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At nineteen, Texas-born Ivory Joe Hunter
made his first recording - on a 1933 Library
of Congress cylinder. He honed his chops
playing gigs around the Gulf Coast region,
even hosting his own radio show for a time
in Beaumont.
During the war years, Ivory Joe became a
crowd-pleasing fixture on the California
club circuit. His first commercial
recording, "Blues at Sunrise" (backed by
Johnny Moore's Three Blazers), topped the
R&B charts in 1945. Returning to the charts
in 1948 with "Pretty Mama Blues., he scored
again in 1949 with “I Quit My Pretty
Mama” and “Guess Who,” backed by members of
Duke Ellington's band.
Throughout the 1950s, Hunter dropped hits
like breadcrumbs as he journeyed from label
to label: King ("Don't Fall in Love With
Me," "What Did You Do to Me," "Waiting in
Vain," "Guess Who”); MGM ("I Almost Lost My
Mind," "I Need You So,” "It's a Sin”);
Atlantic (“Since I Met You Baby,” "Empty
Arms," "Love's a Hurting Game"); and Dot
("City Lights”).
Ivory Joe turned increasingly to his beloved
Country genre in the 1960s, making regular
appearances at the Grand Old Opry. But he
never lost touch with the Gumbo-drenched R&B
of his Gulf Coast roots. A few years before
he died (in Memphis, of lung cancer,
in1974), he surrounded himself with an
all-star cast of musicians, Isaac Hayes
among them. The result is this 10-track
collection of some of his finest, funkiest,
and most soulful performances ever. And
that, indeed, is Good News! |
