Joe Dowell (January 23, 1940 – February 4, 2016)[1] was an Americanpop singer.
Career
editHe was born inBloomington, Indiana,[2] and moved toBloomington, Illinois, as a child. He first performed at a ninth-gradetalent show and later attended theUniversity of Illinois. At his firstrecording session (backed by organistRay Stevens), he sang the tune "Wooden Heart", which had been ahit forElvis Presley in Europe but which was never released as asingle stateside. In 1961, "Wooden Heart" became the first single released onSmash Records to shoot to No. 1 on theBillboard Hot 100. It sold over one million copies and was awarded agold disc.[3] In the wake of his success, Dowell wanted to become asongwriter in his own right, but, due to contractual obligations, he was required to sing music owned by Smash's parent company,Mercury Records.[4] He had two further hits, "The Bridge of Love" (US No. 50) and "Little Red Rented Rowboat" (US No. 23) but, after struggles with his management, he was dropped from thelabel.
Dowell went on to record one single for Monument Records, a folk album in the 1960s, and a number of singles and a gospel album for his own Journey label in the 1970s and 1980s. He also recorded a bicentennial EP at Golden Voice Recording Co inSouth Pekin, Illinois, for theBoy Scouts of America and radio jingles.[5]
In 2004,Bear Family Records released a CD of Joe Dowell's music, including unreleased recordings.
His publicist and friend Johnny Vallis confirmed to theAssociated Press, that Joe Dowell died on February 4, 2016, in Bloomington, Illinois, after suffering a heart attack the prior weekend. He was 76.[1][6]
Discography
editSingles
edit| Year | Title | US Hot 100 | US Easy Listening | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | "Wooden Heart" / "Little Bo Peep" | 1 | 1 | Smash 1708 |
| 1961 | "The Bridge of Love" / "Just Love Me" | 50 | 10 | Smash 1717 |
| 1962 | "Little Red Rented Rowboat" / "The One I Left for You" | 23 | -- | Smash 1759 |
| 1962 | "Poor Little Cupid" / "No Secrets" | -- | -- | Smash 1786 |
References
edit- ^ab"Joe Dowell, had No. 1 hit with 'Wooden Heart," dies at 76 - US News". February 6, 2016. Archived fromthe original on February 6, 2016. RetrievedAugust 24, 2021.
- ^Colin Larkin, ed. (1992).The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.).Guinness Publishing. p. 727.ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ^Murrells, Joseph (1978).The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 134.ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^Joe Dowell,AllMusic
- ^"Joe Dowell: An insanely complete post-Smash/Mercury discography".Musicweird.com. January 26, 2014. RetrievedMarch 29, 2014.
- ^"Joe Dowell, had No. 1 hit with 'Wooden Heart," dies at 76". Archived fromthe original on February 9, 2016. RetrievedFebruary 4, 2015.
External links
edit- Joe Dowell atIMDb
- Joe Dowell Collection, McLean County Museum of History