Greatest Grooves

The only sad part about this album is that Joe Poovey died just a few hours after approving the booklet notes and photographs that are included with this collection. The album itself is a real treat – a glorious and uplifting compilation of the best (and rockinest) of Joe Poovey. All his originals are here together with some fine unissued tracks and long-forgotten gems, including his very earliest recordings, dating from 1954.
Groovey Joe Poovey, disk jockey, guitarist, songwriter, and rockabilly singer, was born Arnold Joseph Poovey on May 10, 1941, in Dallas, Texas. He was the son of Bernice Author and Aligene (Tyler) Poovey. Joe, who embraced many nicknames in his career, was encouraged to become an entertainer by his father at age four. By age nine he was recording hillbilly music in a studio. In 1953 he formed his own band, the Hillbilly Boys, and was performing on the broadcast country music show “Big D Jamboree.”qv A year later, he became the DJ known as Jumping Joe Poovey on the weekly radio show “Hillbilly Lowdown.” In 1955 he shared vocals with Earney Vandagriff in a recording of three Christmas theme songs released by the Rural Rhythm label “Be Bop Santa Claus,” “Atomic Kisses,” and “Santa’s Helper,” a song written by Poovey’s father. That same year, after he first saw Elvis Presley perform, Poovey decided to drop the hillbilly sound and convert to rockabilly. He produced his first rockabilly record in 1957, the single “Move Around.” He was given the nickname Groovey Joe Poovey by the DJ who introduced the song. A year later, with writer and producer Jim Shell as his writing partner, Poovey produced another hit, “Ten Long Fingers.” He remained in the Dallas area as a local artist and as a DJ with the “Big D Jamboree” until its demise in 1960. After that year, Poovey reverted to country musicqv and began writing for such musicians as George Jones, Wynn Stewart, and Jimmy Patton. In 1966, under the name Johnny Dallas, he reached the Billboard chart with the hit “Heart Full of Love.” Rather than producing follow-up hits, however, he worked full-time as a disc jockey in the Dallas Fort Worth area. In 1975 Rollin’ Rock Records released five previously unreleased songs that Poovey had produced in the 1950s. This helped reactivate his career, which he now pursued under the name Texas Joe Poovey. After “Ten Long Fingers” became a favorite among European fans, Poovey toured Europe in 1980 using his rockabilly style. He continued to record rockabilly material and performed throughout the 1980s and 1990s.