Joe Tex ~ Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman) 1977 Disco Purrfection Version

With everyone and his brothers and sisters rushing out a disco tune at the time, it's no wonder most of it was crap. However, there were some truly priceless moments created by veteran recording artists who were in slump, went disco for a song or two and then promptly returned to the shadows. Joe Tex is one of those stars, with his humorous take on the disco scene with ”Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big, Fat Woman)” in 1977. He started off life as Joseph Arrington, Jr on August 8, 1935 in Rogers, Texas. He learned to play the baritone saxophone in high school after having sung in his church choir for a few years. He entered talent shows, making a name for himself and finally getting onstage at the Apollo for amateur night. He won first place four times before being signed to King Records. His singles there were of little importance, so he moved on to Ace records with no success. He was building an audience through his live performances opening for Little Richard, James Brown and Jackie Wilson. Always experimenting with microphone placement and developing an energetic stage persona and rapping his lyrics instead of singing them. His first major hit came with the #5 single ”Hold On To What You've Got” in 1964. Then in 1965 he followed that up with two #1 R&B hits, ”I Want To (Do Everything For You)” and ”A Sweet Woman Like You”, solidifying his hit potential with ”I Gotcha” another #1 R&B hit that stalled at #2 on the Hot 100 in 1971. After that, he faded away from the music scene as he had converted to Islam and spent more time developing his spirituality. Returning to the studio in 1977, he recorded the disco flavored novelty tune about his one night in a disco that beat a path to #12 on the Hot 100, battling it out on the chart with Marvin Gaye ”Got To Give It Up”, Abba ”Dancing Queen” and Climax Blues Band ”Couldn't Get It Right”. Joe was never able to sustain his career after three more low charting singles. However, Joe.s ”Show Me” was covered by Tom Johnston, Barbara Mandrell and the Monkees in concert. Liza Minnelli covered ”I Gotcha” for her iconic ”Liza with a Z” televised concert. Nazareth covered ”I Want To Do (Everything For You). Even a band a disparate as Phish covered ”You Better Believe It Baby” in their concert repertoire. Joe passed on from a heart attack on August 13, 1982, five days after his 49th birthday.