Joe Houston

by Bill DahlJoe 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 didnt 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). Houstons formula was simple and savagely direct — hed 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 Joes Gone are herculean examples of single-minded sax blasting. Houston remains active musically, emphasizing his blues vocal talent more than he used to.