Little Joe Blue (September 23, 1934 – April 22, 1990) was an American

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplifier, amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the ...

singer and guitarist. His musical style was often compared to B. B. King. His most notable track was "Dirty Work Going On", which was written by Ferdinand "Fats" Washington, and originally recorded by Little Joe Blue in 1966. It was released by

Checker Records Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded ...

. The track peaked at No. 40 in the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

Career

He was born Joseph Valery, Jr. in

Vicksburg Vicksburg most commonly refers to: * Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city in western Mississippi, United States * The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign * The Siege of Vicksburg, an American Civil War battle Vicksburg is also the name of ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, United States. He was brought up in

Tallulah, Louisiana Tallulah is a city in and the parish seat of Madison Parish, Louisiana, Madison Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The 2010 population was 7,335, a decrease of 1,854, or 20.2 percent, from the 9,189 recorded at the 2000 United Sta ...

, before he relocated in 1951 to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, to work in the automobile plants. He also spent over two years in Korea, having been drafted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 1954. Returning to Detroit, he formed the band the Midnighters in the late 1950s. He moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he cut some records for

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, Jewel and

in the 1960s. His 1966 song, "Dirty Work Going On" ( US ''

'' R&B, No. 40), was covered by

Magic Sam Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

, and

Shakey Jake Harris James D. "Shakey Jake" Harris (April 12, 1921 – March 2, 1990) was an American Chicago blues singer, harmonicist and songwriter. He released five albums over a period of almost 25 years. He was often musically associated with his nephew Magic ...

, and by

Willie Kent Willie Kent (February 24, 1936 – March 2, 2006) was an American Chicago blues singer, bassist and songwriter. Career Kent was born in Inverness, Sunflower County, Mississippi. Although he had played the bass guitar in Chicago's clubs since the ...

& His Gents. In 1975, he travelled to Europe to take part in the ''American Blues Legends'' tour and album recording, organised by the UK-based

Big Bear Records Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * '' Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

. Little Joe Blue recorded for various labels, including Evejim Records, throughout the 1980s. He played at the

San Francisco Blues Festival The San Francisco Blues Festival was active from 1973 until 2008, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was the one of the longest running blues festival in the United States. History Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the ...

in 1974, travelled to Europe in 1982, and appeared at the

Chicago Blues Festival The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June, that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the Chicago, Illinois, City of Chicago Department of Cu ...

in 1986. ''Little Joe Blue's Greatest Hits'' (1996), a two-album set available on CD via Evejim, included (among others) the tracks "Dirty Work Going On", "Encourage Me Baby", " Don't Start Me to Talkin'" and

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single " We're Gonna Make It". His other hits include "Baby, I Love ...

's "How Could You Do It to Me". He died in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, United States, in April 1990 at the age of 55, from

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

. He had two children: one son and one daughter.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Southern Country Boy'' ( Jewel, 1972) * ''Happy Here - "Earthy Blues"'' (Space, 1973) * ''Best Of The Blues'' (Kris, 1978) * ''It's My Turn Now'' (Empire Enterprise, 1984) * ''Dirty Work Going On'' ( Evejim, 1987) * ''I'm Doing All Right Again'' (Evejim, 1989)

Collaborative albums

* ''American Blues Legends '75'' (Big Bear, 1975) *''Chicago Blues Festival '86'' with

Eddie Burns Eddie Burns (16 January 1916 – 30 June 2004) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach of the mid 20th century. A New South Wales representative prop-forward, he played for the Canterbury-Bankstown club of the NSWRFL Premiership, l ...

( Black & Blue, 1993)

Compilation albums

* ''Blue's Blues'' (Jewel, 1987) * ''Greatest Hits'' (Evejim, 1996) * ''The Very Best Of Little Joe Blue'' (

Collectables A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

, 2006) * ''Dirty Work Goin' On'' (Black & Blue, 2008)

References

External links

Illustrated Little Joe Blue discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue, Little Joe 1934 births 1990 deaths Musicians from Vicksburg, Mississippi Guitarists from Mississippi American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Electric blues musicians Checker Records artists Kent Records artists Jewel Records artists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Deaths from stomach cancer Deaths from cancer in Nevada 20th-century American male musicians Black & Blue Records artists