Joe Weaver & his Blue Note Orchestra I'm On My Merry Way (1955)

I do not own the copyright to this recording. This video is for historical and educational purposes Joe Weaver was born in Baldwin County, Alabama on August 24, 1934. He was an accomplished pianist at the tender age of nine. While still in high school in Detroit, MI. he formed his first group The Blue Notes with his classmate Johnnie Bassett on guitar. They were a tight group playing everything from blues, boogie-woogie and R&B. They won a lot of talent shows and were soon backing Little Willie John and John Lee Hooker at gigs. They rehearsed at Joe Von Battles' Hastings Street studio and in 1953 Von Battle recorded them. He leased the sessions to King Records in Cincinatti, OH., where they found issue on their DeLuxe subsidiary. After that they found themselves back in Detroit recording two sides for Jaguar in 1955. Later in 1955 and through 1957 they layed down several cuts for Fortune. At the same time Fortune had them backing artists such as singer Andre Williams and Nolan Strong on their recordings for the label. Weaver and his group recorded for Chess in Chicago in 1958 and 1959, but the sides were never issued. They made their last recordings for the tiny Daco label in the early 1960's that were issued on 45 RPM. That fact however, didn't kill Weaver or his bandmates careers in music. They were hired by Berry Gordy, Jr. to be the session band at Tamla, and The Blue Notes were the backing group on Tamla's first million-selling record "Shop Around" by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. Weaver at the same time was nurturing the careers of guitarist Eddie Willis, bassist James Jamerson, and drummer Benny Benjamin, musicians that later became part of the Motown stable backing group The Funk Brothers. Just about the time that Joe Weaver's career was riding high, his wife left him in the middle of a tour. He was forced to move back to Detroit. Quitting the music business, he took a job at Ford Motor Company as an assembly line worker to support his three daughters. He held the job until he retired in 1999. Upon his retirement, he and Johnnie Bassett reformed The Blue Notes and went to The Netherlands to record and album. In 2002 Weaver cut an album with his new group The Motor City Rhythm And Blues Pioneers, once again for a Dutch record label. He continued to front the group until his death at the age of 71, on July 5, 2006. Joe Weaver:Vocals & Piano Jesse Ulmer, Jr.:Tenor Sax Johnnie Bassett:Guitar Possibly Billy Burrell:Bass Calvin Andrew:Drums Recorded in Detroit, MI. 1955 Originally issued on the 1955 single (Fortune 820) (78 RPM) This recording taken from the 1992 CD "A Fortune In Blues Volume 1"

Added 30 Mar 2026