{"id":442,"date":"2021-11-04T03:30:49","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T07:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/?p=442"},"modified":"2021-12-25T17:13:24","modified_gmt":"2021-12-25T21:13:24","slug":"joe-tex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/2021\/11\/04\/joe-tex\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Tex"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Joseph Arrington Jr. was born in Rogers, Texas in 1933. He moved to Baytown,\u00a0 TX and grew up there, following his parents’ divorce. During his high school days, he sang in both the school choir and his church choir. In his junior year, he entered a Houston area talent show and took home first place, beating out names like Johnny Nash and Hubert Laws. He won $300 and a trip to New York, where he got to perform at the Apollo Theatre. While there, he won the Amateur Night competition four times, attracting the attention of talent scout Henry Glover. As soon as Joe finished high school, Glover signed him to King Records, at just 19 years old. From 1955-1957, he recorded with King Records, which was also home to soul icon, James Brown. Unlike Brown, however, Tex struggled to chart. Throughout his career, he ended up bouncing around record labels and would open for bigger artists, including James Brown himself. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Tex sang gospel, soul, R&B, and some funk throughout his career. He got his first taste of success with his 1965 hit, \u201cHold Onto What You Got,\u201d recorded with Nashville’s Dial Records. This ballad features a style of Joe Tex’s referred to as “soul preaching,” where he switches between spoken verse and singing in the middle of his songs. Joe Tex is recognized as an innovator of soul music as artists such as Isaac Hayes, Barry White, and Millie Jackson would later borrow this style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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