Joe Simon started out singing in the church,
and eventually returned, but not before he put his unique stamp on R&B
music.In the '50s, his
family emigrated from Louisiana to California.It was here, in Richmond, just
outside of Oakland, that he became a member of the Golden West Gospel
Singers.Sam Cooke had paved
the way for artists to cross over from gospel to R&B, and even pop, and
Joe followed his model.The
group changed their name to the Golden Tones and released their first
secular recording, "Little Island Girl", in 1959.Carla and Gary Thompson of Hush
Records thought Joe should go solo, and that he did, releasing "My
Adorable One" in 1964.He
followed this up with "Let's Do It Over", which peaked at
#13 and hung around for seventeen weeks on the R&B chart.Nashville was not exactly a hub of
R&B music, but it was John Richbourg, that
rare beast known as a Nashville R&B dee-jay,
who recognized Joe's unique gift and signed on to become his manager
and producer.John got Joe in
the door at Sound Stage 7 (under the Monument umbrella) in 1966.It was here that Joe recorded
"Teenager's Prayer", and it went to #11 on the R&B
Chart.Other hits would
follow: " The Chokin' Kind" (which won a Grammy Award),
"Farther on Down the Road", "(You Keep Me) Hanging
On", and "Yours Love".In 1970, per John's
advisement, Joe switched to Spring Records, and the move proved to spike
Joe's R&B chart success: "
Drowning in the Sea of Love" peaked at #3 and
"Power of Love" topped the Billboard chart in 1972.Joe also had his first taste of pop
success, as both releases crossed over onto the pop chart, barely missing
the top ten.Some of his other
hits from this time period include "Carry Me", "Get Down,
Get Down (Get on the Floor)", "I Need You, You Need Me",
"Music in my Bones", "Pool of Bad Luck",
"Step by Step", and "Trouble in my Home".In 1973, he was asked to compose and
produce the theme music for Cleopatra
Jones.As the decade drew
to a close, however, Joe left the secular music world and went back to the
church.He became a preacher in
the small town of Flossmoor, Illinois.It did not preclude him from keeping a foot in the gospel music
business.He produced Jackie Verdell's lone solo album, Lay My Burden Down, in 1983.In the '90s, Joe recorded his
own gospel album, This Story Must Be
Told.He has since released
Time To Change, his first new
recording in sixteen years, and part of the proceeds go
to hurricane relief in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.World Effort Ministries and Mission
Consortium of Churches International, of which he is a part, are in charge
of the distribution of these monies.As a recording artist, Bishop Joe Simon recently signed on with
Parliament Entertainment.He
hopes his latest CD will offer some of the comfort and peace he has found
to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Joe
Simon recordings
Get
Down, Get Down (Get on the Floor) (Raeford Gerald/Joe Simon)
In My
Baby's Arms (Raeford Gerald/Harlan Howard/Joe Simon)
