Joe Lutcher

Alto saxophonist and vocalist Joe Lutcher had R&B hits in the late '40s with "Shuffle Woogie" (for Capitol in 1948), "The Rockin' Boogie" (for Specialty in 1948), and "Mardi Gras" (for Modern in 1949). While he was a competent vocalist, his true forte was the sax. His repertoire mixed instrumentals with vocal numbers, employing an approach that generally fell within the Los Angeles jump blues-R&B style of the late '40s and early '50s, although he often added New Orleans accents and sometimes went into a straighter big-band jazz mode. He's not nearly as well known, though, as his sister <a href="spotify:artist:2rcjLEFEZ37QMTNy2Yk3xK">Nellie Lutcher</a>, who was a more successful hitmaker as a vocalist.

Lutcher was born in Lake Charles, LA, moving to Los Angeles in the early '40s, following his sister (who had moved there in the mid-'30s). He played sax with <a href="spotify:artist:7v4imS0moSyGdXyLgVTIV7">the Nat King Cole Trio</a> for a time before forming his own band and signing to Specialty in 1947. After some success with both Specialty and Capitol (where <a href="spotify:artist:2rcjLEFEZ37QMTNy2Yk3xK">Nellie Lutcher</a> recorded), he joined Modern in 1949. Modern encouraged him to add New Orleans spice to his recordings, and one of those tracks, "Mardi Gras," was an R&B Top 20 hit, preceding the more famous version of the song by <a href="spotify:artist:2RyY5yFlJh6jIPfMDhHgyD">Professor Longhair</a>.

Lutcher did some subsequent records for Peacock, London, and Masters Music, but left R&B for gospel music, forming the gospel label Jordan Records. It's been written that he was influential in advising <a href="spotify:artist:4xls23Ye9WR9yy3yYMpAMm">Little Richard</a> to leave rock & roll for religious studies in the late '50s. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi