Michael Jackson's prime?

[32jazz]

n[COLOR="Black"]i[/COLOR]ggaz used to make fun of me when i had Thiller in my CD player when i was in high school.... aint that some shit.

Giving away your age because when Thriller was out it was cassettes & Vinyl for the most part. If you had "Thriller" you were "THE" shit-

[L.Kizzle]

Good stuff Kizzle. I may have to rethink the 'hack' remark because it's obvious the guy is talented & sometimes with murky pasts like that it's hard to figure out who is copying from whom sometimes.

I had my own limited memories of Tex from my youth(family weren't fans) & vaguely remembering his real classics & big hits.

Joe Tex is one of the more criminally underrated/respected/forgot about artist (also Johnnie Taylor, but that's another story.) I rank him very high in the southern soul department. I only rank JB and Redding over him in the 60s' (and maybe Wilson Pickett.)

Tex had more hits than the likes of Sam & Dave and Solomon Burke. Both fizzled out in the late 60s. Percy Sledge is in the freaking Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Joe isn't ...



Here are some top notch Joe Tex songs.


Pneumonia (1955. claimed he wrote Fever and sold it to pay his rent. This is his answer version.)
She's Mine 1956
Wicked Woman (1960. Jerry Butler did a cover version)
Meet Me In Church (1962. Solomon Burke did a cover version)
Say Thank You (1963. Beautiful tune, if Ray Charles sung this would be a #1 hit.)
Looking For My Pig 1964
I Had a Good Home (But I Left) Parts 1 and 2 1964
One Monkey Don't Stop No Show (1965. The Animals did a great cover of this tune.)
I'm Not Going To Work Today (1965. Clyde McPhatter cover this tune)
The Love You Save (May Be Your Own) (LIVE 1966. You've probably heard this one before)
You Better Believe It Baby 1966
Close The Door 1966
Watch The One (That Brings The Bad News) 1967
Wooden Spoon 1968
I'll Never Do You Wrong 1968 (Classic!)
Baby, Be Good 1969
Keep The One You Got 1969 (Classic!)
You're Right, Ray Charles (1970. Buddy Miles covers this tunes and just titled it simply (JOE TEX.)
I'll Never Fall In Love Again (1970. Contrary to popular belief, it was Joe not Isaac Hayes or even James Brown who was the first to talk over a track for long periods of times. He did it was back in 1960 with an Etta James cover I didn't add, but I might as well ...All I Could Do Was Cry (Parts 1 and 2) this was actually his first charting single in 1960, number 102 on the pop charts.)
The Only Way I Know To Love 1970
You Said a Bad Word 1972


The JOE TEX Band 1968
Chocolate Cherry
Betwixt and Between


and the super group !!! ...
The SOUL CLAN: Joe Tex Solomon Burke Ben E. King Arthur Conley Don Covay
Soul Meeting
That's How I Feel

[32jazz]

Joe Tex is one of the more criminally underrated/respected/forgot about artist (also Johnnie Taylor, but that's another story.) I rank him very high in the southern soul department. I only rank JB and Redding over him in the 60s' (and maybe Wilson Pickett.)

Tex had more hits than the likes of Sam & Dave and Solomon Burke. Both fizzled out in the late 60s. Percy Sledge is in the freaking Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Joe isn't ...



Here are some top notch Joe Tex songs.


Pneumonia (1955. claimed he wrote Fever and sold it to pay his rent. This is his answer version.)
She's Mine 1956
Wicked Woman (1960. Jerry Butler did a cover version)
Meet Me In Church (1962. Solomon Burke did a cover version)
Say Thank You (1963. Beautiful tune, if Ray Charles sung this would be a #1 hit.)
Looking For My Pig 1964
I Had a Good Home (But I Left) Parts 1 and 2 1964
One Monkey Don't Stop No Show (1965. The Animals did a great cover of this tune.)
I'm Not Going To Work Today (1965. Clyde McPhatter cover this tune)
The Love You Save (May Be Your Own) (LIVE 1966. You've probably heard this one before)
You Better Believe It Baby 1966
Close The Door 1966
Watch The One (That Brings The Bad News) 1967
Wooden Spoon 1968
I'll Never Do You Wrong 1968 (Classic!)
Baby, Be Good 1969
Keep The One You Got 1969 (Classic!)
You're Right, Ray Charles (1970. Buddy Miles covers this tunes and just titled it simply (JOE TEX.)
I'll Never Fall In Love Again (1970. Contrary to popular belief, it was Joe not Isaac Hayes or even James Brown who was the first to talk over a track for long periods of times. He did it was back in 1960 with an Etta James cover I didn't add, but I might as well ...All I Could Do Was Cry (Parts 1 and 2) this was actually his first charting single in 1960, number 102 on the pop charts.)
The Only Way I Know To Love 1970
You Said a Bad Word 1972


The JOE TEX Band 1968
Chocolate Cherry
Betwixt and Between


and the super group !!! ...
The SOUL CLAN: Joe Tex Solomon Burke Ben E. King Arthur Conley Don Covay
Soul Meeting
That's How I Feel

Damn you Kizzle.Got lost over half an hour listening to Joe Tex.


Didn't realize how long he was at it either besides "Hold on...", "I want to do everything..." MOST of those tunes were obscure to me.

It IS astounding that Sledge's legend was made on a single record(although I really like "It Tears me up") & Johnny Taylor is under appreciated outside of Southern Black audiences. It seems if you don't have that hit or hits that really resonate with Rock or Pop(crossover) that will be your fate.


Johnny Taylor, O.V. Wright,Tyrone Davis,Joe Simon,etc..& many of those Southern Soul/ Blues Artists fall into that category.


Tyrone Davis lamented this fact & asked Buddy Guy for advice on how to make this crossover, but unlike Guy(a guitar hero to Blues Rockers) Davis , Taylor, Wright,etc... Were just singers that didn't resonate or interest Rock or Pop audiences. (With exceptions like Hayes, whom I still don't get , Al Green,etc....)


Kizzle you seem to be too well versed on R&B to ask ,but are you familiar with/ like New Orleans artists like Lee Dorsey, Neville Brothers,Meters,Huey Piano Smith, Professor Longhair, K-Doe, Earl King,Dr John,Chris Kenner,Toussaint,etc....? Being from South Louisiana I was teethed on a lot of that.

[L.Kizzle]

Damn you Kizzle.Got lost over half an hour listening to Joe Tex.


Didn't realize how long he was at it either besides "Hold on...", "I want to do everything..." MOST of those tunes were obscure to me.

It IS astounding that Sledge's legend was made on a single record(although I really like "It Tears me up") & Johnny Taylor is under appreciated outside of Southern Black audiences. It seems if you don't have that hit or hits that really resonate with Rock or Pop(crossover) that will be your fate.


Johnny Taylor, O.V. Wright,Tyrone Davis,Joe Simon,etc..& many of those Southern Soul/ Blues Artists fall into that category.


Tyrone Davis lamented this fact & asked Buddy Guy for advice on how to make this crossover, but unlike Guy(a guitar hero to Blues Rockers) Davis , Taylor, Wright,etc... Were just singers that didn't resonate or interest Rock or Pop audiences. (With exceptions like Hayes, whom I still don't get , Al Green,etc....)


Kizzle you seem to be too well versed on R&B to ask ,but are you familiar with/ like New Orleans artists like Lee Dorsey, Neville Brothers,Meters,Huey Piano Smith, Professor Longhair, K-Doe, Earl King,Dr John,Chris Kenner,Toussaint,etc....? Being from South Louisiana I was teethed on a lot of that.

Yes, I'm familiar with that scene. I was actually listening to Ernie K-Doe last night. Joe actually taught Ernie dance moves, along with the famed mic tricks. He also wrote a bunch of tunes for him. One, was the follow-up "Mother In-Law" called "Get Out of My House."

Ernie K-Doe: Get Out of My House

Earl King, should be a part of the Three Kings of Blues along with BB, Albert and Freddie.

Allen Toussaint played organ on this early Joe Tex tune and Huey Smith drums.
Boys Will Be Boys

[32jazz]

Yes, I'm familiar with that scene. I was actually listening to Ernie K-Doe last night. Joe actually taught Ernie dance moves, along with the famed mic tricks. He also wrote a bunch of tunes for him. One, was the follow-up "Mother In-Law" called "Get Out of My House."

Ernie K-Doe: Get Out of My House

Earl King, should be a part of the Three Kings of Blues along with BB, Albert and Freddie.

Allen Toussaint played organ on this early Joe Tex tune and Huey Smith drums.
Boys Will Be Boys

Earl King is under appreciated & unusual in New Orleans music ,along with Guitar Slim , in that we don't have a real strong tradition of electric Blues guitarists.

No need to tell you that one either blew a horn(too many Jazzmen to name) or played the Piano(Dr John,Fess,Fats,Eddie Bo,Toussaint,Henry Butler,so on,Etc,.........

"Boys.." really does sound different from the typical Joe Tex soul & you can hear that New Orleans 'rhumba' or carribean type rhythm or feel . Like in Big Chief , Go to the Mardi Gras,etc..........

I'll keep an eye open for your R&B posts.

[L.Kizzle]

Earl King is under appreciated & unusual in New Orleans music ,along with Guitar Slim , in that we don't have a real strong tradition of electric Blues guitarists.

No need to tell you that one either blew a horn(too many Jazzmen to name) or played the Piano(Dr John,Fess,Fats,Eddie Bo,Toussaint,Henry Butler,so on,Etc,.........

"Boys.." really does sound different from the typical Joe Tex soul & you can hear that New Orleans 'rhumba' or carribean type rhythm or feel . Like in Big Chief , Go to the Mardi Gras,etc..........

I'll keep an eye open for your R&B posts.

Some other noteworthy bookmarks about Joe Tex.

He was damn near signed to Motown Records and was actually signed to Chess Records for a short time.

He signed with Anna Records sometime in 1960, founded and named after Berry Gordy's sister (who'd go on to merry Marvin Gaye.) On that label included Marvin Gay (as a session drummer,) Lamont Dozier (as an artist named Lamont Anthony), Johnny Bristol and the Voice Masters which included a young David Ruffin. At that time, that label had nothing to do with Motown Records.

Anna and all it's artist were absorbed into Motown sometime in 1961 after only charting a Joe Tex single under the Pop 100. Joe released the last single ever for Anna Records, so not sure why he never ended up with Motown, probably because he got an offer for more money ...

Shortly after, he ended up on Dial Records in 1961...

But while at Dial, still basically hit-less, he signed with Checker Records, a Chess Subsidiary in 1963 and released 2 singles in 63 and 64.


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