JOE TEX
Joseph Arrington, Jr. who is born August 8, 1933, better known as "Joe Tex", was an
American Southern soul singer-songwriter, most popular during the 1960s
and 1970s. His style of speaking over music, which he called ‘rap’
made him a predecessor of the modern style of music. Born in Baytown,
Texas, Tex was subsequently raised in the Central Texas town of
Rogers. His professional career as a singer began onstage at the
Apollo.
He won first place in a 1954 talent contest and duly secured a
record deal. Although his early releases on King Records, Ace and Anna
Records were considered by some to be derivative and generally
disappointing in sales, Tex meanwhile honed his songwriting talent. James
Brown's cover version of "Baby You're Right" (1962) became a U.S.
number 2 hit, after which Tex was signed to Dial Records
His last major hit of that time was "I Gotcha". "I Gotcha" also
penned by Tex and released in January 1972, went to #2 for two weeks,
and stayed for 20 weeks in the listings. The RIAA gold disc award was
made on March 22, 1972. It went on to sell over two million copies by
August that year. Follow its release, Tex decided to retire.
He returned to music in 1975, and two years later enjoyed a comeback
hit with "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)", which
reached U.S. #12. By the 1980s he had withdrawn again from full-time
performing. He devoted himself to Islam, his Texas ranch and the
Houston Oilers American Football team. Several other artists have
covered Tex's work, including the rock band's Nazareth (band) I Want To
(Do Everything for You) and Phish who performed "You Better Believe It
Baby" on July 26, 1998 at the Starplex Amphitheater in Dallas, Texas
and again on August 2, 1998 at Deer Creek Music Center in Noblesville,
Indiana. The rock band The Trews covered
"The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)" in 2009 on their acoustic
album, Acoustic- friends and total strangers.
