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

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

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 a defunct 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 T ...

. 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 advertis ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, 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 repres ...

Career

He was born Joseph Valery, Jr. in Vicksburg,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, United States. He was brought up in

Tallulah, Louisiana Tallulah ( ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Madison Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,286, down from 7,335 in 2010. As this was historically a center of agriculture since th ...

, before he relocated in 1951 to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, 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 primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

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

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where he cut some records for

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, Jewel and

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

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

Magic Sam Samuel Gene Maghett (February 14, 1937 – December 1, 1969), known as Magic Sam, was an American Chicago blues musician. He was born in Grenada County, Mississippi, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and ...

, 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 six 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 Bear Records is the oldest independent British record label set up in 1968 by Jim Simpson in Birmingham, England. It specialises in blues and jazz recordings. History Big Bear Records was founded by promoter and band manager Jim Simpson ...

. Little Joe Blue recorded for various labels, including

Evejim Records Evejim Records was an American independent record label founded in the 1980s by Leon Haywood and based in Los Angeles, California. The label released various soul, blues, hip hop and electro recordings, as well as re-recordings of some of Leon Hay ...

, 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 one of the longest running blues festival in the United States. History Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the bl ...

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 List of number-one R&B singles of 1965 (U.S.), number-one R&B single "We're Gonna Ma ...

'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. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

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

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

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

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Southern Country Boy'' ( Jewel, 1972; Paula, 1997 D * ''Happy Here – Earthy Blues'' (Space, 1973) * ''Blue & The Blues Are Back'' (Kris, 1978) * ''Don't Tax Me In'' (Flyright Records, 1978) * ''Just Like B.'' (Jewel, 1980) * ''Best Of The Blues'' (Kris, 1981) * ''It's My Turn Now'' (Empire Enterprise, 1984) - with

Smokin' Joe Kubek Smokin' Joe Kubek (November 30, 1956 – October 11, 2015) was an American Texas blues electric guitarist, songwriter and performer. Biography Born in Grove City, Pennsylvania, Kubek grew up in the Dallas, Texas area. In the 1970s during his tee ...

* ''Dirty Work Goin' On (Blues Reference)'' ( Black & Blue, 1986

993 Year 993 ( CMXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – The 12-year-old King Otto III gives the Sword of Saints Cosmas and Damian (also known as the Sword of Essen) as ...

2005 D - with Melvin Taylor and

Billy Branch William Earl Branch (born October 3, 1951) is an American blues harmonica player of Chicago blues. He is a three-time Grammy nominee, a retired two-term governor of the Chicago Grammy Chapter, an Emmy Award winner , and a winner of the Addy Awar ...

* ''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'' ( Black & Blue, 1993) - with Eddie Burns

Compilation albums

* ''Blue's Blues'' (

Charly Charly may refer to: People * Charly (name) Places * Charly-sur-Marne, in the Aisne department * Charly, Cher, in the Cher department * Charly, Rhône, in the Rhône department * Charly-Oradour, in the Moselle department Other * Operation ...

, 1987) - Jewel material * ''Little Joe Blue's 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) - Space and Kris material * ''The Very Best of Little Joe Blue, Expanded Edition'' (

Fuel 2000 Fuel 2000 is an independent record label, formed in 1994 as part of the Fuel Label Group, one of the biggest independent record labels. It has amassed a catalog with over 20,000 master recordings. Since its inception, the company has released ove ...

, 2012) - Jewel material

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 in Nevada 20th-century American male musicians Black & Blue Records artists