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Superstar
had to throw BLACK in there to grab peoples attention
SPIN: The TLR Rock n roll Hall of fame thread (BLACK EXCELLENCE)
- Thread starter cole phelps
- Start date
Vandelay
Life is absurd. Lean into it.
Jimmy Preston (b August 18, 1913, Chester, Pennsylvania – d December 1984, Philadelphia, PA) was an American R&B bandleader, alto saxophonist, drummer and singer who made an important contribution to early rock and roll.[1]
Preston's first R&B top ten hit was with "Hucklebuck Daddy" in 1949, recorded for Philadelphia's Gotham Records.[1] His main claim to fame was to record, as Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians, the original version of "Rock the Joint" for Gotham in 1949. The sax breaks on "Rock the Joint" were the work of tenor player Danny Turner (1920-1995). “Rock The Joint” was re-recorded by Jimmy Cavallo in 1951, and Bill Haley and the Saddlemen in 1952.
In 1950, tenor saxophone player Benny Golson and pianist Billy Gaines were added to new line-up and recorded songs like "Early Morning Blues" and "Hayride". [1] Preston moved to Derby Records and had a final R&B hit with a cover of Louis Prima’s “Oh Babe”. He gave up playing music in 1952, without realizing that he would later be identified as one of the founders of rock and roll.
I know it mentions Bill Haley re-recorded it, but this sounds eerily simliar to "Rock Around the Clock", recorded 3 years later...
Sane
All Star
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Superstar
Stage name
McDaniel adopted the stage name Bo Diddley. The origin of the name is somewhat unclear, as several differing stories and claims exist. Diddley claims that his peers gave him the nickname, which he first suspected to be an insult.[16] Bo Diddley himself said that the name first belonged to a singer his adoptive mother was familiar with, while harmonicist Billy Boy Arnold once said in an interview that it was originally the name of a local comedian that Leonard Chess borrowed for the song title and artist name for Bo Diddley's first single, and guitar craftsman Ed Roman reported that another (unspecified) source says it was his nickname as a Golden Gloves boxer.[17]
A "diddley bow" is a typically homemade American string instrument of African origin, probably influenced by instruments found on the coast of west Africa.[18]
The American slang phrase bo diddly meaning "absolutely nothing" goes back possibly to the early 20th century or earlier. Diddly is a truncation of diddly-squat, retaining the same meaning[19] of "nothing"[20] and bo is an intensifier.[21]
Success in the 1950s and 1960s
On November 20, 1955, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television variety show, where he infuriated the host. "I did two songs and he got mad," Bo Diddley later recalled. "Ed Sullivan said that I was one of the first colored boys to ever double-cross him. Said that I wouldn't last six months". The show had requested that he sing the Merle Travis-penned Tennessee Ernie Ford hit "Sixteen Tons", but when he appeared on stage, he sang "Bo Diddley" instead. This substitution resulted in his being banned from further appearances.
The request came about because Sullivan's people heard Diddley casually singing "Sixteen Tons" in the dressing room. Diddley's accounts of the event were inconsistent.[22]
Diddley was an excellent story teller whose stories varied from time to time, however, Diddley contended to friends and family that he was not trying to double-cross Sullivan and attributed the "misunderstanding" to the fact that when he saw "Bo Diddley" on a cue card, he was under the impression he was to perform two songs, "Bo Diddley" and "Sixteen Tons".
Chess included Diddley's recording of "Sixteen Tons" on the album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger,[23] which was originally released in 1960.[24]
He continued to have hits through the rest of the 1950s and even the 1960s, including "Pretty Thing" (1956), "Say Man" (1959), and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (1962). He released a string of albums whose titles, including Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger and Have Guitar, Will Travel, bolstered his self-invented legend.[12] Between 1958 and 1963, Checker Records released 11 full-length albums by Bo Diddley. Although he broke through as a crossover artist with white audiences (appearing at the Alan Freed concerts, for example) during the early 1960s,[12] he rarely tailored his compositions to teenage concerns. The album title Surfing with Bo Diddley was a boast about his influence on surf guitarists.
In 1963, he starred in a UK concert tour with the Everly Brothers and Little Richard. The Rolling Stones, still barely known outside London at that time, appeared as a supporting act on the same bill.
In addition to the many songs recorded by him, in 1956 he co-wrote, with Jody Williams, the pioneering pop song "Love Is Strange", a hit for Mickey & Sylvia in 1957.[25]
Bo Diddley long included women in his band: "The Duchess" Norma-Jean Wofford, Gloria Jolivet, Peggy Jones (aka "Lady Bo," a rare, for the time, female lead guitarist), Cornelia Redmond (aka Cookie), and Debby Hastings, who led his band for the final 25 years of his performing career. After moving from his home in Chicago to Washington, D.C., he set up one of the first home recording studios where he not only recorded the album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger but he recorded his valet, Marvin Gaye. The Diddley-penned, "Wyatt Earp" was a single released on Okeh Records, since the Chess brothers did not want to release the record. Also during this time, Moonglows founder Harvey Fuqua who sang background on many of Diddley's home studio recordings was introduced to Gaye, and asked him to join the Moonglows. When Fuqua went to Motown, Gaye followed
McDaniel adopted the stage name Bo Diddley. The origin of the name is somewhat unclear, as several differing stories and claims exist. Diddley claims that his peers gave him the nickname, which he first suspected to be an insult.[16] Bo Diddley himself said that the name first belonged to a singer his adoptive mother was familiar with, while harmonicist Billy Boy Arnold once said in an interview that it was originally the name of a local comedian that Leonard Chess borrowed for the song title and artist name for Bo Diddley's first single, and guitar craftsman Ed Roman reported that another (unspecified) source says it was his nickname as a Golden Gloves boxer.[17]
A "diddley bow" is a typically homemade American string instrument of African origin, probably influenced by instruments found on the coast of west Africa.[18]
The American slang phrase bo diddly meaning "absolutely nothing" goes back possibly to the early 20th century or earlier. Diddly is a truncation of diddly-squat, retaining the same meaning[19] of "nothing"[20] and bo is an intensifier.[21]
Success in the 1950s and 1960s
On November 20, 1955, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television variety show, where he infuriated the host. "I did two songs and he got mad," Bo Diddley later recalled. "Ed Sullivan said that I was one of the first colored boys to ever double-cross him. Said that I wouldn't last six months". The show had requested that he sing the Merle Travis-penned Tennessee Ernie Ford hit "Sixteen Tons", but when he appeared on stage, he sang "Bo Diddley" instead. This substitution resulted in his being banned from further appearances.
The request came about because Sullivan's people heard Diddley casually singing "Sixteen Tons" in the dressing room. Diddley's accounts of the event were inconsistent.[22]
Diddley was an excellent story teller whose stories varied from time to time, however, Diddley contended to friends and family that he was not trying to double-cross Sullivan and attributed the "misunderstanding" to the fact that when he saw "Bo Diddley" on a cue card, he was under the impression he was to perform two songs, "Bo Diddley" and "Sixteen Tons".
Chess included Diddley's recording of "Sixteen Tons" on the album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger,[23] which was originally released in 1960.[24]
He continued to have hits through the rest of the 1950s and even the 1960s, including "Pretty Thing" (1956), "Say Man" (1959), and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (1962). He released a string of albums whose titles, including Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger and Have Guitar, Will Travel, bolstered his self-invented legend.[12] Between 1958 and 1963, Checker Records released 11 full-length albums by Bo Diddley. Although he broke through as a crossover artist with white audiences (appearing at the Alan Freed concerts, for example) during the early 1960s,[12] he rarely tailored his compositions to teenage concerns. The album title Surfing with Bo Diddley was a boast about his influence on surf guitarists.
In 1963, he starred in a UK concert tour with the Everly Brothers and Little Richard. The Rolling Stones, still barely known outside London at that time, appeared as a supporting act on the same bill.
In addition to the many songs recorded by him, in 1956 he co-wrote, with Jody Williams, the pioneering pop song "Love Is Strange", a hit for Mickey & Sylvia in 1957.[25]
Bo Diddley long included women in his band: "The Duchess" Norma-Jean Wofford, Gloria Jolivet, Peggy Jones (aka "Lady Bo," a rare, for the time, female lead guitarist), Cornelia Redmond (aka Cookie), and Debby Hastings, who led his band for the final 25 years of his performing career. After moving from his home in Chicago to Washington, D.C., he set up one of the first home recording studios where he not only recorded the album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger but he recorded his valet, Marvin Gaye. The Diddley-penned, "Wyatt Earp" was a single released on Okeh Records, since the Chess brothers did not want to release the record. Also during this time, Moonglows founder Harvey Fuqua who sang background on many of Diddley's home studio recordings was introduced to Gaye, and asked him to join the Moonglows. When Fuqua went to Motown, Gaye followed
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Superstar
Later years
Bo Diddley touring Japan with Japanese band Bo Gumbos
Over the decades, Bo Diddley's venues ranged from intimate clubs to stadiums. On March 25, 1972, he played with The Grateful Dead at the Academy of Music in New York City. The Grateful Dead released part of this concert as Volume 30 of the band's dikk's Picks concert album series. Also in the early 1970s, the soundtrack for the ground-breaking animated film Fritz The Cat contained his song "Bo Diddley", in which a crow idly finger-pops along to the track.
Bo Diddley spent many years in New Mexico, living in Los Lunas, New Mexico from 1971 to 1978 while continuing his musical career. He served for two and a half years as Deputy Sheriff in the Valencia County Citizens' Patrol; during that time he purchased and donated three highway patrol pursuit cars.[26] In the late 1970s, Diddley left Los Lunas and moved to Hawthorne, Florida where he lived on a large estate in a custom made log-cabin home, which he helped to build. For the remainder of his life he spent time between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Florida, living the last 13 years of his life in Archer, Florida, a small farming town near Gainesville.
He appeared as an opening act for The Clash in their 1979 US tour; in Legends of Guitar (filmed live in Spain, 1991) with B.B. King, Les Paul, Albert Collins, George Benson, among others, and joined The Rolling Stones as a guest on their 1994 concert broadcast of Voodoo Lounge, performing "Who Do You Love?" with the band. Sheryl Crow and Robert Cray also appeared on the pay-per-view special.
Bo Diddley touring Japan with Japanese band Bo Gumbos
Over the decades, Bo Diddley's venues ranged from intimate clubs to stadiums. On March 25, 1972, he played with The Grateful Dead at the Academy of Music in New York City. The Grateful Dead released part of this concert as Volume 30 of the band's dikk's Picks concert album series. Also in the early 1970s, the soundtrack for the ground-breaking animated film Fritz The Cat contained his song "Bo Diddley", in which a crow idly finger-pops along to the track.
Bo Diddley spent many years in New Mexico, living in Los Lunas, New Mexico from 1971 to 1978 while continuing his musical career. He served for two and a half years as Deputy Sheriff in the Valencia County Citizens' Patrol; during that time he purchased and donated three highway patrol pursuit cars.[26] In the late 1970s, Diddley left Los Lunas and moved to Hawthorne, Florida where he lived on a large estate in a custom made log-cabin home, which he helped to build. For the remainder of his life he spent time between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Florida, living the last 13 years of his life in Archer, Florida, a small farming town near Gainesville.
He appeared as an opening act for The Clash in their 1979 US tour; in Legends of Guitar (filmed live in Spain, 1991) with B.B. King, Les Paul, Albert Collins, George Benson, among others, and joined The Rolling Stones as a guest on their 1994 concert broadcast of Voodoo Lounge, performing "Who Do You Love?" with the band. Sheryl Crow and Robert Cray also appeared on the pay-per-view special.
cole phelps
Superstar
Richard Wayne Penniman (born December 5, 1932), known by his stage name Little Richard, is an American recording artist, songwriter, and musician. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for over six decades. Penniman's most celebrated work dates from the mid 1950s where his dynamic music and charismatic showmanship laid the foundation for rock and roll. His music also had a pivotal impact on the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk. Penniman influenced numerous singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to rap.
Penniman has been honored by many institutions, including inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is the recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from The Recording Academy and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Penniman's "Tutti Frutti" (1955) was included in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2010, claiming the "unique vocalizing over the irresistible beat announced a new era in music."
Early life
Little Richard was born Richard Wayne Penniman in Macon, Georgia, on December 5, 1932, the third-eldest of twelve. His parents were Leva Mae (née Stewart) and Charles "Bud" Penniman. His father was a church deacon who sold bootlegged moonshine on the side and owned his own nightclub, the Tip In Inn.[1][2] His mother was a member of Macon's New Hope Baptist Church.[3] Initially, Penniman's first name was supposed to have been "Ricardo" but an error resulted in "Richard" instead.[1][4] The Penniman children were raised in the poor neighborhood of Macon called Pleasant Hill.[3] He was nicknamed "Lil' Richard" by family due to his small and skinny frame as a child. A mischievous child who played pranks on neighbors, Penniman began singing in church at a young age.[5][6] Possibly due to complications at birth, Penniman had a slight deformity that left one of his legs shorter than the other. This produced an unusual gait, for which he was mocked over its allegedly effeminate appearance.[7]
Penniman's family was highly religious, joining various A.M.E., Baptist and Pentecostal churches, with some family members becoming ministers. Penniman enjoyed the Pentecostal churches the most due to its charismatic worship and live music.[8] He later recalled that people in his neighborhood during segregation sang gospel songs throughout the day to keep a positive outlook because "there was so much poverty, so much prejudice in those days."[9] Penniman had observed that people sang "to feel their connection with God" and to wash their trials and burdens away.[10] Gifted with a loud singing voice, Penniman recalled that he was "always changing the key upwards" and that they once stopped him from singing in church for "screaming and hollering" so loud, earning him the nickname, "War Hawk."[11]
Penniman's initial musical influences were gospel performers, such as Brother Joe May, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mahalia Jackson and Marion Williams. May, who as a singing evangelist was known as the "Thunderbolt of the Middle West" due to his phenomenal range and vocal power, inspired the boy to become a preacher.[12][13] Penniman attended Macon's Hudson High School where he was a below average student. His musical talent, however, was recognized there when he learned to play the alto saxophone. Penniman's mother recalled how Richard was "always musical" and that when he was young, he would always "beat on the steps of the house, and on tin cans and pots and pans, or whatever", while singing.[14] She also recalled that Richard was so quick at learning to play the saxophone that he was allowed to play with the school's marching band immediately.[14] While in high school, Penniman obtained a part-time job at the Macon City Auditorium for local secular and gospel concert promoter Clint Brantley. Penniman sold Coca-Cola to crowds during concerts of star performers of the day, such as Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder and his favorite singer, Sister Rosetta Tharpe.[15
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Superstar
Beginnings
On October 27, 1947, Sister Rosetta Tharpe heard fourteen-year-old Penniman singing two of her gospel recordings before her concert at the Macon City Auditorium. Tharpe was so impressed that she invited him to sing onstage during the concert.[15] Clint Brantley recalled that Penniman approached him before the show, announcing that Tharpe was allowing him to open the show. Brantley, as the promoter, told him he could not. However, when the curtain lifted, Penniman began to sing and surprised Brantley with his vocal ability. The crowd cheered and Tharpe paid him for his performance. Penniman was hooked on performing for a living after that.[16] He began singing with traveling shows that came through town and was losing interest in school. He would sing to draw people to the local town prophet and spiritualist, Doctor Nubilio, who wore a turban, a colorful cape and carried a black stick and something that people came to see which Nubilio called "the devil's child" - a dried up body of a baby with claw feet like a bird and horns on its head. Nubilio told Penniman that he was "gonna be famous" but that he would have to "go where the grass is greener."[17] Due to problems at home and school and associations in the community, Penniman left and joined Dr. Hudson's Medicine Show in 1948, performing "Caldonia".[17] Penniman recalled the song was the first secular R&B song he learned due to his family's strict rules against playing R&B music, which they considered "devil music".[18] Penniman soon joined his first musical band, Buster Brown's Orchestra. While performing with the band, he began using the name Little Richard.[19] After his tenure with the band ended in 1950, Penniman began performing for various vaudeville groups including Sugarfoot Sam from Alabam, the Tidy Jolly Steppers, the King Brothers Circus and Broadway Follies, earning a reputation as a drag performer.[20] Around this time, Penniman began listening more to R&B and frequented Atlanta clubs where he witnessed Roy Brown and Billy Wright. Heavily influenced by Wright's flamboyant persona and showmanship, Penniman began performing as a solo artist as part of the chitlin' circuit.[21] Penniman gained notoriety for high-energy onstage antics during live performances.[22] He eventually befriended Wright during an Atlanta performance in 1950.[23]
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Superstar
In October 1951, Wright put Penniman in contact with his manager, Zenas Sears, a local deejay. Sears recorded Penniman at his station backed by Wright's band. The recordings soon led to a deal with RCA's Camden subsidiary.[24] Penniman recorded a total of eight sides for Camden, including the blues ballad, "Every Hour", which became his first single and a hit in the Georgia area.[24] The release of "Every Hour" improved his relationship with his father, who began regularly performing the song at his nightclub.[24] After its release, Penniman fronted Perry Welch and His Orchestra, playing at clubs and army bases for $100 a week.[25] Penniman learned how to play boogie-woogie piano from teenage musician Esquerita around this time.[26] Penniman left Camden in February 1952 after his records failed to catch on. That same month, his father was suddenly killed after a confrontation outside his club. Penniman, struggling with poverty, settled for work as a dishwasher for Greyhound Lines and hired Clint Brantley as his manager.[27] He formed a band called the Tempo Toppers that year and began to perform as part of blues package tours in clubs across the south, such as New Orleans' Club Tijuana and Houston's Club Matinee.[28][29] With the Tempo Toppers, Penniman signed with Don Robey's Peacock Records in February 1953, recording eight sides, including four with Johnny Otis and his band that were unreleased at the time.[30] [31] Penniman had a contentious relationship with Robey and soon found himself disenchanted with the record business and with his group, leaving Peacock and disbanding the Tempo Toppers in 1954. That year, Penniman formed a R&B band, the Upsetters, which included drummer Charles Connor and saxophonist Wilbert "Lee Diamond" Smith, which toured under Brantley's management.[32][33] The Upsetters began to tour successfully, even without a bass player on songs, forcing drummer Connor to thump "real hard" on his bass drum in order to get a "bass fiddle effect."[32]
Under the suggestion of Lloyd Price, Penniman sent a two-song demo for Price's label, Specialty Records, in February 1955. Time passed before Penniman got a call to record for the label.[34] Rupe soon loaned Penniman money to buy out his Peacock contract and Rupe set him up to work with producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell.[35] Upon hearing the demo, Blackwell felt Penniman was Specialty's answer to Ray Charles. Penniman told Blackwell he preferred the sound of Fats Domino. As a result, Penniman began recording at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios in New Orleans that September, recording there with several of Domino's session musicians including drummer Earl Palmer and saxophonist Lee Allen.[36] Initial cuts failed to produce anything to inspire huge sales and Penniman and his producer took a break at a club called the Dew Drop Inn. While there, Penniman performed a risqué song he had improvised from his days on the club circuit called "Tutti Frutti".[37] The song's a cappella introduction was based off a drum rhythm Penniman had devised. Blackwell felt the song had hit potential and hired songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie to replace some of Penniman's sexual lyrics with less controversial words.[38][39] Recorded in three takes in September 1955, "Tutti Frutti" was released as a single in November
Under the suggestion of Lloyd Price, Penniman sent a two-song demo for Price's label, Specialty Records, in February 1955. Time passed before Penniman got a call to record for the label.[34] Rupe soon loaned Penniman money to buy out his Peacock contract and Rupe set him up to work with producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell.[35] Upon hearing the demo, Blackwell felt Penniman was Specialty's answer to Ray Charles. Penniman told Blackwell he preferred the sound of Fats Domino. As a result, Penniman began recording at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios in New Orleans that September, recording there with several of Domino's session musicians including drummer Earl Palmer and saxophonist Lee Allen.[36] Initial cuts failed to produce anything to inspire huge sales and Penniman and his producer took a break at a club called the Dew Drop Inn. While there, Penniman performed a risqué song he had improvised from his days on the club circuit called "Tutti Frutti".[37] The song's a cappella introduction was based off a drum rhythm Penniman had devised. Blackwell felt the song had hit potential and hired songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie to replace some of Penniman's sexual lyrics with less controversial words.[38][39] Recorded in three takes in September 1955, "Tutti Frutti" was released as a single in November
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Superstar
Joseph Arrington, Jr. (August 8, 1935[1]– August 13, 1982), better known as Joe Tex, was an American musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the styles of country, gospel and rhythm and blues.[1]
Born in Rogers, Texas, and raised in Baytown, Tex's career started after he was signed to King Records in 1955 following four wins at the Apollo Theater.[1] Between that year and 1964, however, Tex struggled to find hits and by the time he finally recorded his first hit, "Hold What You've Got", in 1964, he had recorded thirty prior singles that were deemed failures on the charts.[1] Tex went on to have three million-selling hits, "Hold What You've Got" (1965), "Skinny Legs and All" (1967)[4] and "I Gotcha" (1972).[5]
Tex's style of speaking over the background of his music helped to make him one of the predecessors of the modern style of rap music.
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Superstar
Early life
Joe Tex was born Joseph Arrington, Jr. in Rogers, Texas to Cherie Sue (née Jackson) and Joseph Arrington.[1] After Tex's parents divorced, his mother moved him and his sister Mary to Baytown, Texas.[3] In high school, Tex played baritone saxophone in his high school band and also sang for a local Pentecostal church choir.[1] Tex entered a number of talent shows and after an important win in Houston, the 18-year-old won $300 and a trip to New York City.[1] While in New York, Tex took part in the amateur portion of the Apollo Theater, winning first place four times, leading to his discovery by A&R man Henry Glover, who offered to give him a contract with King Records.[1] Due to his mother's strong convictions that he should finish high school first, Glover waited a year before Tex signed with the label at the age of 19.[1]
Music career
Early recordings
Tex recorded for King Records between 1955 and 1957 with relative failures.[1] Tex would claim later that he sold musical rights to the composition, "Fever" to King Records staff, due to failure to pay rent.[1] The song's credited songwriters, Otis Blackwell (who used the pseudonym John Davenport) and Joe Cooley disputed Tex's claims.[1] Labelmate Little Willie John had a hit with "Fever", later inspiring Tex to write the first of his answer songs, "Pneumonia".[1]
In 1958, he signed with Ace and continued to have relative failures but was starting to build a unique stage reputation while opening up for artists such as Jackie Wilson, James Brown and Little Richard, perfecting the microphone tricks and dance moves that would define the rest of his career. It has been insisted by many, including Little Richard, that Tex's future nemesis James Brown stole Tex's dance moves and microphone tricks.[1] In 1960, he left Ace and briefly recorded for Detroit's Anna Records label, where he scored a Bubbling Under Billboard hit with his cover version of Etta James' "All I Could Do Was Cry". By then, Tex's usage of rapping over his music was starting to become commonplace.[1]
In 1961, he recorded his composition, "Baby You're Right", for Anna. Later that year, James Brown recorded a cover version, albeit with different lyrics and a different musical composition, winning songwriting credit, making the song a hit in 1962, reaching #2 on the R&B chart. It was during this time that Tex first began working with Buddy Killen, who formed the Dial Records label behind Tex. After a number of songs failed to chart, Killen decided to have Atlantic Records distribute his recordings with Dial in 1964.[1] By the time he signed with Atlantic, Tex had recorded thirty songs, all of which had failed to make an impact on the charts.[1]
Joe Tex was born Joseph Arrington, Jr. in Rogers, Texas to Cherie Sue (née Jackson) and Joseph Arrington.[1] After Tex's parents divorced, his mother moved him and his sister Mary to Baytown, Texas.[3] In high school, Tex played baritone saxophone in his high school band and also sang for a local Pentecostal church choir.[1] Tex entered a number of talent shows and after an important win in Houston, the 18-year-old won $300 and a trip to New York City.[1] While in New York, Tex took part in the amateur portion of the Apollo Theater, winning first place four times, leading to his discovery by A&R man Henry Glover, who offered to give him a contract with King Records.[1] Due to his mother's strong convictions that he should finish high school first, Glover waited a year before Tex signed with the label at the age of 19.[1]
Music career
Early recordings
Tex recorded for King Records between 1955 and 1957 with relative failures.[1] Tex would claim later that he sold musical rights to the composition, "Fever" to King Records staff, due to failure to pay rent.[1] The song's credited songwriters, Otis Blackwell (who used the pseudonym John Davenport) and Joe Cooley disputed Tex's claims.[1] Labelmate Little Willie John had a hit with "Fever", later inspiring Tex to write the first of his answer songs, "Pneumonia".[1]
In 1958, he signed with Ace and continued to have relative failures but was starting to build a unique stage reputation while opening up for artists such as Jackie Wilson, James Brown and Little Richard, perfecting the microphone tricks and dance moves that would define the rest of his career. It has been insisted by many, including Little Richard, that Tex's future nemesis James Brown stole Tex's dance moves and microphone tricks.[1] In 1960, he left Ace and briefly recorded for Detroit's Anna Records label, where he scored a Bubbling Under Billboard hit with his cover version of Etta James' "All I Could Do Was Cry". By then, Tex's usage of rapping over his music was starting to become commonplace.[1]
In 1961, he recorded his composition, "Baby You're Right", for Anna. Later that year, James Brown recorded a cover version, albeit with different lyrics and a different musical composition, winning songwriting credit, making the song a hit in 1962, reaching #2 on the R&B chart. It was during this time that Tex first began working with Buddy Killen, who formed the Dial Records label behind Tex. After a number of songs failed to chart, Killen decided to have Atlantic Records distribute his recordings with Dial in 1964.[1] By the time he signed with Atlantic, Tex had recorded thirty songs, all of which had failed to make an impact on the charts.[1]
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Superstar
Success
Tex recorded his first hit, "Hold On To What You've Got", in November 1964 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.[1] Tex was not convinced the song would be a hit and advised Killen not to release it.[1] However, Killen felt otherwise and released the song in early 1965. By the time Tex got wind of its release, the song had already sold 200,000 copies.[1] The song eventually peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Tex's first number-one hit on the R&B charts, staying on the charts for 11 weeks and selling over a million copies by 1966.[3]
Tex would place six top 40 charted singles on the R&B charts in 1965 alone, including two more number-one hits "I Want To (Do Everything For You)" and "A Sweet Woman Like You".[1] He followed that with two successive albums, Hold On To What You've Got and The New Boss.[1] Tex placed more R&B hits than any artist, including his nemesis James Brown.[1] In 1966, five more singles entered the top 40 on the R&B charts including "The Love You Save" and "S.Y.S.L.J.F.M." or "The Letter Song", which was an answer song to Wilson Pickett's "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)".[1]
His 1967 hits included "Show Me", which became an often-covered tune for British rock artists and later some country and pop artists, and his second million-selling hit, "Skinny Legs and All".[1][6] The latter song, released off Tex's pseudo live album, Live and Lively, stayed on the charts for 15 weeks and was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in January 1968.[4] After leaving Atlantic for Mercury, Tex had several more R&B hits including "Buying a Book" in 1970 and "Give the Baby Anything the Baby Wants" in 1971. The intro saxophone riffs in his 1969 song, "You're Right, Ray Charles" later influenced Funkadelic's "Standing on the Verge of Gettin' It On".[1]
Tex recorded his next big hit, "I Gotcha", in December 1971. The song was released in January 1972 and stayed on the charts for 20 weeks, staying at #2 on the Hot 100 for two weeks and sold over two million copies becoming his biggest-selling hit to date.[5] Tex was offered a gold disc of the song on March 22, 1972. The parent album reached #17 on the pop albums chart.[5] Following this and another album, Tex announced his retirement from show business in September 1972 to pursue life as a minister for Islam.[1] Tex returned to his music career following the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975, releasing the top 40 R&B hit, "Under Your Powerful Love".[1] His last hit, "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)", was released in 1977 and peaked at #12 on the Hot 100 and #2 in the UK.[1]
Tex's last public appearances were as part of a revised 1980s version of the Soul Clan in 1981. After that, Tex withdrew from public life settling at his ranch in Navasota, Texas and watching football games by his favorite team, the Houston Oilers.[1]
Rivalry with James Brown
The feud between Tex and fellow labelmate James Brown took its origins allegedly sometime in the mid-1950s when both artists were signed to associated imprints of King Records when Brown allegedly called out on Tex for a "battle" during a dance at a local juke joint. In 1960, Tex left King and recorded a few songs for Detroit-based Anna Records, one of the songs he recorded was the ballad "Baby, You're Right". A year later, Brown recorded the song and released it in 1961, changing up the lyrics and the musical composition, earning Brown co-songwriting credits along with Tex. By then, Brown had recruited singer Bea Ford, who had been married to Tex prior but had divorced in 1959. In 1960, Brown and Ford recorded the song, "You've Got the Power". Shortly afterwards, Tex got a personal letter from Brown telling him that he was through with Ford and if Tex wanted her back, he could have her. Tex responded by recording the diss record, "You Keep Her", where he called Brown's name out.
In 1963, their feud escalated when Brown and Tex performed at what was Brown's homecoming concert at Macon, Georgia. Tex, who opened the show, arrived in a tattered cape and began rolling around on the floor as if in agony, and screamed, "please - somebody help get me out of this cape!" This allegedly resulted in Brown finding Tex at an after show party at a nightclub and shooting at the place with his armed gun.[7] Tex would later claim that Brown stole his dance moves and his microphone stand tricks. In a few interviews he gave in the sixties, Tex dismissed the notion of Brown being called "Soul Brother No. 1" insisting that Little Willie John was the original "Soul Brother No. 1".[1] Tex even claimed Brown stopped radio disk jockeys from not playing his hit, "Skinny Legs and All", which Tex claimed prevented Tex from taking down one of Brown's number-one songs at the time.[1] During a 1968 tour, Tex had the words, "The New Soul Brother No. 1", on his bus, leading to people heckling him. This led to Tex immediately taking the name off of the bus and had it repainted.[1] Tex even offered to challenge Brown to contest who was "the real soul brother". Brown reportedly refused the challenge stating at the time to the Afro-American newspaper, "I will not fight a black man. You need too much help."[1]
While Tex moved on from his initial feud with Brown, Brown reportedly joked, "who?" in his Bobby Byrd and Hank Ballard duet, "Funky Side of Town", from his Get on the Good Foot album, when Ballard mentioned Tex's name as one of the stars of soul music.
Personal life and death
A convert to Islam in 1966, he changed his name to Yusuf Hazziez, and toured as a spiritual lecturer. He had one daughter, Eartha Doucet, and four sons, Joseph Arrington III, Ramadan Hazziez, Jwaade Hazziez and Joseph Hazziez.
On August 13, 1982, Joe Tex died at his home in Navasota, Texas, following a heart attack, five days after his 47th birthday.
Tex recorded his first hit, "Hold On To What You've Got", in November 1964 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.[1] Tex was not convinced the song would be a hit and advised Killen not to release it.[1] However, Killen felt otherwise and released the song in early 1965. By the time Tex got wind of its release, the song had already sold 200,000 copies.[1] The song eventually peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Tex's first number-one hit on the R&B charts, staying on the charts for 11 weeks and selling over a million copies by 1966.[3]
Tex would place six top 40 charted singles on the R&B charts in 1965 alone, including two more number-one hits "I Want To (Do Everything For You)" and "A Sweet Woman Like You".[1] He followed that with two successive albums, Hold On To What You've Got and The New Boss.[1] Tex placed more R&B hits than any artist, including his nemesis James Brown.[1] In 1966, five more singles entered the top 40 on the R&B charts including "The Love You Save" and "S.Y.S.L.J.F.M." or "The Letter Song", which was an answer song to Wilson Pickett's "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)".[1]
His 1967 hits included "Show Me", which became an often-covered tune for British rock artists and later some country and pop artists, and his second million-selling hit, "Skinny Legs and All".[1][6] The latter song, released off Tex's pseudo live album, Live and Lively, stayed on the charts for 15 weeks and was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in January 1968.[4] After leaving Atlantic for Mercury, Tex had several more R&B hits including "Buying a Book" in 1970 and "Give the Baby Anything the Baby Wants" in 1971. The intro saxophone riffs in his 1969 song, "You're Right, Ray Charles" later influenced Funkadelic's "Standing on the Verge of Gettin' It On".[1]
Tex recorded his next big hit, "I Gotcha", in December 1971. The song was released in January 1972 and stayed on the charts for 20 weeks, staying at #2 on the Hot 100 for two weeks and sold over two million copies becoming his biggest-selling hit to date.[5] Tex was offered a gold disc of the song on March 22, 1972. The parent album reached #17 on the pop albums chart.[5] Following this and another album, Tex announced his retirement from show business in September 1972 to pursue life as a minister for Islam.[1] Tex returned to his music career following the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975, releasing the top 40 R&B hit, "Under Your Powerful Love".[1] His last hit, "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)", was released in 1977 and peaked at #12 on the Hot 100 and #2 in the UK.[1]
Tex's last public appearances were as part of a revised 1980s version of the Soul Clan in 1981. After that, Tex withdrew from public life settling at his ranch in Navasota, Texas and watching football games by his favorite team, the Houston Oilers.[1]
Rivalry with James Brown
The feud between Tex and fellow labelmate James Brown took its origins allegedly sometime in the mid-1950s when both artists were signed to associated imprints of King Records when Brown allegedly called out on Tex for a "battle" during a dance at a local juke joint. In 1960, Tex left King and recorded a few songs for Detroit-based Anna Records, one of the songs he recorded was the ballad "Baby, You're Right". A year later, Brown recorded the song and released it in 1961, changing up the lyrics and the musical composition, earning Brown co-songwriting credits along with Tex. By then, Brown had recruited singer Bea Ford, who had been married to Tex prior but had divorced in 1959. In 1960, Brown and Ford recorded the song, "You've Got the Power". Shortly afterwards, Tex got a personal letter from Brown telling him that he was through with Ford and if Tex wanted her back, he could have her. Tex responded by recording the diss record, "You Keep Her", where he called Brown's name out.
In 1963, their feud escalated when Brown and Tex performed at what was Brown's homecoming concert at Macon, Georgia. Tex, who opened the show, arrived in a tattered cape and began rolling around on the floor as if in agony, and screamed, "please - somebody help get me out of this cape!" This allegedly resulted in Brown finding Tex at an after show party at a nightclub and shooting at the place with his armed gun.[7] Tex would later claim that Brown stole his dance moves and his microphone stand tricks. In a few interviews he gave in the sixties, Tex dismissed the notion of Brown being called "Soul Brother No. 1" insisting that Little Willie John was the original "Soul Brother No. 1".[1] Tex even claimed Brown stopped radio disk jockeys from not playing his hit, "Skinny Legs and All", which Tex claimed prevented Tex from taking down one of Brown's number-one songs at the time.[1] During a 1968 tour, Tex had the words, "The New Soul Brother No. 1", on his bus, leading to people heckling him. This led to Tex immediately taking the name off of the bus and had it repainted.[1] Tex even offered to challenge Brown to contest who was "the real soul brother". Brown reportedly refused the challenge stating at the time to the Afro-American newspaper, "I will not fight a black man. You need too much help."[1]
While Tex moved on from his initial feud with Brown, Brown reportedly joked, "who?" in his Bobby Byrd and Hank Ballard duet, "Funky Side of Town", from his Get on the Good Foot album, when Ballard mentioned Tex's name as one of the stars of soul music.
Personal life and death
A convert to Islam in 1966, he changed his name to Yusuf Hazziez, and toured as a spiritual lecturer. He had one daughter, Eartha Doucet, and four sons, Joseph Arrington III, Ramadan Hazziez, Jwaade Hazziez and Joseph Hazziez.
On August 13, 1982, Joe Tex died at his home in Navasota, Texas, following a heart attack, five days after his 47th birthday.