Genre: soul
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: Hold On! It’s Joe Tex
Company: Checker
Catalog: LP-2993
Year: 1964
Country/State: Rogers or Navasota Texas (?)
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: mono pressing; some ‘yellowing’ on back cover; name
written in black ink on front cover ‘Doug Bernstein’; light marks on
vinyl, but plays without noise or skips
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5267
Price: $80.00
People are largely unaware of Joe Tex’s
late-1950s/early-1960s corporate wanderings.
Having started his musical career while still in high school
recording secular material with a number of gospel grounds, his big break
came in 1954 when he won a Houston talent show.
The win led to an appearance at an Apollo Theater amateur hour show
and a contract with King Records. Three
years (1955-58) with King did nothing commercially, and over the next five
years he bounced from label to label including stints on Ace, Anna, Parrot,
and Checker.
With his performance career in low gear, Tex’s initial
breakthrough came as a songwriter. In
1962 James Brown elected to cover ‘Babe, You’re Right’ which Tex had
previously waxed for Checker. The
cover hit # 2 on the R&B charts and captured the attention of
producer/songwriter Buddy Killen who promptly signed Tex to his newly
established Dial label.
The resulting attention sent Tex’s earlier
labels scurrying to their recording vaults in an effort to cash-in on the
artist’s sudden commercial breakthrough.
Even though they’d never bothered to release any of the material
he’d recorded for the label, Checker was no exception issuing 1964’s “Hold
On! It’s Joe Tex”. Pulling
together previously released Anna sides (‘All I Could Do Was Cry’,
‘I’ll Never Break Your Heart’, ‘Baby You’re Right’ and
‘Ain’t I A Mess’) along with a couple of shelved Chess studio tracks,
for folks familiar with Tex’s mid-1960s soul material these eight sides
were liable to come as somewhat of a surprise.
From a sonic standpoint selections like ‘All I Could Do Is Cry’
and ‘’Get Together Closer’ were extremely raw, reflecting a mixture of
his Gospel and R&B roots. Perhaps
not as polished as on his future Dial catalog, but all of the performance
characteristics that would mark his forthcoming commercial breakthroughs
were on display – anguished vocals (All I Could Do Is Cry’), mid-song
sermonizing (‘I’ll Never Break Your Heart’), and occasionally strange
sense of humor (‘You Keep Her’) which was apparently aimed at James
Brown after he supposedly ‘nicked’ Tex’s wife. Elsewhere the album
showcased Tex’s chameleon-like characteristics with original material like
‘Sit Yourself Down’ and ‘Don’t Play’ displaying his more
commercial soul moves. Highlights included the autobiographical dance number
‘I’m a Mess’ and ‘I’ll Never Break Your Heart’ which was
apparently an answer record to Jerry Butler’s ‘He’ll Never Break Your Heart’.
(Always wondered why some of the songwriting credits reflected Joseph
Arrington Jr., while others went to Joe Tex.)
"Hold On! It's Joe Tex" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) All I Could Do Is Cry (Part II) (Davis – Gordy) – 3:00
2.) All I Could Do Is Cry (Part I) (Davis – Gordy) – 2:35
3.) You Keep Her (Joseph
Arrington Jr.) – 2:20
4.) Ain’t I A Mess
(Joe Tex) – 2:30
5.) Babe, You’re Right
(Joe Tex) – 2:15
(side
2)
1.) Sit Yourself Down
(Joseph Arrington Jr.) – 2:40
2.) Don’t Play (Joseph
Arrington Jr.) – 2:48
3.) Get Together Closer
(Joseph Arrington Jr.) – 2:50
4.) I’ll Never Break Your Heart Part I (Joe Tex – Butler – Mayfield – Carter) - 2:26
5.) I’ll Never Break Your Heart Part II (Joe
Tex – Butler – Mayfield – Carter) - 2:26
Anxious to recoup some of its earlier investment Checker even
got around to releasing a Tex single in the form of ‘Babe, You’re
Right’ b/w ‘All I Could Do Is Cry (Part II)’ (Checker catalog number
1104).
