سيرة
Born in Weirgate, TX, in 1914, blues/R&B singer Ivory Joe Hunter is probably most famous for writing and recording the hit "Since I Met You, Baby". He learned to play piano at an early age and by his mid-teens was performing in the Beaumont, TX, area. He made some recordings in the 1930s (under the name "Ivory Joe White") but it took a move to California in 1942 for his career to begin taking off. In 1945 he began his own record label, Ivory Records, in Oakland, and when that went out of business he helped form another label, Pacific Records, for which he also recorded.
He formed his own combo and successfully toured up and down the California coast. He signed with MGM Records in 1949 and the next year came out with the hits "I Almost Lost My Mind" and "I Need You So". In 1954 he went to Atlantic Records, where he had his biggest hit, 1956's "Since I Met You Baby" (which he also wrote) and "Yes, I Want You" (1958). By the early 1960s R&B music was beginning to lose popularity with the record-buying public, and Hunter became interested in country music. He journeyed to Nashville, TN, and became a country music songwriter, and also performed at the famed Grand Ole Opry. He issued a country album, "The Return of Ivory Joe Hunter", in 1970. It met with some success, but Hunter's failing health precluded his attempts at a comeback. He died of cancer in Memphis, TN, in 1974.
