Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
JOE TEX month Day 6: The Anna/Chess singles: 1960-1963
It's a hit!
The turn of the decade saw Joe land on yet another roster, this time the proto-Motown label Anna.
The thought of Joe Tex on the label that eventually turns into Motown leads to all kinds of speculation of what Joe would have sounded like if he stayed in Detroit. Considering both Joe and Motown's fondness for two part titles, the parenthetical possibilities are endless.
"If Sugar Pie Honey Bunch (Was As Sweet As You)" . . .
"You've Really Got a Hold On (To What You've Got)" . . .
"Mickey's Monkey (Don't Stop No Show)!"
For Anna (and Chess, who licensed the early Anna material) Tex delivered his best series of singles yet. His songwriting was growing by leaps and bounds and his performances exude the miles of confidence, charm and shamelessness that makes his work for Dial so unique and special.
Eventually all of these wound up on the post-"Hold on the What You've Got" compilation album at the top of this post, which is to my ears the first must-own Joe Tex LP (unless you've got 'em all on 45 that is!)
The biggest innovation in his performance style are the raps. Both "I Will Never Break Your Heart" and the eventual Etta James hit "All I Could Do Was Cry" stretch out over both sides of the 45, and the second part is all storytelling. While they're not quite the full-on knowledge drops that he gets into in a few years, it's still the first appearance of the style that set him apart from all other soul singers.
"I'll Never Break Your Heart" is an uptempo answer record to the Impressions' classic "He Will Break Your Heart". It cooks delightfully for the first half, with the Texcitement building every minute, but it really takes off on the flip, where Joe preaches himself into a frenzy. He's so worked up at the end that he hollers "It's a hit!" Sadly, it wasn't. Joe still had four frustrating years to go.
His other singles for Anna are more straight ahead, but they still are a breed apart from typical R&B. Check out the hilarious "Don't Play" down at the first post of Joe Tex month, and dig "Ain't I a Mess", an autobiographical tale of destiny that includes his Grandma, a travelogue of soul-circuit theaters and that fantastic laugh.
Tune in tomorrow for the incredible story of the Joe Tex/James Brown war.
THE APOLLOS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PHYLLIS DILLER!
HERE'S A LINK AS THE EMBEDDING CODE HAS BEEN DISABLED...WORTH IT!!!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
When Ichiban Months Collide: Arthur Alexander covers Joe Tex!
Take it easy - you haven't been suddenly transported back to 2011. We'll get back to the Tex-in' tomorrow, but for today I couldn't resist posting this unreleased-until-the-90s 1968 cover of "Taking Care of a Woman (Is a Full Time Job)" by Ichiban's Mr. December, Arthur Alexander. Arthur was one of the few soul artists of the 60s who displayed his country influence as much as Joe. The OG is on the I've Got to Do a Little Bit Better LP, which, believe me, we will get to in good time. I'm too hung over from DJ'ing last night to do anything better.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
JOE TEX month Day 4: Jalynne and the Pickwick Perplex
After Joe left the Ace label, he made a pit stop at the New York based Jalynne Records. As far as I can tell he only released one 45 for this label, featuring the countrified "Wicked Woman" (more domestic drama in the work-a-day world) on the A side and the bluesy "Goodbye My Love" on the flip.
At least it's also available in mono
Once Joe achieved some fame, a number of comps of his early material became available through budget labels. This Pickwick one, unfortunately, is deceptive. Beyond the released Jalynne material there are some songs that sound a lot like Joe Tex, but an awful lot of the material doesn't. Roctober's very useful Joe Tex album guide confirms my long time suspicion that a lot of these cuts aren't really Joe Tex. At least Crown Records or Guest Star had the decency to hip a collecta to the fact that they were only getting a few cuts by the artist Fazzio'd on the front!
One of the songs that I'm pretty sure is Tex, due to the voice and the ridiculousness of the subject matter, is the rockin' "Talkin' Dog", which, beyond the Jalynne single, is the main reason to spring for this should you ever see it in a dolla bin at the flea market.
Friday, February 3, 2012
JOE TEX - Rock and Roll Cowboy: The Ace Years
After Joe moved on from King records he released a half a dozen singles on the New Orleans label ACE. All of them are comped on this early 70s (Post-"I Gotcha") Pride budget label comp "History of Joe Tex".
caveat emptor - rechanneled stereo!!
The Ace recordings continue to see a Tex in development - heavily under the thrall of Little Richard and not penning a whole lot of his own tunes. Nickname king Joe was this time billed as "The Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy" and the persona didn't always suit him. But, like the King recordings, there are hints here of things to come, and some pretty great music in its own right.
On his first single for Ace - the Chuck Willis penned "Cut It Out" - we hear what as far as I can tell is the first appearance of one of his most crucial performance techniques - the mid-song laugh. On the self-penned Mother's Advice, the B-side of the hot "You Little Baby Face Thing", Joe seeks counsel from his mom, launching a long series of songs about moms, grandmas, dads and granddads and really sticking in the autobiographical details (the bit at the end about his dad dying early shows up in later songs). The song's narrative style of balladry is of course, with a few tweaks, what eventually made him a star.
sorry for the crappy photo above and for no photo for Mother's Advice
I tragically don't actually own these records!
But what's probably the hottest performance Joe released on ACE didn't even come out under his own name! The smokin' hot and DJ-scaringly short "Open the Door" was released by Little Booker as the flip of the instrumental "Teenage Rock". Little Booker was in reality NOLA piano and organ MEGAGENIUS James Booker, but the vocal on the flip was actually sung by an uncredited Tex.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
JOE TEX on KING: 1955 - 1957
It took Joe about 10 years and half a dozen labels before he truly found his voice. He doesn't really start preaching (on record, anyway) until a couple of magnificent 45s he cut for Anna in the early 60s. And although his good humor is always present, he doesn't really start incorporating the folksy wisdom that makes him so unique until he gets to Dial and Nashville knob-twiddler Buddy Killen starts producing him.
But even on his earliest hits for his first label, King, you can hear some of his later writing and performing tics loud and clear.
On "Pneumonia" for instance, we get to hear his love for the one-upping "answer record" (in this case to "Fever", obviously), his fondness for writing songs about funny diseases, and his strange and slightly uncomfortable tendency to use comedic domestic violence as a, uhm, punchline.
On "Davey, You Upset My Home" we can hear his skill with funny social commentary, a little bit of his country influence, and . . . his strange and slightly uncomfortable tendency to use comedic domestic violence as a, uhm, punchline.
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