Joe Tex - The Love You Save 1966

Joe Tex was at the top of his game as the down-home philosopher of Southern soul when he cut The Love You Save, one of three (!) albums Tex would release in 1966. Tex's warm and passionate tenor is in superb form on these tunes, and his songs, which offer plenty of advice on keeping your relationship in good shape (" "Build Your Love (On a Solid Foundation)"), keeping up with the Joneses ("Funny Bone"), understanding what you want out of life (" "I'm a Man"), and various other topics of importance, are solid, funny, and bear the sing of truth. Buddy Killen's production is the perfect marriage of deep South vibe and East coast polish, and all 12 songs hit the bullseye (including an idiosyncratic but beautifully executed cover of "Heartbreak Hotel." Great stuff that any fan of Southern soul should have on their want list. AMG.

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Joe Tex - Soul Country 1968

Joe Tex made the first Southern soul record that also hit on the pop charts ("Hold What You've Got," 1965, number five Billboard). His raspy-voiced, jackleg preacher style also laid some of the most important parts of rap's foundation. He is, arguably, the most underrated of all the '60s soul performers associated with Atlantic Records, although his records were more likely than those of most soul stars to become crossover hits. Tex was born Joseph Arrington in Rogers, Texas, in 1935, and displayed his vocal talent early on, first in gospel, then in R&B. By 1954, he'd won a local talent contest and come to New York, where he recorded a variety of derivative (and endlessly repackaged) singles for King, some as a ballad singer, some as a Little Richard-style rocker.

Tex's career didn't take off until he began his association with Nashville song publisher Buddy Killen after Tex wrote James Brown's 1961 song "Baby You're Right." In 1965, Killen took him to Muscle Shoals, not yet a fashionable recording center, and they came up with "Hold What You've Got," which is about as close to a straight R&B ballad as Tex ever came. It was followed by many more, most of which made the R&B charts, a few cracking the pop Top 40. 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. His biggest hit was "Skinny Legs and All," from a 1967 live album, his rapping pure hokum over deeply funky riffs. "Skinny Legs" might have served as a template for all the raucous, ribald hip-hop hits of pop's future.

After "Skinny Legs," Tex had nothing but minor hits for five years until "I Gotcha" took off, a grittier twist on the funk that was becoming disco. 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. In the early '70s, Tex converted to Islam and in 1972 changed his offstage name to Joseph Hazziez. He spent much of the time after "Ain't Gonna Bump" on his Texas farm, although he did join with Wilson Pickett, Ben E. King, and Don Covay for a re-formed version of the Soul Clan in 1980. He died of a heart attack in 1982, only 49 years old. Killen, King, Covay, Pickett, and the great songwriter Percy Mayfield served as pallbearers. AMG.

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Joe Tex - Happy Soul 1969

Generic Joe Tex in Memphis from 1969. But there's still an awful lot of funky music here, and a storehouse of folksy sagacity ("Go Home and Do It," "Take the Fifth Amendment," "Keep the One You've Got") that deserved preservation. "You Need Me Baby" and "That's Your Baby" are the hits. AMG.

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Joe Tex - Bumps & Bruises 1977

For one shining moment, disco and funk came together to produce a last big hit for Joe Tex, who was more than worthy of it. Trivial next to his greatest material, but he loved that big fat woman at least as much as the one with the scrawny legs, and it shows through, which is all fans of the form will ask. AMG.

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Joe Tex - I've Got To Do A Little Bit Better 1966

Another rock-solid album from Joe Tex, I've Got to Do a Little Better was his third full-length release of 1966, but Tex showed no signs of slowing down or losing his breath on these 12 songs. I've Got to Do a Little Bit Better revisits Tex's traditional themes, namely holding on to your man (or woman) ("A Woman Sees a Hard Time (When Her Man Is Gone)," " "S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The Letter Song)"), playing fair with others (" "Lying's Just a Habit, John" and the title tune), and being true to yourself ("Papa Was, Too," which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Otis Redding/Carla Thomas hit "Tramp"), while "I Believe I'm Gonna Make It" is one of the strangest R&B tunes to surface concerning the war in Vietnam (in which Tex, after getting a letter from his baby, is so filled with love and patriotic fervor that he leaps from his foxhole to gun down several Vietnamese). Buddy Killen's production is admirably malleable, knowing when to go for subtlety and when to rave on, and Tex's rich and passionate tenor rings out clear and true on each and every tune. One of the very best albums of Tex's Southern soul period, I've Got to Do a Little Bit Better suggests the kind of care and careful thought that rarely went into LPs of the period, and it's well worth seeking out for fans. AMG.

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Joe Tex - Buying A Book 1969

Joe Tex made the first Southern soul record that also hit on the pop charts ("Hold What You've Got," in 1965, made number five in Billboard). His raspy-voiced, jackleg preacher style also laid some of the most important parts of rap's foundation. He is, arguably, the most underrated of all the '60s soul performers associated with Atlantic Records, although his records were more likely than those of most soul stars to become crossover hits.

Tex was born Joseph Arrington in Rogers, TX, in 1933, and displayed his vocal talent quickly, first in gospel, then in R&B. By 1954, he'd won a local talent contest and come to New York, where he recorded a variety of derivative (and endlessly repackaged) singles for King, some as a ballad singer, some as a Little Richard-style rocker.

Tex's career didn't take off until he began his association with Nashville song publisher Buddy Killen, after Tex wrote James Brown's 1961 song "Baby You're Right." In 1965, Killen took him to Muscle Shoals, not yet a fashionable recording center, and they came up with "Hold What You've Got," which is about as close to a straight R&B ballad asTex ever came. It was followed by a herd more, most of which made the R&B charts, a few cracking the pop Top 40.

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. His biggest hit was "Skinny Legs and All," from a 1967 live album, his rapping pure hokum over deeply funky riffs. "Skinny Legs" might have served as a template for all the raucous, ribald hip-hop hits of pop's future.

After "Skinny Legs," Tex had nothing but minor hits for five years until "I Gotcha" took off, a grittier twist on the funk that was becoming disco. 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.

In the early '70s, Tex converted to Islam and in 1972 changed his offstage name to Joseph Hazziez. He spent much of the time after "Ain't Gonna Bump" on his Texas farm, although he did join together with Wilson Pickett, Ben E. King, and Don Covay for a reformed version of the Soul Clan in 1980. He died of a heart attack in 1982, only 49 years old. Killen, King, Covay, Pickett, and the great songwriter Percy Mayfield served as pallbearers. AMG.

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Joe Tex - Hold What You've Got 1965

For the most part, this early long-player from Joe Tex favors the goofier side of his musical personality rather than the home-truth moral lessons which often dominated much of his work. While "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show", "You Better Get It" and the title tune all offer heartfelt advice on love and life, the Caribbean-flavored "I'm Not Going To Work Today" and the Roger Miller-turned-hawk anthem "Are We Ready" both aim squarely for the funny bone, as does the exasperated "You Can Stay", a rant against noisy neighbors, while the slinky "You've Got What It Takes" confronts a seriously sexy woman with an appreciative smile. Of course, being the country boy that he was at heart, Joe Tex's comic numbers are still seasoned with friendly advice on living a better life, but Tex's warm, emphatic delivery and the easy-going but potently soulful accompaniment insures that Tex doesn't sound preachy so much as he recalls a neighbor down the way ready to offer some helpful words to a friend in need. A consistently enjoyable album from one of the most distinctive artists of Southern soul. AMG.

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Joe Tex - The New Boss 1965

While he was one of the leading lights of the Southern soul scene of the 1960's, Joe Tex never made a secret of his fondness for country music, and on his 1966 set The New Boss, Tex allowed his C&W influences to shine more brightly than usual, covering Roger Miller's "King Of The Road" and Bobby Bare's "Detroit City" in a style that was faithful to the sound and feel of the originals while adding a soulful edge all his own to the tunes. And while that was the end of the C&W covers on The New Boss, they also fit right in alongside the very Southern preachments of "A Woman (Can Change A Man)" and "Don't Make Your Children Pay", though "C.C. Rider", "Stop, Look and Listen" and "What In The World" are also on hand for those looking for more dance friendly fare. As usual, Tex's warm and incisive vocals cut to the emotional core of these songs in a way that's honest, human and thoroughly compelling, and the production, subtle and supportive without being intrusive, is just what the material called for. At eleven tracks, The New Boss is a bit light in the value-for-money department, but Joe Tex's performances insure that what's here is choice. AMG.

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