Joe Tex – His real name was Joseph Arrington, Jr., but he was such a patriotic citizen of the Lone Star state (he lived most of his life in the vicinity of his birth) that he let it be known with his show-business moniker. He had entertaining in his blood from an early age, crafting comedy routines while he picked cotton with his family. He won first place in a Houston talent show as a teenager, which led to a trip to New York and a first-place prize at the Apollo Theater’s talent night. Jazz and r&b vocalist Arthur Prysock caught his act at Long Island’s Celebrity Club and told Henry Glover, a&r man for King Records about the Texan. Joe’s King sides, humorous ditties such as “Davy You Upset My Home” and “Pneumonia,” sold modestly.
Tex spent a little time in the late fifties on Anna, the Detroit label owned by Gwen Gordy and Harvey Fuqua. However, his real career momentum began gathering when he joined forces with Buddy Killen, a Nashville-based white former Grand Ole Opry bassist who had been publishing country songs. Actually, things even took a while to gel with Killen, and a dispirited Tex was about ready to part ways when “Hold On To What You’ve Got,” a ballad on the label (Dial) Killen formed to market Tex, took off in 1964. Tex hadn’t liked it and insisted that Killen not release it. In fact, Tex was furious the first time he heard it on the radio.
The song is an admonishment to lovers to be faithful and realize how precious their relationships are. Tex lapses into some spoken-word “preaching” in the middle of it, a technique which he used in several subsequent releases. Atlantic picked up national distribution, which gave Tex the advantage of that label’s savvy for marketing soul music.
He alternated between heartfelt ballads and over-the-top street-humor funk-type numbers, such as “Skinny Legs and All,” the rest of his career. He converted to Islam in 1966 and retired from music twice during the seventies. He died of a heart attack in 1982.
