Joe Hinton (July 7, 1937 – June 9, 2022) – I Won't Be Your Fool (1961)

This rockin’ R&B jam was written by the unsung singer/songwriter who later worked for Motown and co-wrote many songs for the label's top artists.

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Joe Hinton was a singer/songwriter who first recorded as Little Joe Hinton in the early 1960s and later worked as a songwriter at Motown, where he also released a few singles of his own.

Born in Dallas, Texas, Hinton eventually wound up in Los Angeles, where he recorded his first single for the Hollywood-based label Arvee Records in 1961. Since there was already an established R&B singer named Joe Hinton, he was initially billed as Little Joe Hinton. The heartfelt ballad “My Love Is Real” was backed with the rockin’ R&B jam “I Won't Be Your Fool,” which Hinton wrote.

During the sixties, he used the alias Jay Lewis, until the other Joe Hinton died in 1968 and he went by his real name again. Around 1969 Hinton began working as a songwriter at Motown’s new West Coast operations. He co-wrote songs for the label’s top artists including the Supremes, the Temptations, David Ruffin, and the Four Tops. Along with Pam Sawyer and producer Johnny Bristol, he co-wrote the original title track to Junior Walker & the All Stars’ 1969 LP Gotta Hold On To This Feeling, re-titled What Does It Take To Win Your Love for subsequent pressings.

Another Motown gem he co-wrote with Sawyer and Henry Cosby was “You May Not Like The Change” by the Originals, which appeared on their 1970 Portrait Of The Originals LP.

In 1974, Hinton collaborated with singer/songwriter Big Dee Ervin to compose the score for the low-budget Blaxploitation film Black Starlet, which was released by Omni Pictures.

The score was recorded at The Sound Pit in Atlanta, GA, a studio owned by the infamous gangster and porn kingpin Michael Thevis, who also owned the Hotlanta label that Hinton recorded for during this period. It was one of the many small labels connected to Thevis’ GRC (General Recording Corporation) Records. An official soundtrack was never produced, but an ultra-rare promotional 7” EP was pressed and sent to radio stations with four cuts from the film.

Highlights included the inspirational “Go On Find Your Star” and the heartbreak tale “Up Is Down.”

Rest in Power, Joe Hinton.

Further info:

“Little Joe Hinton,” Sir Shambling's Deep Soul Heaven.

“Joe Hinton aka Jay Lewis,” 2Step Vinyl, September 11, 2009.

#soul #funk #disco #Motown #JoeHinton