Ivory Joe Hunter (October 10, 1914 – November 8, 1974) was an American

rhythm-and-blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

singer, songwriter, and pianist. After a series of hits on the US

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

starting in the mid-1940s, he became more widely known for his hit recording " Since I Met You Baby" (1956). He was billed as The Baron of the Boogie, and also known as The Happiest Man Alive. His musical output ranged from R&B to

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pi ...

, and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

, and Hunter made a name in all of those genres. Uniquely, he was honored at both the

Monterey Jazz Festival The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jaz ...

and the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

Early years

Hunter was born in

Kirbyville, Texas Kirbyville is a city in Jasper County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,036 at the 2020 census. History Early Development The town was first established in 1895 when the Gulf, Beaumont, and Kansas City railroad reached the site. It wa ...

. Ivory Joe was his given name, not a nickname nor a stage name. According to Hunter, when he was born his parents thought he "looked just like the baby on the outside of the Castoria Ivory bottle, so they called imIvory." As a youngster in a large family of musicians, he developed an early interest in music. His father, Dave Hunter, played guitar, and his mother sang gospel. Hunter was a talented pianist by the age of 13, playing in school orchestras. He graduated high school in 1930 and made his first recording for

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

and the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

as a teenager, in 1933. Hunter was the uncle of Rick Stevens, the original lead vocalist for

Tower of Power Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the b ...

Radio and recordings

In the early 1940s, Hunter had his own radio show in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

, on

KFDM KFDM (channel 6) is a television station in Beaumont, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS, The CW Plus, and Fox. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Port Arthur–licensed Dabl affiliate KBTV-TV ...

, for which he eventually became program manager. In 1942 he moved to Los Angeles, joining Johnny Moore's Three Blazers in the mid-1940s. He wrote and recorded his first song, "Blues at Sunrise", with the Three Blazers for his own label, Ivory Records, it became a nationwide hit on the R&B chart in 1945. In the late 1940s, Hunter founded Pacific Records. In 1947, he recorded for

Four Star Records 4 Star Records was a record label that recorded many well-known country music acts in the 1950s. The label, founded after World War II, was home to singers such as Hank Locklin, Maddox Brothers and Rose, Rose Maddox, Webb Pierce, Cousin Ford Lew ...

and King Records. Two years later, he recorded further R&B hits; on "I Quit My Pretty Mama" and "Guess Who" he was backed by members of

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

's band. After signing with MGM Records, he recorded "

I Almost Lost My Mind "I Almost Lost My Mind" is a popular song written by Ivory Joe Hunter and published in 1950. Hunter's recording of the song was a number one hit on the US '' Billboard'' R&B singles chart in that year. Hunter recorded the 12-bar blues style so ...

", which topped the 1950 R&B charts and would later (in the wake of Hunter's success with "Since I Met You Baby") be recorded by

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

, whose version became a number one pop hit. " I Need You So" was a number two R&B hit that same year. With his smooth delivery, Hunter became a popular R&B artist, and he also began to be noticed in the

community. In April 1951, he made his network TV debut on ''

You Asked for It ''You Asked for It'' is a human interest television show created and hosted by Art Baker. Initially titled ''The Art Baker Show'', the program originally aired on American television between 1950 and 1959. Later versions of the series were see ...

''. He toured widely with a backing band and became known for his large build (he was 6 feet 4 inches tall), his brightly colored stage suits, and his volatile temperament. By 1954, he had recorded more than 100 songs and moved to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. His first song to cross over to the pop charts was "Since I Met You Baby" (1956). It was to be his only

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

pop song, reaching number 12 on the pop chart. While visiting

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, in the spring of 1957, Hunter was invited by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

to visit

Graceland Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Graceland is located at 3764 Elv ...

. The two spent the day together, singing "I Almost Lost My Mind" and other songs together. Hunter commented, "He is very spiritually minded... he showed me every courtesy, and I think he's one of the greatest." Presley recorded several of his songs, including "I Need You So", "My Wish Came True" and " Ain't That Lovin' You, Baby". Later, Presley would record " I Will Be True" and " It's Still Here" in May 1971. Hunter was a prolific songwriter, and some estimate he wrote more than 7,000 songs.

Country comeback

Hunter's "Empty Arms" and "Yes I Want You" also made the pop charts, and he had a minor hit with "City Lights" in 1959, just before his popularity began to decline. Hunter came back as a country singer in the late 1960s, making regular

appearances and recording an album titled ''I've Always Been Country''. The country singer

Sonny James Jimmie Hugh Loden (May 1, 1928February 22, 2016), known professionally as Sonny James, was an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, " Young Love", topping both of the early versions of today's ''Billboard'' ...

issued a version of "Since I Met You Baby", which topped the country charts in 1969, paving the way for Hunter's album ''The Return of Ivory Joe Hunter'' and his appearance at the

. The album was recorded in Memphis with a band that included

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

Gene "Bowlegs" Miller Gene "Bowlegs" Miller (May 27, 1933 – December 25, 1987) was an American trumpeter and band leader. Biography Miller performed in clubs on Beale Street, in Memphis, Tennessee, when that area was a flourishing center of nightlife, playing with suc ...

and

Charles Chalmers Charles Chalmers is an American saxophonist, session musician, backup singer, songwriter and producer. He has written several hit songs for many recording artists, and has also arranged and performed on many Grammy winning recordings. Seven of tho ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

recorded a cover version of the song in 1969.

Death

Hunter died of complications due to lung cancer in 1974, at the age of 60, in

. His remains were buried in Spring Hill Community Cemetery.

Singles

Albums

* ''Ivory Joe Hunter'', Atlantic (1957) * ''Mean Woman Blues'', Pickwick (Grand Prix Series)

References

Notes

* J.C. Marion
''JammUpp'' 23: "Let Me Dream: Ivory Joe Hunter"
* Tom Simon

External links

TV debut of Ivory Joe Hunter
on ''

You Asked For It ''You Asked for It'' is a human interest television show created and hosted by Art Baker. Initially titled ''The Art Baker Show'', the program originally aired on American television between 1950 and 1959. Later versions of the series were see ...

''
Ivory Joe performing "S.P. Blues"
with brief

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...

leading fragment
Ivory Joe Hunter at Shades Of Blue

Ivory Joe Hunter, Mean Woman Blues album info
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Ivory Joe 1914 births 1974 deaths African-American pianists American blues singers American country singer-songwriters American rhythm and blues singers American blues pianists American male pianists Boogie-woogie pianists Atlantic Records artists MGM Records artists Monument Records artists Deaths from lung cancer in Tennessee Four Star Records artists King Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Jasper County, Texas Smash Records artists Tear Drop Records artists Vee-Jay Records artists West Coast blues musicians African-American country musicians 20th-century American pianists Country musicians from Texas African-American male singer-songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers