Joe Houston was one of those honking tenor sax guys who dominated rhythm-and-blues and early rock 'n' roll before the guitar became the favoured instrument.
A contemporary of such honkers and screamers as Big Jay McNeely, Rusty Bryant (before his jazz days) and Illinois Jacquet, Houston made his most exciting sides for the ultra-cheap Los Angeles-based Crown label. This material was endlessly repackaged, including albums to take advantage of the twist and surfing music crazes. Songs were often retitled as well, making it easy to buy the same material two or three times. Most of these 1950s recordings are available as downloads, sometimes with their original song titles and sometimes not. Use caution when purchasing.
Kicking Back is from relatively late in Houston's career. It was issued in 1978 by Big Town Records and unfortunately (for my tastes, at least) bears some trademarks of the disco era. Still it's an enoyable recording, as you can hear on Why Don't You Rock Me. The MP3 is taken from the vinyl LP.
Why Don't You Rock Me
Kicking Back was never released on CD to my knowledge but it is available as a download from iTunes, and probably other sources as well.
Here's a further sample from the album, courtesy of YouTube.
Joe Houston continued performing into the new millennium until suffering a stroke in 2005. He made a brief reappearance but has since retired from music.
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