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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

It's Roger Miller Month on the Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban

Live in Houston March 14, 1961

Fabulous Prizes!!

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Equadors - Sputnik Dance!


Joe Tex Month, Day 29: Cast the first stone

Here it is, the final day of Joe Tex Month, and we have arrived at Joe Tex's final LP - He Who Is Without Funk Cast the First Stone. After this record, he had a few 12" singles before his untimely death at 49, from a heart attack.

Despite being relatively clean for his entire life, apparently Joe was partying too hard in the late 70s and early 80s. According to Buddy Killen, "During his last four years he staged a marathon of self-abuse. It was as if he was trying to make up for lost time."

Some of the 70s tendency to overindulgence perhaps could explain the inconsistent nature of He Who Is Without Funk.


For the most part the songs are just a generic ode to the power of funk and there's more relentless vamping than camping it up. There's a disco remake of "Hold What You're Got". But there is one true, crazed bit of Texian genius, THE TITLE TRACK. It ties in many of the strands of JT's career and serves as a fitting closer to the month.

There is a woman at a disco. She has been dancing. She's started to sweat. And she's started to stink. The rest of the dancers, repulsed by her body odor, decide to stone her to death to get rid of her foulness. Suddenly Joe appears as some kind of Disco Jesus, and teaches them all a lesson in dancefloor etiquette. He argues that all who enter the disco sweat, and all who sweat get "funky", and so he who is without funk should cast the first stone. "Hit her with the rock!" He challenges. "Bust upside her head if you can!" Remember - this is a man who has been busting people upside their head since his first single. You can't say Joe didn't learn a thing or two in his life in soul. 

Unable to argue with this logic, the dancers agree to dance together in stinky peace, and JT leaves them with the 10 commandments of the dancefloor.

And now, because I have been to the mountain this last month, I've come back with those 10 commandments, slightly retranslated to be more Ichiban appropriate. Hey, retranslating scripture to the advantage of the translating agency is common practice, so I figure I'm golden.

BEHOLD & LIVETH BY THESE WORDS, THOU ICHIBANNERS:

"1. If thou did not want to get funky, thou never should have got on the dancefloor.
2. Surely thou kneweth thou wouldeth get funky, if ever thy got on the dancefloor.
3. We all sweateth and doeth get stanky whenever we get on a dancefloor.
4. We should not hate, love thee one another, get on down on the dancefloor.
5. Do not stone, love thee one another, get on down on the dancefloor.
6. Now the time cometh, and so I must goeth - to check on the other dancefloors.
7. When I returneth, I want you all to be getting down on the dancefloor.
8. Behold I cometh when thou not knoweth, so get on down on the dancefloor.
9. The music is funky, and it sure is goodeth, get on down on the dancefloor.
10. Peace be unto thee my people, get on down on the dancefloor.

FUNK UP THE DANCEFLOOR!"

What can be said in response to that but AMEN?

Thanks to all the great Ichiban bloggers and commentators for teaching me so much about my favorite soul artist this month. It's been great to witness the power of an aggregate group of bloggers first-hand.  


We now return you to your regularly scheduled jungle 45 of the week, already in progress.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Goin' Out To Hollywood (MP3)



Bill Emerson - Goin' Out To Hollywood

So here's a mighty fine record by Bill Emerson, who lays out the inspired tale of a backwoods country boy with a plan to head west to Hollywood, stoked up on visions of movie stardom, limousines, and flashy Fender guitars.

Is it country, rock & roll, or maybe rockabilly? All of the above, I guess, but to tell you the truth I think it's mostly in the ear of the beholder.

Tassel Twirler Tuesday!




Mad For Ichiban

Chris T. of Aeriel View loves the Ichiban stream so much that he went out and bought five internet radios so that he can listen in nearly every room of his home.  Where there is no dedicated internet radio, he uses his stereo or regular radio.  This is easily accomplished by using the WFMU phone app.


Bathroom

Bedroom

Living Room

Office

Studio

Chris will go LIVE this Friday, March 2, 3-5 PM looking for your monetary support of WFMU and Ichiban!  Tune in and do the Popeye with him!!  And please make a pledge to support the obscure hits of the 50s and 60s!

Joe Tex Month Day 28: The Disco Years


After coming out of retirement in 1975, Joe had a string of singles on Dial, but it wasn't until 1978, when  he jumped labels one final time, to make his final comeback, the always suprising Bumps and Bruises. The sound is pure late 70s soul, but the songs and themes are vintage JT. While it may not look it, this is probably the best record JT recorded post-Happy Soul. The album was a hit, largely because of its lead track, "Ain't Gonna Bump No More with No Big Fat Woman", the other side of the coin of "Skinny Legs and All". Could Joe find no middle ground in his choice of dance partners?


The rest of the album is filled with similar songs sending up the 70s - Tex style. The songs are back to being wonderfully specific instead of the more generic moments on parts of I Gotcha & Spills the Beans. Several songs are credited to songwriter Benny Lee McGinty, who gets several co-writing credits with Tex on his next two albums. 

"Jump Bad" in particular is a classic piece of 70s jive storytelling - it's the tale of Run Down the hustler getting royally whooped upside the head by a grandma who doesn't take kindly to him accosting her in front of the check cashing place. Tex is a comedic virtuoso here, playing Run Down, the Grandma, and the narrator. 

"We Held On" is a classic Tex soul country number, with a similar melody to "Games People Play", and it should have been a hit. There's also songs where Joe decides to have an operation to remove his hands and one where one of his buddies dances with a "sissy" while preaches tolerance. Side one never stops giving it up. One major problem - there's only one rap on the whole record, a spoken intro on "There's Something Wrong", but it's not by Joe! Who the heck dares to "rap" on a Joe Tex record but JT?



His second Epic record was Rub Down. Early collaborator James Booker was on the session, and the title track has Joe admitting that he can't dance as good as his old rival James Brown. So the roots are in place, and there are a couple of fine raps, particularly on the freaky slow jam version of "I Gotcha".  The songs, however, aren't quite up to snuff overall, and this one fulls into the category of FOR COMPLETISTS ONLY.


JT fittingly returned to Dial for his final LP. More on that tomorrow - the FINAL DAY of Joe Tex Month. Tune in for one more mind boggling piece of wisdom.

28 Rounds and Still Swinging!



Ed. note: "I Mess Up Everything I Get My Hands On", "Leaving You Dinner" (mp3s)  Also from Bumps & Bruises.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Joe Tex month, day 27: The Funk Years


Well, Ray Charles must have been right, because in 1972 Joe had his biggest hit yet, "I Gotcha"! This song fully launched Joe into the funk era, topping the R&B chart and hitting #2 on the pop.  


The album had a number of "I Gotcha" soundalikes and a few ballads. It's not peak Tex, but it's not a bad record either. I think, however, I prefer Spills the Beans.


Spills the Beans was the last JT album before his temporary retirement. It's more of a return to traditional Tex sound, with a couple of funk numbers thrown in to remind you that this is the "I Gotcha" guy. The more contemporary numbers reflect the "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" style of social consciousness, like "A Mother's Prayer" and the apocalyptic "Living the Last Days". 

But more in keeping with Joe's strengths are the hilarious "King Thaddeus", one of the all time great songs about a rooster, right up there with Sam the Sham's "The Cockfight", and, best of all, "Papa's Dream", the song that inspired the album's title and weird cover. It's right up there with "Grandma Mary" in terms of being a great reminiscence of his time growing up, and is tragic and uplifting at the same time. 

And it was covered by Johnny Cash, ca. 1975, as "Look at them Beans".



In 1972, on the heels of his biggest hit, Joe retired from the recording industry, changed his name to Jusef Hazziez, and devoted his life to the Muslim faith, spending his time preaching in the service of Elijah Muhammad. However, upon Muhammad's death in 1975, Tex secured permission from the church to get back into the game.


An initial 1975 session yielded some singles and several unreleased tracks, comped together on the rather fine 2 LP collection of rarities Charly issued in the mid 80s, different strokes. This record is well worth tracking down, as it has material dating back from '65 that can only be found here. 

Taken together, the 1975 tracks make for an OK album on the level of Spills the Beans. But it wasn't the full bore comeback material he was looking for. That would have to wait until '78, where Joe would prove he still had a virtually inexhaustable supply of crazed novelty songs about women with unusual proportions.

Bonus cut: here's Austin rock and rollers The Hard Feelings, featuring Joe Tex afficianado John Schooley, whomping the stuffing out of "You Said a Bad Word" from I Gotcha.

Bonus click: Domino9, who's been contributing a number of great observations and corrections to Joe Tex month in the comments sections, has been assembling a website devoted to the life and music of the Dapper Rapper.  Check it out.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Thanks A Lot!!

$75 Pledge

Thanks to everyone who's already pledged to the WFMU 2012 marathon!!  One more week to go.  Tune in live this Friday from 3-5 PM when Chris T will be giving away fabulous prizes and thanking you on the air for your pledge.  You can help keep Ichiban streaming commercial-free 24 hours a day!!

The Trashmen - Church Key


Joe Tex Month Day 26: Don Covay's Temptation Was Too Strong

Fellow Soul Clansman Don Covay pays tribute to the big JT.




Saturday, February 25, 2012

Joe Tex Month Day 25

We interrupt this blog to bring you a special announcement.



Friday, February 24, 2012

Debbie Does WFMU

I have prizes for you!


Tune in today 3-5 PM EST!  This is my one and only marathon show this year.  Today is the day to show your support to WFMU's Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban.  See you on the radio!

Joe Tex month day 24: The Soul Clan

In 1968 Joe Tex found himself in yet another one of those situtations where he was ahead of his time and involved in something that has interesting echoes in modern day soul, r&b and rap: the Soul Clan.




Originally conceived by Don Covay and Solomon Burke, the original Soul Clan was supposed to be the following individuals: Covay, Burke, JT, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding. 

The idea was that these huge soul stars would record together, pool their resources, and become a positive force for the black community. They would take the proceeds from their recordings and set up trust funds for their children and for the community. The concept was sort of like an early version of, say, Roc-a-Fella records, and was in part inspired by Sam Cooke's forming of SAR records - the notion that the best way for black entertainers to achieve financial independence by setting up their own collective.

Unfortunately, Otis died in the plane crash, and Pickett backed out, claiming he didn't need to be a part of the Soul Clan, that he had plenty of hits on his own. Redding was replaced by Arthur Conley, Pickett by Ben E. King. The group released their first 45, which was supposed to set them on a pathway to world domination.

But the only thing that ever came of the Soul Clan concept beyond that 45 was a single, dodgy, compilation LP. 

The recording itself also has something of the vibe of later hip-hop singles, where rappers guest on each other's records - all the vocals were done around a pre-recorded backing track in separate studios at separate times, with the performers each taking a verse, doing their own schtick and call outs, based around their own hits and personas. The Soul Clan never really met in the studio.

Solomon Burke claimed the Soul Clan 45 was stopped on its run up the charts by mysterious corporate forces, who shut the record down.

"The Soul Clan was deliberately destroyed because we were becoming a power structure. Our interest as a Soul Clan was to build a financial empire, and once that was found out, we were destroyed."

Whether this is true, or if it's more likely that the Soul Clan single didn't top the charts because it depends more on star caché than truly good songs or artistic chemistry, is at this point a matter of speculation. It's still a heck of a thing to get to listen to.


King, Tex, Covay, Pickett and Burke - from an apparently disastrous 
attempt at a reunion gig in the early 80s

Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music is the source for this post. The book remains a great read 26 years later.  

J.R. Williams' Ichiban One-Liners!!!



Make a pledge of $50 or more to Ichiban before today at 5 PM EST, and you could win this fabulous compilation of Ichiban One-Liners by our own J.R. Williams!!  Check the complete track listing HERE!

*Please specify that you would like your pledge to be credited to Ichiban!  Otherwise,  I won't see it and you won't be entered!!

Help keep us on the air for another year!!

The Tradewinds - Gotcha

Thursday, February 23, 2012

More Golden Gassers!!

Tune in to Music To Spazz By tonight from 9 PM - Midnight when head chimp, Dave the Spazz tap dances for your dollars to keep WFMU on the air for one more year.  These are desperate times and desperate times call for desperate measures!  Gaylord Fields will personally thank you on the air!!!

$75 pledge

Joe Tex month day 22: The "uptown" albums



After recording his two greasiest records in '68 and '69, the ever attuned-to-the-times Tex switched up his sound for his next two records, going for the slightly more sophisticated soul sounds of the early 70s. Not that JT was going to in any way go all Isaac Hayes on us, but these records do represent an attempt to sophisticate the hard southern soul of JT, with mixed results.

It mostly works on the With Strings and Things album. For one thing, it's only about half transitional - much of it is business as usual. It's like there were some standard Textracks in the can and a slightly more uptown session was recorded to justify the name. Tex even talks about the fact that he's in transition on the album's hit, "You're Right, Ray Charles", which we discussed in the Dapper Dropper post. 

There are many other snazzy songs on this LP. The lead track, "Everything Happens on Time" has one of the oddest arrangements of any JT song, and Joe responds with a lyric that is another wild metaphor typical to the man who spent a lot of his time buying books, digging gardens, and picking plums (in the same old soup).  

"Take My Baby a Little Love" is a killer mover with many classic lines, like: "I've got to stop being the town clown before I tear myself down!"

And "A Little Friendly Advice" is one of those weird "addressed to a specific individual male with a single syllable first name" songs we've heard throughout Joe Tex Month. It is probably also his best pure country song.


Joe's next album, From the Roots Came the Rapper, is one I have never been able to crack the code on.  There is just so much wrong with it. From the outset - look at that weird mod cover - what does that have to do with our down-home, nitty-gritty philosopher?

The album was recorded in Muscle Shoals studios with Eddie Hinton and some of his fellow Shoalers, so the playing is fine, but this really does sound like Joe trying to make an Isaac Hayes album.  There's only one original on the record, and one of the two "raps",  on the tediously eternal version of Burt Bacharach's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", is one of the few times I can't connect with a Tex sermon.  Sure there's some ringer songwriters - future Ichiban month candidate Jerry Williams Jr. (aka Swamp Dogg), Don Covay, and the Left Rev. Eugene McDaniels, but overall things just feel off.

I suspect that the main reason the record doesn't really launch is because it's produced by Dave Crawford and Brad Shapiro, rather than Joe's main man, Buddy Killen. It's the only record that Killen didn't produce after Joe joined Dial, and it shows. JT sounds more uptight and serious than usual, and the whole thing is just kind of a drag. Anyone who has any insight into why this album is worthwhile is encouraged to open my ears to it.

A new direction was coming, though, as was Joe's biggest hit yet.



Can't call him Daddy-O now




Warning!


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Let's Have A Wing Ding

I'll be live on the WFMU Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban webstream this Friday from 3-5 PM with MC Julie from the Dark Night Of The Soul With Julie, heard every Tuesday 3-6 AM on WFMU.  We will be giving away prizes in exchange for your dough.  We need full participation from all the Ichibaners!!    If you are listening while you're at work getting paid, please PLEDGE!  Make sure to specify "Ichiban" to be entered into the drawing for fabulous prizes, like rare records and DVDs.

$15 = entered into drawing

$50 = entered into drawing + grand prize drawing (CD compiled by J.R. Williams)

$75 = all + Ichiban One-Liners Volume 3 with artwork by Takeshi Tadatsu

$180 = all + WFMU Vintage Pack + 3 DJ premiums + T-shirt, bag, naming rights

More swag here.

Please specify you'd like to credit your pledge to Ichiban to qualify.

Week 2: Chris T will take over hosting duties.

Thanks to listener Jonathan Lemon for the video!


Road Runner Twice

Thanks to listener Sean Bonnell for sending in this amazing clip of Bo Diddley doing his thing circa 1972!!  Wembley Stadium - London, England.  Check out this lineup!!



Joe Tex month day 21: JT and the sons of a gun from next door

Howdy, neighbor, howdy!
ca. the early 50s

If there was one thing that Joe Tex didn't much care for, it was somebody dippin' in his business. From as early as his King-era cover of "Ain't Nobody's Business What I Do", Joe made it loud and clear, again and again, that your business was yours and his business was his, so take your nose and put it somewhere else, thanks.

And who knows your business better than anyone? Those nosey nosey neighbors! 

Joe's adversarial relationship with his neighbors began in earnest when he was confronted on an early Dial side by that "Hand Shakin, Love Makin, Girl Talkin, Son-of-a-Gun from Next Door". Admittedly, the HSLMGTSOG from next door seemed to be dippin' in more than Joe's business, so Joe had every right to be perturbed.

Further evidence that JT had a less than kindly disposition towards his fellow tenants comes in the hilarious Drifters parody "You Can Stay". One glance at the title and you'd think it was a welcoming song, but the implied parenthetical title is "(But that noise has got to go)". Maybe Joe's lived next door to Mouse and the Traps.

As much as the neighbors drove him crazy, their antics also amused him - he always got a kick out of  petty jealousies and social climbing antics, like in this oddball fuzz 'n' harmonica waltz, "Funny Bone".

How, exactly, do you sit on your elbows?

But the last thing in the world you want to do to Joe if you're a neighbor is to try and borry something. This time-honored complaint has been the subject of many a classic tune since even before Jerry McCain had to loan his neighbor a suit to bury grandpa in. Here's Joe's take, from the Different Strokes, the 1975 winner "My Neighbor's Got the Gimmes".  And this is no funny business: "If Jesus would've have lived around neighbors like y'all, y'all would make the man hate you himself!"

But is it me, or does he borrow from (of all people!) Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons for the slowed down middle section of that song?



Batman - The Bat's Kow Tow Pt.2



IMDb:  Batman and Robin escape Catwoman's trap by hitting the precise note needed to shatter the glass chamber in which they're prisoners. They quickly get on the trail of Catwoman. The feminine feline criminal eventually "steals" the voices of Chad and Jeremy, Commissioner Gordon and talk-show host Allen Stephens. She blackmails the British government, which faces the lost of revenue from the taxes on Chad and Jeremy's performances. Batman and Robin eventually capture Catwoman and her gang, but not before Batman and Catwoman express obvious affection for each other. Written by Bill Koenig

*Note Catwoman's shout out to Ichiban's Mr. March, Roger Miller!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Batman - The Cat's Meow Pt. 1




 IMDb:  The Catwoman "steals" the voice of a television talk-show host in the middle of an interview with Bruce Wayne. She plants clues to suggest either the Joker, Riddler or Penguin may have committed the crime. In the meantime, she has fooled Commissioner Gordon into thinking she has gone straight. She makes her first mistake when she masquerades as Miss Klutz, a dance instructor visiting Wayne Manor. Allergic to dogwood, she sneezes and gives herself away. Her next target is to "steal" the voices of British singers Chad and Jeremy. Batman and Robin eventually track her to a dance studio, where a fight erupts. After it appears the Dynamic Duo has triumphed over Catwoman's forces, she drugs them. The heroes are placed inside a chamber where the sounds of water dripping will be magnified many, many times and drive them insane. Written by Bill Koenig
The police believe Catwoman has gone straight; however, the villainess has devious plans for her new voice-stealing device. After using it to silence a TV talk show host and Commissioner Gordon, she sets about to steal the voices of Wayne Manor's latest guests, British singers Chad and Jeremy. Under the guise of a dance instructor, she enters Wayne Manor to collect valuable information about its layout. Batman and Robin pick up her trail when her cover is blown. But unknown to them, Catwoman has a plan to destroy their minds and forever end their crime-fighting career. Written by Twenty Penguins

Next up:  Batman





Tassel Twirler Tuesday!







Big_Feet!

Joe Tex: The Dapper Dropper

"If I were a disease - Dr. Feelgood would cure me!"
King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, JT

Joe was a master of the shout out. Whether shouting out to Rufus Thomas at the end of his "Walking the Dog" rip, "Looking for My Pig", or telling Elvis to "get it!" in his "Heartbreak Hotel" cover, JT always gave credit where it was due. 

The Ichiband of merry posters are huge fans of "I'm a Man", where Joe name checks B.B. King, Rufus Thomas, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Willie Mays and Roger Miller. I think it's been posted four/ five times this month, but what the heck, here it is again.


But that's far from the end of the story - there are numerous examples of Tex giving his fellow soul singers some love in song. There was the 1970 single "You're Right, Ray Charles", wherein RC tells JT that he needs to stop singing slow songs and rock it out. Considering Ray's tendencies to cover "Eleanor Rigby" around this time I'm not entirely sure that this song makes any sense, but since Joe wrote from life, I wonder what the conversation described in this song was really like.


On "Woman Stealer", Joe, B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland and Little Johnny Taylor have gotten together to stop woman stealers from stealing women.  Joe goes upside somebody's head yet again, but at least this time he's doing it to dudes. 


But the ultimate Joe Tex name drop song didn't get released until a 1985 UK double LP called Different Strokes, even though it's a 1970 recording. More on this comp in a few days. The song is a cover of a 1955 Ruth Brown hit, "I Can See Everybody's Baby". 


Joe's version is radically different. He turns it into a travelogue - Ruth sticks close to home looking for her baby, but Joe travels all over the US looking for his. And he just can't find her. But while he's looking, he "sees" the following women: Ray Charles', Johnny Taylor's, James Brown's (waitaminute! that's Joe Tex's woman!), Wilson Pickett's, Tom Jones', Clarence Carter's, Marvin Gaye's, Elvis Presley's, Joe Simon's, the Chambers Brothers', Sam and Dave's, Isaac Hayes', Lee Dorsey's, Bobby Bland's, Junior Walker's, Little Richard's, and Bobby Womack's.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Joe Tex Month Day 20 - "Papa Was Too" & "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" - Live and In Color in 1969

Joe Tex - Papa Was Too, By The Time I Get To Phoenix (Gala De ClĂ´ture 3.14.69) via bedazzled.tv

Joe Tex month day 20: the deep soul albums - Happy Soul & Buying a Book


By 1968, JT was at the peak of his popularity. He was one of the most popular live soul entertainers going (witness the numerous pictures from Greg G's trolling of the Jet archives of Joe getting mauled by fans) and he had a long string of winning R&B singles. 

And while the two albums he released these years continue to follow the Tex/Killen formula, they also have a deeper soul sound. Having the same sort of crossover appeal that typifies the earlier Dial releases does not seem to be a priority. Part of me wonders if this is because around the time Happy Soul was released in 1968, Tex secretly converted to the Muslim religion. He'd eventually change his name to Yusuf Hazziez and quit show biz completely for a few years, but more on that when we talk about I Gotcha.  


Regardless, they're both really good records with lots of great tracks.

Side one of Happy Soul in particular stands up with any LP side of soul music you'd care to name. A bunch of the tracks from this record have been posted elsewhere on Ichiban through the course of the month, but a couple haven't been covered yet. I'm a big fan of the home-town hi-jinx of "You Need Me", which has an almost Tom T. Hall vibe to it in terms of its telling little details. "Some were crying, and some bought lunch!"

And my DJ box is always packing the freight train of laffs that is "Go Home and Do It", because of one glorious occasion when I played it, much to the crowd's delight, right after some jerky couple finally got kicked out of one of my gigs for being obnoxious.


Buying a Book has another great autobiographical song about Joe's early Texas childhood, "Grandma Mary" and the civil rights anthem "We Can't Sit Down Now".  And of course there's the title track.
.

Now, can someone actually explain to me what the phrase "buying a book" actually means? I haven't been to figure that out for 20 years.


Texmania Sweeps Miami


Joe Tex sure knew how to work a crowd into an over-heated frenzy, as indicated by this 1965 Jet article. And apparently the fever didn't exactly die in '65!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Blue Light Special!

Since you're going to make a pledge to WFMU's 2012 marathon anyway, why not maximize your swag?

Any person who pays their pledge of $180 or more by Feb. 26th will receive the Vintage WFMU Pack - Upsalapalooza double CD, Crackpots & Visionaries Vol. 2 card set, plus a classic issue of LCD (WFMU's old 'zine).



Plus!

3 DJ Premiums, Global Domination Bag, new WFMU T-shirt and naming rights to a WFMU Fixture.

Might I suggest:


+
+


DJ premiums can also be yours for a pledge of $75 each.

WFMU


Louis Jordan, 1954



The King Of The Jukebox auditions a new band member. Courtesy of the JET archives.

Below, Jordan can be seen still going strong in a 1966 appearance on The !!!! Beat.

Joe Tex month: The Joe Tex Band


Let's hear it for the band!


Saturday, February 18, 2012

Joe Tex Month: The Coasters/Sleepy LaBeef Connection

 Joe Tex covers show up in the oddest places. Buddy Killen was one busy song-selling-son-of-a-gun from next door.


Both bands cover Joe's Buying a Book-era snotty little ode to germophobia, "It Ain't Sanitary". It's tailor made for the Coasters, and they really ham it up. It makes me wonder if he wrote it for them. A Coasters Sing Joe Tex album would have been great.  


But it's kind of weird when Sleepy Labeef covers the same song on his Sun LP, the bull's night out.

Sleepy must have liked Buying a Book, because this album's also got a cover of the title track. Since the song is mostly one of JT's sermons, it's pretty weird to hear him cover it in his Sleepy baritone, word for word.

add