Joe Weaver
Encyclopedia
Joe Weaver was an American
Detroit blues
, electric blues
and R&B
pianist
, singer and bandleader
. His best known recording
was "Baby I Love You So" (1955), and he was a founding member of both The Blue Note Orchestra and The Motor City Rhythm & Blues Pioneers. Over his lengthy but staggered career, Weaver worked with various musician
s including The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye
, John Lee Hooker
, Nathaniel Mayer
, The Miracles
, Martha Reeves
, Nolan Strong & The Diablos
, Andre Williams
, Nancy Wilson, and Stevie Wonder
. In addition, Weaver was a session musician
in the early days of Motown Records
and played in the house band
at Fortune Records
. He was a key component in the 1950s Detroit R&B scene.
, Weaver learned to play the piano
from age nine. While at Northwestern High School
he teamed up with fellow student Johnnie Bassett
to form Joe Weaver and the Blue Notes. They played jump blues
and jazz
numbers in the early 1950s, and won numerous talent contests, including several at the Warfield Theater in Hastings Street. This led to becoming the house band
there, backing both Little Willie John
and John Lee Hooker
. In 1953, Joe Von Battle owner of JVB Records recorded their instrumental
"1540 Special", which ended up being released by De Luxe Records
. Weaver and his band later became session musicians for Fortune Records. During this time they provided accompaniment to Nolan Strong & The Diablos and Andre Williams. Their debut album
A Fortune of Blues (1954) was accredited to Joe Weaver & His Blue Note Orchestra, and Baby I Love You So was issued the following year. Neither release was a commercial success, but they brought Weaver to the attention of Berry Gordy Jr. They played on early Tamla recordings, most notably The Miracles million-selling "Shop Around
". Their tenure there was short-lived, although Blue Note Orchestra members James Jamerson
, Eddie Willis
, and Benny Benjamin
, all later worked as part of Motown's in-house backing musicians, The Funk Brothers
.
Weaver himself though did not earn the recognition afforded to some of his progeny, and quit the music industry in the mid 1960s to look after his young daughters. He worked on the production line at the Ford Motor Company
in Detroit for almost thirty years. He retired from Ford in 1999, but again teamed with Bassett to re-create the Blue Note Orchestra. The assemble recorded Baby I Love You So (2000) which was released by the Dutch
label
, Black Magic. This is not to be confused with his 1955 single and album releases of the same title.
In 2002, Weaver recorded with fellow Detroit veterans Stanley Mitchell and Kenny Martin, billed as the Motor City Rhythm & Blues Pioneers. The resultant self-titled album was released by Blue Suit Records. At the 2003 Great Lakes Folk Festival, Weaver performed as part of the Detroit Blues Revue with Johnnie Bassett
and Alberta Adams
. In May 2006, Weaver was granted a Distinguished Achievement Award at the Detroit Music Awards
.
Joe Weaver died of compilations following a stroke
on July 5, 2006, in Southfield
, Michigan, at the age of 71.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Detroit blues
Detroit blues
Detroit blues is blues music played by musicians resident in Detroit, Michigan, particularly that played in the 1940s and 1950s. Detroit blues originated when Delta blues performers migrated north from the Mississippi Delta and Memphis, Tennessee to work in Detroit's industrial plants in the 1920s...
, electric blues
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
and R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, singer and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
. His best known recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
was "Baby I Love You So" (1955), and he was a founding member of both The Blue Note Orchestra and The Motor City Rhythm & Blues Pioneers. Over his lengthy but staggered career, Weaver worked with various musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s including The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
, Nathaniel Mayer
Nathaniel Mayer
Nathaniel Mayer was a rhythm & blues singer who started his career in the early 1960s at Fortune Records in Detroit...
, The Miracles
The Miracles
The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...
, Martha Reeves
Martha Reeves
Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...
, Nolan Strong & The Diablos
Nolan Strong & The Diablos
Nolan Strong & The Diablos were a Detroit-based R&B and doo-wop vocal group best known for its hit songs "The Wind" and "Mind Over Matter." The group was one of the most popular, pre-Motown, R&B acts in Detroit during the mid 1950s, through the early 1960s....
, Andre Williams
Andre Williams
Andre Williams is an American R&B and punk blues musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit.-Biography:...
, Nancy Wilson, and Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
. In addition, Weaver was a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
in the early days of Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
and played in the house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
at Fortune Records
Fortune Records
Fortune Records was a family operated, independent record label located in Detroit, Michigan from 1946 to 1995. The label owners were Jack and Devora Brown, their son Sheldon Brown recorded for the label...
. He was a key component in the 1950s Detroit R&B scene.
Biography
Born in Detroit, MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Weaver learned to play the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
from age nine. While at Northwestern High School
Northwestern High School (Michigan)
Northwestern High School is a secondary education facility in Detroit, Michigan. The most recent enrollment figures for Northwestern indicate a student population of approximately 2,000. Northwestern High School features numerous extracurricular activities; including: Debate, US Army JROTC,...
he teamed up with fellow student Johnnie Bassett
Johnnie Bassett
Johnnie Bassett is an American electric blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Working for decades primarily as a session musician, by the 1990s Bassett had his own backing band and has since released six albums. He has cited Billy Butler, Tiny Grimes, Albert King, B.B...
to form Joe Weaver and the Blue Notes. They played jump blues
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
numbers in the early 1950s, and won numerous talent contests, including several at the Warfield Theater in Hastings Street. This led to becoming the house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
there, backing both Little Willie John
Little Willie John
William Edward John was better known by his stage name Little Willie John. Many sources erroneously give his second name as Edgar...
and John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
. In 1953, Joe Von Battle owner of JVB Records recorded their instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
"1540 Special", which ended up being released by De Luxe Records
De Luxe Records
De Luxe Records was a Linden, New Jersey, United States based record label formed in 1944 by brothers David and Jules Braun. The label flourished in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1947, Syd Nathan, the founder and owner of King Records, purchased a majority interest in De Luxe. In 1949, Nathan moved the...
. Weaver and his band later became session musicians for Fortune Records. During this time they provided accompaniment to Nolan Strong & The Diablos and Andre Williams. Their debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
A Fortune of Blues (1954) was accredited to Joe Weaver & His Blue Note Orchestra, and Baby I Love You So was issued the following year. Neither release was a commercial success, but they brought Weaver to the attention of Berry Gordy Jr. They played on early Tamla recordings, most notably The Miracles million-selling "Shop Around
Shop Around
"Shop Around" is a 1960 single by The Miracles for the Tamla label, catalog number T 54034. It is notable as being the label's first #1 hit on the Billboard magazine R&B singles chart, and also hit #2 on the Hot 100....
". Their tenure there was short-lived, although Blue Note Orchestra members James Jamerson
James Jamerson
James Lee Jamerson was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and early 1970s , and he is now regarded as one of the most influential bass players in modern music history...
, Eddie Willis
Eddie Willis
Eddie "Chank" Willis is an African-American musician. Willis played electric guitar and occasional electric sitar for Motown Records' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s....
, and Benny Benjamin
Benny Benjamin
William "Benny" Benjamin , nicknamed Papa Zita, was an American musician, most notable as the primary drummer for the Motown studio band known as The Funk Brothers. He was a native of Birmingham, Alabama....
, all later worked as part of Motown's in-house backing musicians, The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
.
Weaver himself though did not earn the recognition afforded to some of his progeny, and quit the music industry in the mid 1960s to look after his young daughters. He worked on the production line at the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
in Detroit for almost thirty years. He retired from Ford in 1999, but again teamed with Bassett to re-create the Blue Note Orchestra. The assemble recorded Baby I Love You So (2000) which was released by the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Black Magic. This is not to be confused with his 1955 single and album releases of the same title.
In 2002, Weaver recorded with fellow Detroit veterans Stanley Mitchell and Kenny Martin, billed as the Motor City Rhythm & Blues Pioneers. The resultant self-titled album was released by Blue Suit Records. At the 2003 Great Lakes Folk Festival, Weaver performed as part of the Detroit Blues Revue with Johnnie Bassett
Johnnie Bassett
Johnnie Bassett is an American electric blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Working for decades primarily as a session musician, by the 1990s Bassett had his own backing band and has since released six albums. He has cited Billy Butler, Tiny Grimes, Albert King, B.B...
and Alberta Adams
Alberta Adams
Alberta Adams , is an American Detroit blues, jump blues, and Chicago blues singer. Adams was raised in Detroit, Michigan by a relative, and began performing as a tap dancer in the 1930s...
. In May 2006, Weaver was granted a Distinguished Achievement Award at the Detroit Music Awards
Detroit Music Awards
The Detroit Music Awards was initially proposed in 1988. Presented by the Motor City Music Foundation, the multi-genre awards ceremony was established to bring recognition to Detroit area musicians. The first award show was held in 1992 at Detroit's Music Hall, and moved to the State Theatre in...
.
Joe Weaver died of compilations following a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
on July 5, 2006, in Southfield
Southfield, Michigan
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which 0.04% is water. The main branch of the River Rouge runs through Southfield. The city is bounded to the south by Eight Mile Road, its western border is Inkster Road, and to the east it is bounded by Greenfield Road...
, Michigan, at the age of 71.
Discography
- Baby I Love You So (2000) - Black Magic
- Motor City Rhythm & Blues Pioneers (2002) - Blue Suit