Walking In The Rain With Joe Tex!

Joe Tex:


Rain Go Away


Baby It's Rainin'

It is easy to be tempted to think that Joe Tex's 1970s output for Dial and Epic can be summarized by the titles "I Gotcha" and "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)"; to be fair, Joe and producer Buddy Killen went back to the well of both of those tracks quite a few times - "You Said a Bad Word" and "Cat's Got Her Tongue" kept the "I Gotcha" groove going, and "Rub Down" chronicled other aches and pains Tex picked up at the disco where the "Big Fat Woman" danced. The fact of the matter is, however, that Joe Tex presented a nice bag of sounds that, although not as innovative or as commercially successful as his classic '60s material, showed that Tex was still a master of his craft. Today's selections present two varied sounds tied by the theme of rain.

"Rain Go Away" was a 1973 Dial single that was included on the Spills The Beans LP. After a dramatic intro, Joe settles into a Nashville-meets-Miami groove and does a great job with his anti-"I Wish It Would Rain" lyrics. It's a nice mid-tempo thing that was slept upon when released. A sensous Joe Tex comes forth in 1975's "Baby It's Rainin'." This is straight-up Southern soul, and Joe's reading of the sexy lyrics is outstanding. The dialogue in the middle shows that Joe is no Barry White when it comes to seductive raps, but his earnest delivery (I love his line about not knowing what perfume his lady is wearing) really brings home the feeling he's trying to convey. It's a solid sender!