Joseph "Joe Tex" Arrington, Jr.
Rogers, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Born to a sharecropping family in Rogers on August 8, 1935, Joseph Arrington, Jr., is considered one of the most influential, but underappreciated, innovators in rock, funk and rap music history. While at Carver High School in Baytown, Harris County, during the era of segregation, he drew inspiration from church services, school performances and the Houston nightclub scene. After winning a local talent show, Arrington received a paid trip to Harlem, New York, where he performed at the prestigious Apollo Theater. Performing under the name “Joe Tex,” Arrington signed his first recording deal with King Records in the mid-1950s but had a rocky start to his career. His first big hit, however, came in 1964 with the breakout single “Hold on to What You’ve Got.” An innovator in rhythm and blues, he slowed the tempo, adding spoken verses in a style he called “rapping.” Joe Tex became a transitional singer who made the switch from easygoing ballads in the 1950s to lively funk in the early 1970s with his platinum hit “I Gotcha.” Fame and fortune evidently left Joe Tex with a void in his life and he filled it by embracing the religion of The Nation of Islam. In 1972, Arrington abandoned his growing musical career and became Yusef Hazziez, serving in the following years as an advocate for The Nation of Islam. Following the death of his spiritual mentor in 1975, Hazziez took back his stage name and returned to his music career. After his last big hit, “I Ain’t Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman),” he toured the oldies circuit until his death from a heart attack on August 12, 1982. Although he died young, the artist known as Joe Tex continues to have a lasting influence on many musical genres. (2016)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born to a sharecropping family in Rogers, Texas, in 1935, Joseph Arrington Jr. rose from segregated-era school and church performances to the stage of Harlem's Apollo Theater and a recording career as 'Joe Tex.' His 1964 breakout 'Hold on to What You've Got' and the platinum 'I Gotcha' showcased a style in which he slowed the tempo and added spoken verses he called 'rapping,' bridging 1950s R&B ballads and 1970s funk. He briefly left music to serve the Nation of Islam as Yusef Hazziez before returning to the stage; he died in 1982, his influence echoing through soul, funk, and hip-hop.
Why it matters
Joe Tex is remembered as an underappreciated innovator whose spoken 'rapping' style and genre-crossing career helped lay groundwork for later American funk and hip-hop.
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Themes & tags
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