Music
Joe Weaver
1934–2006 · blues and R&B pianist, singer, bandleader
Detroit-born pianist who founded Joe Weaver and the Bluenotes with Johnnie Bassett at Northwestern High and played on Fortune and early Motown sessions.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Southfield, Michigan
aged 71- Detroit years
- 1934–2006
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Weaver began piano lessons at nine and, at Northwestern High School, teamed up with classmate Johnnie Bassett to form Joe Weaver and the Bluenotes. In the early 1950s the band won talent contests at the Warfield Theater on Hastings Street and went on to back touring stars. His 1955 single "Baby I Love You So" remains his best-known record, and he became a busy session pianist for Fortune Records and for the young Tamla and Motown labels, playing on the Miracles' "Shop Around" and working with John Lee Hooker, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Martha Reeves. In the mid-1960s he left music to raise his daughters and spent nearly thirty years at Ford. After retiring in 1999 he reunited with Bassett, recorded again and helped found the Motor City Rhythm & Blues Pioneers. He received a Distinguished Achievement Award at the 2003 Detroit Music Awards and died in Southfield in 2006.
Highlights
- Co-founded Joe Weaver and the Bluenotes with Johnnie Bassett
- Best-known record: "Baby I Love You So" (1955)
- Session pianist for Fortune and early Motown; played on "Shop Around"
- Distinguished Achievement Award, Detroit Music Awards (2003)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · late 1940s–early 1950s
Northwestern High School (now Detroit Collegiate Preparatory Academy at Northwestern)
West-side high school where Weaver and Johnnie Bassett formed the Bluenotes.
Performed here · early 1950s
Warfield Theater
Demolished
Hastings Street movie and stage theater whose talent contests the Bluenotes won; lost with the street to the freeway.
Recorded here · 1950s–1960s
Fortune Records (Third Avenue shop and studio)
Demolished · 1956–1995
Weaver was a regular session pianist for Fortune's R&B and blues records.