I Believe I'm Gonna Make It
1966 · Dial 4033 · USA
- Artist
- Joe Tex
- Title
- I Believe I'm Gonna Make It
- Release
- I Believe I'm Gonna Make It / You Better Believe It, Baby
- Year
- 1966
- Label
- Dial # 4033
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
Annotation
Joe Tex, born Joseph Arrington Jr. (1933-1982), southern soul singer from Texas, recorded the track "I Believe I'm Gonna Make It" (Dial # 4033). A soldier received a letter from the home front, which gave him inspiration to fight and win: "I got your letter baby...I raised up and got two more enemies". In the spoken-word extract, the narrator expressed disappointment that he did not marry his girl "before I left for Vietnam", but then at the same time he did not want to leave her a widow. Note: furlough - a temporary leave of absence from military duty. The song referenced Jackie Robinson, the African-American baseball player. Written by Tex, and produced by Buddy Killen, founder of Dial. It featured on the album I've Got to Do a Little Bit Better (Atlantic # SD 8133). Billboard mentioned the song on 9 July 1966: "Lonely soldier theme and soulful Tex reading combine for a chart-topping disk", predicting it to reach the Top 60. (1) Well, it made it to # 67, and stayed in the charts for 5 weeks, as listed in Billboard on 20 August. (2) It reached # 9 in the R&B chart. (3)
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
American soul singer, born 8 August 1935 in Rogers, Texas ('I Believe I'm Gonna Make It'); died 13 August 1982 in Navasota, Texas. [Source: Wikipedia]