Joe Hinton (Born 15/11/1929, died 13/08/1968)

He was a contemporary of Junior Parker and Bobby Bland and he also sometimes shared the same big-band backing group on many of his recordings, who as well as providing a rich brass backing to ballads, could also 'jump' with the best of them. Given this link to Bland, it is tempting to wonder whether or not Hinton would or could have ploughed the same soul blues furrow that proved so effective for Bobby in the 70s, had he not died at the ridiculously early age of 39 in 1968.

born in 1929 in Evansville, Indiana, he initially pursued a career as a gospel singer - you may have read that a few times before in the shades bios . He featured on a few singles by the Chosen Gospel Quartet having started out with the Blair Gospel Singers. When he moved to Memphis he joined the Spirit Of Memphis Quartet, singing lead on a number of releases, including 'In The Garden' and 'It Ain't One Thing' (a non gospel version appears on the compilation CD).

Don Robey had a hand in promoting the quartet and spotted Hinton's potential as a solo artist, persuading Joe to try a secular R&B career and signing him to Backbeat in 1958. He went on the established Blues Consolidated tours, which featured Junior Parker and Bobby Bland, and had his first local hit in 1963 with 'You Know It Ain't Right'.

Further sessions at Backbeat led to the recording and release of Hinton's stellar version of the aforementioned 'Funny' and his highest ever placing in the national charts. the Backbeat sessions saw Joe accompanied by the Joe Scott Band (hence the similarities in sound to many of Bobby Bland's recordings, with the great Wayne Bennett the guitarist on the 'Funny' recording).

You can find much of the subsequent Backbeat output on the featured CD. Most of the recordings span the period 1964 - 67 ('A Thousand Cups Of Happiness' is also here, recorded in 1960 and a song that also sold well after the success of 'Funny')

Hinton didn't record that many sides and there is really only the one album you can easily buy. The sound quality isn't that great and some of the material is a little iffy, pushing him in a Brook Benton direction he didn't seem that comfortable to follow. But the best of the CD is on a par with the best soul/blues ballad recordings of the time and he was blessed with a truly remarkable voice. On that basis alone, the "Funny (How Time Slips Away)" collection is worth a flutter!

When he died in August 1968 (of skin cancer), the Backbeat roster had the likes of O.V. Wright on its books and scoring hits with the soul/blues hybrid that was to become so popular. Although Joe's sales were struggling at the time, given his vocal abilities it would have been interesting to see whether or not Hinton could have tapped into that market had his career not been cut so tragically short. As it is, enjoy what is available.