Joe Tex

Joe Tex (Joseph Arrington, Jr., August 8, 1935 - August 13, 1982) was an American rhythm & blues singer. He gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the styles of country, gospel and rhythm and blues. Born in Rogers, Texas, in 1935 (often misreported as 1933) and raised in Baytown, TX, Tex's career started after he was signed to King Records in 1955 following four wins at the Apollo Theater. Between that year and 1964, however, Tex struggled to find hits and by the time he finally recorded his first hit, "Hold What You've Got", in 1964, he had recorded thirty prior singles that were deemed failures on the charts. Tex went on to have three million-selling hits, "Hold What You've Got" (1965), "Skinny Legs and All" (1967) and "I Gotcha" (1972). Tex's style of speaking over the background of his music helped to make him one of the predecessors of the modern style of rap music. Joe Tex with the raspy voice & charm of a southern preacher and the linguistic skills of a true street hustler made a string of funky chart topping hits and occasional raps with moral themes.