai. de 2013
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Another Man's Woman
R&B - Lançado por Real Rhythm And Blues Records em 29 de jul. de 2016
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I Want To Have A Talk With You
R&B - Lançado por Real Rhythm And Blues Records em 5 de mai. de 2016
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Cut It Out
Blues - Lançado por Blooming Jazz Records em 6 de jan. de 2016
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Just For You And Me, Vol. 1
Soul - Lançado por Diamond Days em 5 de mai. de 2008
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She's Mine
Soul - Lançado por Vantage Music em 10 de out. de 2016
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Joe Tex 1960-1962
Jazz - Lançado por Black Sheep Music em 3 de abr. de 2013
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Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo de Joe Tex
R&B - Lançado por Amamos la navidad em 23 de out. de 2023
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Get Way Back
Soul - Lançado por Top Tracks em 30 de out. de 2013
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Open the Door, Vol. 1
Soul - Lançado por Supreme Media em 1 de jan. de 2013
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Just for You and Me, Vol. 1
Soul - Lançado por Top Tracks em 30 de out. de 2013
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