Joseph Arrington Jr. (better known as Joe Tex; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982) was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the styles of funk, country, gospel, and rhythm and blues.
Tex was born in Rogers, Texas to
Joseph Arrington and Cherie Sue (Jackson) Arrington. He and his sister Mary Sue
were originally raised by their grandmother Mary Richardson until their
parents’ divorce when they moved to Baytown with their mother. Tex played
baritone saxophone at George Washington Carver High School and sang in his
church choir at McGowen COGIC Temple in Baytown.
Tex frequently entered Houston-area talent shows and in one
instance won $300 and a trip to New York in 1953. This trip allowed him to
perform as an amateur at the Apollo Theatre, winning first place over other
future greats such as Johnny Nash
and Hubert Laws. Talent scout and future manager Henry Glover saw Tex there. Tex did not sign right away with Glover, however as his mother wanted him to finish high school first. Joe Tex waited for a year, and through Glover, signed with King Records at the age of 19.
and Hubert Laws. Talent scout and future manager Henry Glover saw Tex there. Tex did not sign right away with Glover, however as his mother wanted him to finish high school first. Joe Tex waited for a year, and through Glover, signed with King Records at the age of 19.
Joe Tex recorded under the King Records label from 1955 to
1957 with little success. However, it was there that Tex’s rivalry with Fellow
King Records artist James Brown began. In 1958, Tex signed with Ace recording
studios and began to perfect his trademark microphone tricks and dance moves.
It was these dance moves and tricks that many claim James Brown stole from Tex.
He was credited with one important innovation in soul music, the spoken “soul
preaching” style which he called “rap” and which would be imitated by Isaac
Hayes, Barry White, and Millie Jackson among others.
Tex opened for artists such as Jackie Wilson and Little
Richard while with Ace until 1960. He then recorded with Dial Records from 1960
to 1964. In 1964 he found a recording home and garnered his first hit, “Hold On
To What You’ve Got” (1965) at
FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Ironically Tex did not feel the song would do well and actually tried to stop its release, but the studio went against his wishes and it sold more than a million copies by 1966.
FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Ironically Tex did not feel the song would do well and actually tried to stop its release, but the studio went against his wishes and it sold more than a million copies by 1966.
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.
King Curtis, Aretha Franklin & Joe Tex |
After "Skinny Legs," Tex continued recording hits
until 1972, when he decided to pursue life as a minister in the Nation of Islam
after converting in 1966 when he changed his offstage name to Yusef Hazziez. He
came back to music after the death of the Nation’s leader, Elijah Muhammad in
1975.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.
producer Buddy Killen, Tex indulged in drug addiction and alcohol abuse during the last four years of his life. Tex's final performances as part of the Soul Clan pictured him as gaunt and looking unwell, which Killen claimed that Tex had "lost his will to live".
In early August 1982, Tex was found at the bottom of his
swimming pool at his home in Navasota. After being sent to the hospital, he was
revived and sent home. Just a few days later, on August 13, 1982, five days
after his 47th birthday, he died at the Grimes Memorial Hospital in Navasota, following
a fatal heart attack
Joe Tex was nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
six times, most recently in 2017.
(Edited from blacpast.org, AllMusic & Wikipredia)
10 comments:
For “Joe Tex - Yum Yum Yum ~ The Early Years 1955-1962 (2015)” go here:
https://www.upload.ee/files/12118798/Joe_TEX_-_1955-1962.rar.html
CD 1
1. Davy You Upset My Home (2:38)
2. Come On This House (3:03)
3. My Biggest Mistake (2:52)
4. Right Back To My Arms (2:26)
5. I Had To Come Back To You (2:50)
6. She's Mine (2:23)
7. Pneumonia (2:42)
8. Get Way Back (2:24)
9. Ain't Nobody's Business (2:16)
10. I Want To Have A Talk With You (2:05)
11. Cut It Out (2:13)
12. Just For You And Me (2:37)
13. Open The Door (1:41)
14. You Little Baby Face Thing (2:26)
15. Mother's Advice (2:55)
16. Charlie Brown Got Expelled (2:18)
17. Blessed Are These Tears (2:21)
18. Don't Hold It Against Me (2:20)
19. Yum Yum Yum (1:53)
20. Grannie Stole The Show (2:10)
CD 2
1. Boys Will Be Boys (2:29)
2. Competition (1:39)
3. More Than Just A Friend (2:31)
4. Put Your Confidence In Me (2:09)
5. All I Could Do Was Cry (Part 1) (2:37)
6. All I Could Do Was Cry (Part 2) (3:03)
7. Ain't I A Mess (2:37)
8. Baby You're Right (2:17)
9. I'll Never Break Your Heart (Part 1) (2:27)
10. I'll Never Break Your Heart (Part 2) (2:26)
11. Wicked Woman (2:38)
12. Goodbye My Love (2:41)
13. The Only Girl I Ever Loved (2:35)
14. What Should I Do (2:04)
15. The Rib (1:56)
16. The Giant Step (3:00)
17. Popeye Johnny (2:12)
18. Band Shakin' Love Makin' Girl Talkin' Son Of A Gun (2:12)
19. Meet Me In Church (2:19)
20. Be Your Own Judge (2:33)
Joe Tex was one of the most original soul stars of all time. With his raspy voice and a hint of Little Richard, he certainly had a style of his own. One listen to his number 'Yum Yum Yum' and you'll get an idea of his rock and roll / proto-soul style. This is the most comprehensive set of his early singles yet released on CD and includes all the singles he made before achieving fame in 1964. Arguably the most underrated of all the 60s soul performers, Joe Tex, with his unique style singlehandedly laid some of the most important parts of rap's foundation.(Jasmine notes)
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Below is a selected discography found on various music blogs. A big thank you to all credited up-loaders with active links
(1) Neilwizard & Bordel Do Rock blog
(2) acmmijas (PASSWORD : mijas)
(3) Mike 1985 @ Jazz’n’Blues Club
(4) Ludovico @ Entre Musica Blog (PASSWORD: ludovico)
JOE TEX - SINGLES A'S & B'S, VOL. 1: 1964-1966 (FLAC) (1)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/35xmiu1jdv5pb1d/Joe_Tex_-_Singles_A%2527s_%2526_B%2527s_Volume_1.rar/file
JOE TEX - SINGLES A'S & B'S, VOL. 2: 1967-1968 (FLAC) (1)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/opzdeulfi64icvd/Joe_Tex-Singles_A's_%26_B's_Vol2.rar
JOE TEX - Singles As and Bs Vol.3 (1969-1972) (2)
https://www.filefactory.com/file/1f25jqyhxjlj/JoeTex-SinglesVol.3.7z
JOE TEX - Singles A's & B's Vol. 4 1972-1976 (2)
https://www.filefactory.com/file/1a8jflr55vvd/JoeTex-SinglesVol.4.7z
JOE TEX - Happy soul + Buying a book (4)
https://dfiles.eu/files/lawro82qt
Joe Tex - The Collection (2008) (3)
https://filecat.net/f/EBKx9q
Terrific stuff thank you
"Davy You Upset My Home" is a classic! Thanks for this!
Hi!
Thanx for the Joe Tex. In "Yum Yum" comp. Disc 1 trk. # 19 "Yum, Yum" see if you can recognize all the foods he sings about. Careful, he's quick!
Cheers!
Ciao! For now.
rntcj
Hi, just found your blog in trying to find out what's happened to mijas's acmmijas blog - it's been removed by the looks of it !!! Does anyone know? That's a good blog to lose :(
Searching for their blog led me to this Joe Tex which I haven't got - plenty of holes still to fill LOL.
Thanks :)
Hello Puw, Yes unfortunately ACM2 Mijas has gone, but has now been taken over by Luis Blanco and you'll find it here but all the old archives have been removed.
https://elrincondeluisblanco.blogspot.com/
Regards, Bob
Thanks Bob for the link.
That's a lot of Jasmine old stuff disappeared then.
I'll go take a look :)
Hi there,
At 1st look it seemed like I stumbled into the vault, but unfortunately half of the links are dead (listed below).
Joe Tex - Yum Yum Yum ~ The Early Years 1955-1962 (2015)
JOE TEX - Singles As and Bs Vol.3
JOE TEX - Singles As and Bs Vol.4
Thanks for Vol. 1, I found Vol. 2 elsewhere before that and was hoping to complete the series of four here ...
Any chance to renew the links?
Thanks in advance.
Hello Music Collector, Most people get upset when links are dead. I know because I've been there myself. My own links are with FREE membership which means if anyone doesn't download the link in question then it is removed after usually 3 months.. There are one or two that will keep them longer but I am maxed out on those. I'd love to be a premium member for all these different file storers but unfortunately I can't as my budget doesn't reach that far.
I can help you with the Yum Yum Yum album, (which I'll root out and post within the next few days) but unfortunately Vols 3 & 4 are links from another blog (as stated in comment). At the time of publishing they were active, but I never returned to download them myself. If you visit the blogs mentioned then put in another request, or use Google search. Try using "Joe Tex blogspot" of "Joe Tex rar", you may be surprised!
Regards, Bob
Hello Music Collector. You're in luck. Had a quick look in the back room and found it.
https://www.upload.ee/files/13588602/Joe_TEX_-_1955-1962.rar.html
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