From: philip.davies Date: Thu Oct 10, 2002 4:01 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Ivory Joe Hunter IVORY JOE HUNTER Born Ivory Joe Hunter on October 10th, 1911 in Kirbyville, E. Texas. Died November 8th, 1974 in Memphis Tennessee. Born into a large musical family, Ivory Joe, as he was Christened, was one of 14 children. His preacher father was also a guitarist, his mother and his sisters sang gospel and all his brothers became musicians locally. naturally enough Ivory became a pianist, sometimes claiming to be self taught, other times via an older brother (who taught him a 30s Maurice Chevalier song!) The border area of East Texas/Louisiana was a hot bed of barrelhouse boogie woogie men, Ivory followed in their footsteps playing carnivals and tent shows. Jazz players Ellington and Waller were among his influences, he realised that smoother styles meant more well paid work in night clubs and on the radio. Ivory cut an unissued version of Stagolee for John Lomax. He moved to Houston and influenced other pianists like Charles Brown and Amos Milburn , locally he was nicknamed "rambling fingers". WW2 took him to California, black war workers wanted entertainment so a demand for R&b records grew. Ivory started his own short lived label Ivory, recording Leroy Carr's Blues At Sunrise, accompanied by the 3 Blazers (Charles Brown on 88s). Settling in the Bay area, he started the Pacific label, mentoring Pee Wee Crayton as a band member. After a number one hit with Pretty Mama blues Ivory was recording for the King label in 1947, having 4 top 20 R &B hits during 49/50, Guess Who, Landlord Blues, Jealous Heart (covering country well before Ray Charles!) and I Quit My Pretty Mama. MGM signed him up and he repaid the Hollywood bosses by reaching the top for 5 weeks with the classic I Almost Lost My Mind, this classic stayed in the charts for 19 weeks, later of course a certain Mr Boone covered it (as did Eddie Cochran), follow up S P Blues fared less well, but the smooth I Need You So reached number I for two weeks in the summer of 1950, charting for 21 weeks, one E A Presley would later cover it. Despite these two huge hits, Ivory avoided the charts until 1955, when the rock n rollers rediscovered his smoother style. Uptempo MGM goodies like Rockin' Chair Boogie & I Feel So Good missed out. Ivory signed for Atlantic in late 1954. His first r&b hit for the label was It May Sound Silly, featuring the Ivorytones, better known as the great Cues! Great songs like the uptempo I'll Never leave You Baby or dance craze latch ons like I Got To learn To Mambo flopped, but A Tear Fell, from the 3rd Atlantic session, clicked ( Teresa Brewer's white bread version reached 5 in pop). The now classic standard, Since I Met You Baby, was number 1 for three weeks in the R &b and reached 12 in the pop charts. Ivory and the Atlantic boys had listened carefully to Boone's revival of I Almost Lost My Mind and sweetened Since etc to match current pop tastes. The flip You Can't Stop This Rockin' & Rollin ' deserved hit status. Follow up Empty Arms was again covered by Ms Brewer. The stunning rocker Shooty Booty was a flop (melody borrowed by Solomon Burke for Be Bop Grandma in 61). His final Atlantic 45 was a hit in 58, Yes I Want You. Boone's label, Dot Records, signed him and he had a hit with City Lights in 59, even better was the fact that Elvis covered My Wish Came True, a tune that Ivory had personally taken to Graceland, where he jammed at the piano for hours with the young soldier. Gladys told Ivory that Elvis collected all his records. Elvis recorded 5 Hunter tunes in his career, the others being I Will Be True, It's Still Here and Ain't That Loving You Baby (co written by Clyde Otis) 1n 1961 smiling uncle Joe appeared on BBC's cool n groovy Juke Box Jury. He recorded for many labels from then on ( Capitol,Smash etc) but survived on his song writing royalties. Unfortunately some of his early sides songwriting credits had been credited to now ex wives. He lived in NY but had a summer home near Monroe louisiana. In the 70s he lived in Nashville, recorded more country and appeared on the Opry. A successful appearance at the Monterey Jazz festival raised his profile and he recorded for Epic and ABC. In December 73 Ivory was diagnosed with lung cancer and shortly before his death the Opry held a star studded benefit with George Jones, Sonny James (he'd had recent number 1 country hits with Empty Arms and Since I Met You Baby), Tammy and Issac Hayes appearing. Elvis sent a donation and a telegram. Ivory had been airlifted to the show from his sickbed in a Memphis hospital, where health costs had decimated his royalties. Stoically he performed from a wheelchair. He died in Memphis the following year. Balding genial uncle Joe didn't look a pop star but his music is definitely worth checking out, the Ace cd in particular is highly recommended, the title says it all Blues, Ballads and Rock N Roll. Thanks to usual suspects JLL,EP and EC covers, I gradually discovered his music in the early 70s. make sure you don't miss out, Ivory Joe - you flip me baby. Phil Davies (thanks to Dik for additional chart info) Recommended listening- Blues At Sunrise -Essential Ivory Joe Hunter Indigo 2cd 50 track double cd of pre 51 PD sides, many slow/mid tempo tunes Early labels, King and the MGM hits Since I Met You Baby-Best Of, 1994 Razor & Tie cd, 25 tracks, MGM/Atlantic, great notes by Mark Humphrey (quoted above) Blues, Ballads & Rock N Roll, Ace cd 28 Atlantic tracks, notes by "Sir" Bill Millar! Say no more. Made many SAO members pick of the year lists NB there is a similar cd on US Collectables, but the Ace cd apparently has better sound Web site http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/ivoryj.html