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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Right Back To My Arms
Soul - Pubblicato da Marylebone Records il 13 ago 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Biggest Mistake (The Singles Vol. 1)
Pop - Pubblicato da Soul Story il 1 gen 2013
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Music around the World by Joe Tex
Pop - Pubblicato da Sunny Side of the Street il 23 giu 2023
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The 12 Days of Christmas with Joe Tex
R&B - Pubblicato da All I Have To Do Is Dream il 29 nov 2019
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Joe Tex (Vintage Charm)
R&B - Pubblicato da Don't stop the music il 22 feb 2023
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Hold On It's Joe Tex
World music - Pubblicato da TP4 Music il 6 gen 2020
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Hold On! It's Joe Tex
Musica alternativa e indie - Pubblicato da Hallmark il 1 gen 2000
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One Giant Step
R&B - Pubblicato da Real Rhythm And Blues Records il 11 apr 2016
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Masters Of R&B
Blues - Pubblicato da Master Series il 31 mar 2015
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Joe Tex 1956-1959
Jazz - Pubblicato da Black Sheep Music il 3 apr 2013
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Introducing Joe Tex
Pop - Pubblicato da Play Digital il 9 nov 2015
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Joe Tex Soul Legends
Soul - Pubblicato da StreamWorld Entertainment Classics il 5 ago 2021
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Soul Masters: Right Back To My Arms
R&B - Pubblicato da Carinco AG il 16 dic 2005
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Open the Door
Soul - Pubblicato da Academia Royal il 24 giu 2013
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Joe Tex - The Blues Legends
Blues - Pubblicato da Golden Arrow il 6 nov 2015
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Joe Tex - Just You & Me
Country - Pubblicato da Westmill il 25 mar 2016
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Forever Soul (A Collection of Timeless Soul Artists)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Pubblicato da Hoogan Records il 3 mag 2013
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