Joe Houston was born July 11, 1926 in Austin, Texas. He was a tenor saxophonist who played jazz & rhythm & blues.
After World War II, Houston returned to Texas, and recorded with the pianist Amos Milburn and singer Big Joe Turner. Turner got Houston his first recording contract on Freedom Records in 1949 and recorded "Jumping The Blues" and "Your Little Girl Is Gone". Houston moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and played with King Kolax, Betty Roche and Wynonie Harris.
Eventually, Houston formed his own band The Rockets, and moved to Los Angeles in 1952. He scored his only two chat hit singles in 1952 with "Worry, Worry, Worry", and "Hard Time Baby" on the Mercury label, both which peaked at #10 on Billboard's R & B singles charts.
Houston would record for many other labels including Combo, Modern, RPM, Imperial, Cash, Dooto, Money, Lucky and Recorded In Hollywood. He would appear on the bill at every major venue with all of the great R&B artists in the Southern California area. Houston would endear himself to the Chicano audiences with songs like "Chicano Hop", "Homeboy" " East Side" and "Bean Hop".
He will always be remembered for the Eastside classic 1954 hit "All Night Long" recorded for John Dolphin's Money label and also released on the RPM label.
You may listen to "All Night Long" here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm8H4u9avxg
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Soley for historical, educational and listening pleasure.
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