This Week In Texas Music History: Groovey Joe Poovey
Howard Reed, Groovey Joe Poovey and Lonnie Smithson. Photo courtesy of RAB Hall of Fame. This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll meet a rockabilly cat who sang his own version of a nursery rhyme.
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Groovey Joe Poovey died on October 6, 1998. Born in Dallas on May 10, 1941, Joe Poovey was recording by the age of nine and fronting a country band on the Big D Jamboree by age twelve. Like many young country singers of his era, he switched to rockabilly after seeing Elvis Presley perform. Poovey had such hits as “Atomic Kisses,” “Ten Long Fingers,” and “Nursery Rock.”
Groovey Joe Poovey remained popular in the Dallas area for years. He also built a large cult following throughout Europe that continues to this day.
Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll learn about a Texas connection to the phrase, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
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