THE BEEF BETWEEN R&B / SOUL SINGERS JAMES BROWN vs JOE TEX…

THE BEEF BETWEEN R&B / SOUL SINGERS JAMES BROWN vs JOE TEX…

Rivalry with James Brown
The feud between Tex and fellow label mate James Brown allegedly originated sometime in the mid-1950s, when both artists were signed to associated imprints of King Records, when Brown reportedly called out on Tex for a “battle” during a dance at a local juke joint.

James I got your letter, it came to me today. You said I could have my baby back, but I don’t want her that way.”

Things soon came to a head at a 1963 gig in Macon, Georgia when Joe Tex aped Brown’s cape act. From Wikipedia:

In 1963, their feud escalated when Brown and Tex performed at what was Brown’s homecoming concert at Macon, Georgia. Tex, who opened the show, arrived in a tattered cape and began rolling around on the floor as if in agony, and screamed, “please - somebody help get me out of this cape!” This allegedly resulted in Brown finding Tex at an after show party at a nightclub and shooting at the place with his gun. Tex would later claim that Brown stole his dance moves and his microphone stand tricks.

Eyewitnesses interviewed in Atlanta’s Creative Loafing magazine, describe the situation as much more dire than “shooting at the place.”

According to these witnesses, Brown took two shotguns into an after-hours juke joint, where Otis Redding and the Pinetoppers were playing, gunning for Joe Tex. He reportedly ended up shooting six or seven people before jumping behind the wheel of his tour bus and taking off. A member of his entourage handed out hundred dollar bills to keep the everyone (including the injured) quiet.

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