Ivory Joe Hunter
Bespectacled and velvet-smooth in the vocal department, pianist Ivory Joe Hunter appeared too much mild-mannered to be a rock & roller. But when the rebellious music first crashed the American consciousness in the mid-'50s, there was Ivory Joe, deftly delivering his blues ballad "Since I Met You Baby" right alongside the wildest pioneers of the era.
Hunter was already a grizzled R&B vet by that time who had first heard his voice on a 1933 Library of Congress cylinder recording made in Texas (where he grew up). An accomplished tunesmith, he played around the Gulf Coast region, hosting his own radio program for a time in Beaumont before migrating to California in 1942. It was a wise move since Hunter -- whose real name was Ivory Joe, incidentally (perhaps his folks were psychic!) -- found plenty of work pounding out blues and ballads in wartime California. He started his own label, Ivory Records, to press up his "Blues at Sunrise" (with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers backing him), and it became a national hit when leased to Leon Rene's Exclusive imprint in 1945. Another Hunter enterprise, Pacific Records, hosted a major hit in 1948 when the pianist's "Pretty Mama Blues" topped the R&B charts for three weeks.
At whatever logo Hunter paused from the mid-'40s through the late '50s, his platters sold like hot cakes. For Cincinnati-based King in 1948-1949, he hit with "Don't Fall in Love with Me," "What Did You Do to Me," "Waiting in Vain," and "Guess Who." At MGM, then new to the record biz, he cut his immortal "I Almost Lost My Mind" (another R&B chart-topper in 1950), "I Need You So" (later covered by Elvis), and "It's a Sin." Signing with Atlantic in 1954, he hit big with "Since I Met You Baby" in 1956 and the two-sided smash "Empty Arms"/"Love's a Hurting Game" in 1957.
Hunter's fondness for country music reared its head in 1958. Upon switching to Dot Records, he scored his last pop hit with a cover of Bill Anderson's "City Lights." Hunter's Dot encores went nowhere; neither did typically mellow outings for Vee-Jay, Smash, Capitol, and Veep. Epic went so far as to recruit a simmering Memphis band (including organist Isaac Hayes, trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller, and saxist Charles Chalmers) for an LP titled The Return of Ivory Joe Hunter that he hoped would revitalize his career, but it wasn't meant to be. The album's cover photo -- a closeup of Hunter's grinning face with a cigarette dangling from his lips -- seems grimly ironic in the face of his death from lung cancer only a few years later.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
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Ivory Joe Hunter
Ivory Joe Hunter, Memphis Slim
Blues - Lançado por Archive of Folk & Jazz Music em 12/09/1974
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ivory Joe Hunter
Blues - Lançado por Rhino Atlantic em 31/08/2020
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San Franciso Blues
Jazz - Lançado por Redwood Records em 14/04/2014
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The Baron of the Boogie (Remastered)
R&B - Lançado por Master Tape Records em 17/07/2020
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This Is My Country
Country - Lançado por LocoBop em 22/06/2008
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1945-1947
Blues - Lançado por Classics Blues & Rhythm Series em 04/08/2008
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Classics: 1947-1950
Blues - Lançado por Classics Blues & Rhythm Series em 10/06/2008
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Live At The Grand Ole Opry
Country - Lançado por LocoBop em 19/05/2009
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I'm Yours 'til Eternity
Pop - Lançado por Matchless Music em 20/03/2020
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Ivory Joe Hunter
R&B - Lançado por Music Manager em 31/08/2020
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Ivory Joe Hunter Sings Sixteen of His Greatest Hits
Soul - Lançado por Music Manager em 12/09/2019
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Blues At Midnight
Soul - Lançado por Red Cab Records em 17/01/2011
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S.P. Blues
Pop - Lançado por Black Sheep Music em 16/08/2013
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Yes I Want You (Billboard Hot 100 - No 94)
R&B - Lançado por Music Manager em 05/11/2020
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Empty Arms (Billboard Hot 100 - No 43)
R&B - Lançado por Music Manager em 05/11/2020
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I Love Soul
Soul - Lançado por Music Manager em 02/09/2015
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Come On Let Your Hair Down
Pop - Lançado por Jazztastic em 01/05/2019
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Landlord Blues
Blues - Lançado por Redwood Records em 17/03/2014
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Since I Met You Baby: The '50s Collection
Soul - Lançado por ACROBAT em 04/03/2022
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Come On Let Your Hair Down
Pop - Lançado por Jazztastic em 01/05/2019
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Texas Piano Blues - South Soulfoul Sounds
Blues - Lançado por Stardom Records em 12/05/2023
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo