‘Joe Tex’ Captures His Mix of R&B;, Soul

*** 1/2 JOE TEX

“The Very Best of Joe Tex”

Rhino

If you had never heard Sam Cooke, James Brown or Otis Redding, you might think Joe Tex was the quintessential R&B-soul; singer. He was blessed with the strong attitude and dynamic voice that you associate with the classic pop genre.

Tex’s best recordings--most of which are featured on this 16-track retrospective--were sprinkled with humor and passion, celebrating life’s uplifting moments and offering consolation for the darker ones.

One reason Tex has received less attention over the years is that other soul singers--starting with those above--did everything he did . . . usually a bit better. Tex’s material (most of which he wrote) wasn’t as consistently strong as that of his rivals. Once you have heard their records, Tex drops a notch--still rewarding, but not quite essential.

Born Joseph Arrington Jr., in Rogers, Texas, in the mid-1930s, Tex was still in his teens when he caught the ears of such singers as Arthur Prysock and Roy Hamilton, who passed his name on to record companies and club owners.

He made his recording debut in 1955 for King Records, but his career didn’t really catch on until six years later when he met Buddy Killen, a Nashville record producer and publisher who worked over the years with such country stars as Roger Miller. Killen was so impressed with young Tex that he formed a record label, Dial, just for him.

It took three years, however, before Killen and Tex came up with a hit in “Hold What You’ve Got,” a record that made the Top 10 in both the pop and R&B; fields. In the record, Tex opens with a stirring, gospel-edged vocal that burst suddenly into a dramatic falsetto before going into a monologue--first directed at men, then women--that warns of the dangers of taking a faithful companion for granted.

Tex returned 11 more times to the R&B; Top 10. Though many of the hits were ballads, Tex--who died of a heart attack in 1982--is probably best remembered for the novelties, including 1967’s “Skinny Legs and All.”

Tex, who also wrote hits for other artists, converted to the Muslim faith and suspended his career for a while in the ‘70s while he devoted his time to speaking at mosques around the country. After returning to music, Tex had a final hit, 1977’s disco-flavored “Ain’t Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman),” but his career never recaptured the early momentum.

*

** Paul Kelly, “The Best of Paul Kelly,” Warner Archives. Here’s another R&B; discovery of producer-publisher Killen. Whereas Tex was an example of the flashy, aggressive side of soul music, Kelly leans to a softer, gospel-edged style reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield’s. In fact, you’ll swear you’re listening to Mayfield and the Impressions when you hear “Standin’ in the Name of the Lord,” the 1970 song that was Kelly’s first hit and which opens this 20-song package.

Though Kelly--a Florida native who now lives in relative obscurity in South Carolina--never had another record that reached the R&B; Top 20, there is a consistent style and grace to his songs, many of which carried a strong sense of social observation and commentary. He’s not as influential or as distinctive an artist as Tex, but there is a quiet confidence to his music that is quite satisfying.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).