From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Fri Jul 12, 2002  1:13 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Joe Houston

JOE HOUSTON

Born 12 July 1928, Austin, Texas

Joe Houston is a honking R&B saxman of wallpaper-peeling potency who
recorded for virtually every major independent R&B label in Los Angeles
during the 1950s. When the jump blues tradition faded, he segued right into
rock & roll, even cutting budget "twist" and "surf" albums for Crown that
didn't sound very different from what he was doing a decade before.
Houston played around Houston (Texas, that is) with the bands of Amos
Milburn and Joe Turner during the late '40s. It was Turner who got the
young saxist his first deal with Freedom Records in 1949. Houston found his
way to the West Coast in 1952 and commenced recording for labels big and
small: Modern, RPM, Lucky, Imperial, Dootone, Recorded in Hollywood, Cash,
and Money (as well as the considerably better-financed Mercury, where he
scored his only national R&B hit, "Worry, Worry, Worry," in 1952).
Houston's formula was simple and savagely direct - he'd honk and wail as
hard as he could, from any conceivable position: on his knees, lying on his
back, walking the bar, etc. His output for the Bihari brothers' Crown label
(where he was billed "Wild Man of the Tenor Sax") is positively exhilarating:
"All Nite Long," "Blow Joe Blow," and "Joe's Gone" are herculean examples
of single-minded sax blasting.
Houston remains active musically, emphasizing his blues vocal talent more
than he used to.

CD recommendations:
Cornbread And Cabbage Greens (Ace 395) Cash and Money recordings
Joe Houston Blows Crazy (Ace 772) Modern/RPM/Crown recordings