Joe Tex was born Joseph Arrington Jr. in 1935 in Rogers, Texas. He played baritone saxophone at high school and sang in the choir of his local Pentecostal church. After winning several talent contests, he was signed first to King Records in 1955 and then Ace Records in 1958. In 1960 he moved to Anna Records in Detroit and then on to Dial Records. The frequent changes are an indication that his single releases weren’t making much impression on the market.
He was, however, becoming increasingly popular as a live act, opening for a series of big names, including Jackie Wilson, James Brown and Little Richard. Then, in 1964, his luck finally changed. He came to Muscle Shoals to record “Hold What You’ve Got” with Rick Hall at FAME, and, after thirty songs that failed to chart, the thirty-first reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. It also went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart, remaining on the chart for eleven weeks and achieving gold certification in 1966.
Joe Tex 1965
Photo: Dial Records Trade Ad (Wikimedia Commons)
The second number one record of his career was “I Want To (Do Everything For You)” on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles Chart week-ending 9th October 1965 (3 weeks) followed by “A Sweet Woman Like You” week-ending 8th January 1966 (1 week).
Joe Tex went on to have three more million-selling hits with “Skinny Legs and All” in 1967, “I Gotcha” in 1972 and “Ain’t Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)” in 1977. During the mid-sixties, he achieved a new higher level of consistency, with six R&B charting songs in 1965 (two number ones on the Billboard Singles chart listing), five top-forty R&B singles in 1966, and that second million-seller in 1967.
For nine years he had struggled to find a hit song. As soon as he came to FAME, everything seemed to click.
