5
Seldom were a performer and a
producer better matched than Joe Tex
and Buddy Killen. At first glance it
seems an odd pairing, a Texas-born soul
singer and a Nashville-based ex-country
bassist who helped head one of the top
publishing companies in Music City. But
something clicked between the two, and a slew
of R&B smashes resulted, many of them crossing into the pop
realm.
“The most exciting entertainer I’ve ever worked with,”
said the late Killen.
“He
and I would get into that studio, and boy, I’m telling you. We moved molecules,
you know?”
That success didn’t happen overnight. Killen signed Tex to the Dial label in
1961 after the Baytown, Texas native had recorded for King, Ace, Anna, and
Jalynne with little to show for all his efforts. Tex’s first 10 Dial offerings did no
more to launch him to stardom. But the dynamic performer’s perseverance
finally paid off when his Muscle Shoals-cut 1965 treatise
Hold What You’ve Got
was a huge hit, opening the floodgates for the R&B chart-topping
I Want To
(Do Everything For You)
and
A Sweet Woman Like You
in 1965, the ’66
blockbusters
The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)
and
S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The
Letter Song)
, and 1967’s million-selling
Skinny Legs And All
.
1. Joe Tex
I Gotcha
(Joe Tex)
Dial D-1010
