Joe Tex Pneumonia

JOE TEX, born Joseph Arrington Jr, needs no introduction to the rare soul fan having enjoyed dance floor action over the entire history of the scene – who could forget the enormity of “Show Me” at Wigan Casino and the ever-popular “Under Your Powerful Love”. So, it is ironic that he would have to wait almost fifty years for one of his earliest recordings, “Pneumonia”, to be finally appreciated! It is of course an answer-song to “Fever” which was recorded earlier in the same year, 1956, by LITTLE WILLIE JOHN earning him a Gold Disc for a million-seller and a #1 on the R&B Chart. Peggy Lee would go on to popularise the song world-wide with her hit cover in 1958.